NEW DELHI: This autumn was a time rich with promise for the Congress in Madhya Pradesh.
The state, the largest of the three provinces headed for assembly elections, appeared prime for a change. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had been in the saddle for 18 of the last 20 years and suffered from internal factionalism in a state where it has powerful leaders in every region. There were allegations of corruption. And signs of anti-incumbency appeared to dog chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Most importantly, the Congress had just stormed to a historic victory in Karnataka, running a rooted, energetic campaign that managed to stitch a diverse social coalition and unite marginalised castes and communities, displacing an unpopular BJP government. The party believed that Madhya Pradesh, with its large constituents of farmers, Dalits and tribals, was there for the taking.
Inexplicably, however, former chief ministers Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh chose a different tack, said Congress leaders aware of the details.
The two men who helmed the campaign in the state, turned away from running the kind of issues-based grassroots campaign that won the Congress the biggest victory in a generation, and poured their energies into an acerbic, negative pitch that spent precious campaign hours attacking senior BJP leaders, and even allies — time that could have been used to fine-tune the party’s outreach on the ground.
The Congress slumped to its worst performance in a decade as the BJP soared to its highest-ever vote share. The BJP won 163 of the state’s 230 assembly seats, leaving behind the Congress a poor runner-up at 66.
As the dust settled on the shock loss on Monday, and central and state leaders rued fumbling the best chance to dethrone the BJP government in two decades, they zeroed on a key reason behind the drubbing — a caustic campaign that spent too much time embroiled in controversy over shrill personal comments.
“The Congress announced multiple schemes, like those for women and free education for students, all of which could have benefitted us if we had just spoken about them. Instead, it seemed to us, that the focus of Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh, who ran the show, was a negative campaign,” said a senior Congress leader, requesting anonymity.
ACERBIC, NEGATIVE, OVERCONFIDENT
That negativity was pervading the campaign became apparent early — and within the party.
In September, as bungled candidate selection sparked protests across the state and the leadership was forced to walk back on some polarising decisions, workers began pouring into the party headquarters. But instead of listening to their grievances and uniting the campaign, Nath and Singh chose a more high-handed approach, said a second party leader.
“Digvijaya Singh and Kamal Nath were showing autocratic behaviour. Nath included his favourites in all the committees by ignoring the experienced one…He was scolding leaders by showing his survey reports, and Singh was scolding leaders by closing doors in the meetings being organised in the districts,” said this leader, who belongs to Mahakaushal, Nath’s home region.
“This upset the workers a lot because more than listening to their grievances , they were focusing on attacking us. The result is here in front of all,” added the leader.
Through the campaign, they spent more time hitting out senior BJP leaders even as feedback from the ground said better communication was needed to convince voters of the Congress’s manifesto promises.
On November 7, Singh said in Indore that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah had lost confidence in the state BJP. “The PM is campaigning as if he is the CM candidate” he said.
In a rally in Sagar on November 12, Nath attacked Chouhan and said he was an “actor” who would find work in cinema in Mumbai even after he was rendered jobless in Madhya Pradesh.
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