Congress counters nationalism with welfarism

NEW DELHI: It was a nice mix of populism and criticism that was propelling the Congress campaign till the Pulwama terror attack and Balakot air strikes shifted the national focus.

On a high after defeating BJP in its three strongholds in December, Congress took its campaign to a new high when party chief Rahul Gandhi promised “guaranteed minimum income” to all poor households if elected to power.

In the contest between “welfarism” and “muscular nationalism”, the general belief is that emotions have swayed many an election, especially if Pakistan is involved. It

is evident from how PM Narendra Modi has fashioned the BJP campaign exclusively around Pakistan and Balakot.

As the popular discourse, aided by media coverage, shifted focus, Congress has been wrestling with the question of how to nudge the narrative back to its preferred themes of “governance” and “welfare”, which include a strong criticism of the Modi government’s performance on issues like “demonetisation”, “economy”, “jobs” and “Rafale”.

With just a month to go for casting of the first vote, much would depend on the ability of Congress to turn the clock back to pre-Balakot conversation.

To meet in Modi’s stronghold of Ahmedabad on Tuesday, Congress party will try to resurrect a coherent theme to take on BJP, mired as it has been in the virtual free season on Balakot strikes.

There has been an attempt within, with strong language and tour of frontier districts by Rajasthan and Punjab CMs Ashok Gehlot and Amarinder Singh, to blunt the BJP attacks on Congress in these border states. There has been an alternative model like in MP where the government has invested the recent weeks on issues of jobs and social engineering.