Rahul Gandhi's Saurashtra strategy: Woo anti-incumbency votes
, ET Bureau|
Sep 29, 2017, 01.13 AM IST
GANDHINAGAR: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi toured Gujarat's Saurashtra region for three days wooing voters and trying to cash in on the anti-incumbency votes in the election bound states.
Gandhi attacked the central and state governments for unfulfilled promises, unemployment, GST, demonetisation and what he called "marketing." He said if his party came to power in Gujarat he'll waive farmer loansin ten days. Interestingly, Gandhi started his campaign from the Dwarkadhish Temple in Dwarka and visited Chamunda temple near Rajkoton Wednesday.
The optics was hardly lost on observers. He reached out to people across villages and in more ways than one tried to woo back the Patidar community that has long parted ways with the Congress in the wake of KHAM (Kshatriya Harijan Adivasi Muslim) social engineering by Congress stalwart Madhavsinh Solanki in mid-eighties.
His visit also underlined the growing proximity between Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti leader Hardik Patel and Congress as the latter did not shy from expressing his tacit support to Congress.
With the two decade anti-incumbency sentiment setting in, Congress has been pinning its hope to return to power in Gujarat in 2017; however the absence a credible face for its leadership at the state level, the party is struggling to catch the fancy of the voters as an alternative to BJP. His campaign ended in adding more to the anti-incumbency clamour in the region that has been the seat of Patidar movement.
Gandhi attacked the central and state governments for unfulfilled promises, unemployment, GST, demonetisation and what he called "marketing." He said if his party came to power in Gujarat he'll waive farmer loansin ten days. Interestingly, Gandhi started his campaign from the Dwarkadhish Temple in Dwarka and visited Chamunda temple near Rajkoton Wednesday.
The optics was hardly lost on observers. He reached out to people across villages and in more ways than one tried to woo back the Patidar community that has long parted ways with the Congress in the wake of KHAM (Kshatriya Harijan Adivasi Muslim) social engineering by Congress stalwart Madhavsinh Solanki in mid-eighties.
His visit also underlined the growing proximity between Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti leader Hardik Patel and Congress as the latter did not shy from expressing his tacit support to Congress.
With the two decade anti-incumbency sentiment setting in, Congress has been pinning its hope to return to power in Gujarat in 2017; however the absence a credible face for its leadership at the state level, the party is struggling to catch the fancy of the voters as an alternative to BJP. His campaign ended in adding more to the anti-incumbency clamour in the region that has been the seat of Patidar movement.
