Jairam Ramesh may lead Congress campaign

With Lok Sabha elections less than a year away, the Congress may soon appoint former Cabinet Minister and Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh as the campaign co-ordinator for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

According to sources in Congress, the announcement is likely to be made in a day or two.

“He successfully helmed two campaigns in 2004 and 2009 and he was also part of the campaign committee in 2014 which was then chaired by Congress president Rahul Gandhi. So it was felt that he would be a good choice,” a senior Congress leader said.

When asked, Mr. Ramesh told The Hindu that he is not aware of such a development. Congress media in-charge Randeep Surjewala said it was the Congress president’s prerogative to make such appointments.

Catchy slogans

In 2004, the Congress came up with a well researched counter against the BJP’s ‘Shining India’ campaign. Drawing from feedback received from the voters, the Congress first started a negative campaign with the tagline — Aam Aadmi Ko Kya Mila? (What did the common man get?). A few months into the campaign, it was tweaked to give it a positive spin. The tagline was changed to Congress Ka Haath Aam Aadmi Ke Saath (Congress stands with the Common Man). Congress got 145 seats against BJP’s 138 and was able to stitch together a grand coalition of parties — United Progressive Alliance — to form the government.

The 2009 Congress campaign was mostly an extension of the 2004 campaign, keeping the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in focus, highlighting the achievements of the government in the last five years. The tagline then used was Aam Aadmi Ke Badte Kadam, Har Kadam Par Bharat Buland (Common Man’s progressing steps, at every step India too progresses). The Congress improved its tally, reaching 206.

The BJP’s campaign then, Mazboot Neta, Nirnayak Sarkar (Strong Leader, Decisive Government), failed to take off. The party’s tally dipped to 116 from 138 of 2004.

In 2014, Congress president Rahul Gandhi was the campaign committee chief.

The campaign failed on two accounts — it did not talk about the government’s achievements and it did not address the growing concerns of inflation and corruption.