Congress shifting tactics to win battle of optics

The call for a midnight march last Thursday by Congress president Rahul Gandhi to highlight what he called “growing violence against women” against the backdrop of the Kathua and Unnao rape incidents was not only aimed at tapping into public anger but also to build a narrative that the Modi government has failed vulnerable sections.

On April 23, Mr. Gandhi will launch a “Save Constitution” campaign to highlight Dalits issues and it will be followed by a rally on April 29 focussing on women’s safety, unemployment, agrarian distress and others.

“When Rahulji told a senior Congress general secretary about the midnight protests, he asked for a day to organise them. The Congress president responded by telling him he would walk even if just 100 people join him,” said a senior Congress functionary familiar with the turn of events last Thursday.

Party insiders said it was the first time the Congress used social media for mass mobilisation. “We have actually never really been in the Opposition except for a brief period between 1977 and 1980, when Sanjay Gandhi led mass movements. But the tools have changed, and we now have social media platforms as part of the new-age Opposition,” said another senior Delhi-based Congress leader.

While the Congress’s internal WhatsApp groups sent out a message to party workers by 8.15 p.m. to reach India Gate, Mr. Gandhi’s verified Twitter handle invited citizens to join in. A day before the march, he had responded to tweets [asking him to clarify his party’s stand on the Kathua rape] by calling it a “crime against humanity”.

Until then, the Congress position was, at best, ambivalent. While two BJP Ministers — forced to resign on Friday — were seen to be supporting the rape accused and attended a rally organised by the Jammu Bar Association, the Congress’s Jammu and Kashmir chief Ghulam Mir supported the lawyers’ demand for a CBI investigation.

Outreach strategy

Explaining the changes to the Congress’s outreach strategy, the senior functionary said, “Opposition parties need to create events. If you look at the Nirbhaya incident, Mr. Gandhi helped the family, and their son is now a pilot with his help. But the fact that he didn’t speak at that time sent out a wrong perception.”

Ahead of 2019, there is now a sense of urgency in the Congress. The party’s leadership is debating what to call its April 29 rally in Delhi where the key issues would be unemployment, women safety, farm distress and fear among minorities.