Big Fight for State Supremacy Nears

With the date for polling is fast nearing, the big fight for supremacy in the states that would be going to polls between November 7 and November 30 has reached its peak. A fierce face-off between the Congress party and BJP is on in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and between the BRS and the Congress in Telangana.

Notwithstanding the tall claims of all parties that theay believe in casteless society, caste still counts and the biggest example of this is the Congress party making promise of taking up caste census after coming to power in these states. The BJP is treading a cautious path as it fears backlash from the upper castes and is adopting a dual policy. It rules out such possibility at national level. But regional party leaders are aggressively promoting this. As about 35 per cent of the population in the poll-bound states consists of tribal population, both BJP and Congress are laying special focus on tribal votes also. The difference between last elections and the 2023 elections is that the national parties are giving greater importance to local issues and are allowing the respective state units to come up with the issues that could set the agenda for the campaign. The Congress party which has maximum internal freedom to differ and quarrel has somehow succeeded in identifying the CM face in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan but has decided to keep the issue open regarding Telangana.

Both the national parties are highlighting the welfare schemes which are otherwise known as Revadis. All are once again emphasising on everything free. Education, free health, free bus travel for women, scholarships, health benefits, pensions. Name it and you will get free that is the attitude of the political parties. Great way to lure the gullible voters. Once behind the steering wheel, all parties will come up with fine print, “conditions apply.” While BJP is depending more on the PM Modi’s charisma, Congress has allowed the local leaders to lead the campaigns. It is in fact going to be Modi’s image V/s regional pride in Chhattisgarh which would go to polls on November 7 and 17, Madhya Pradesh where polling will be on November 17 and Rajasthan on November 23.

In Telangana which would go to polls on November 30, the situation is gaining steam very fast. Both the BJP and the Congress is for a change taking maximum care to ensure that the rebels do not play spoil sport. Some Aaya Rams, Gaya Rams will be there, but this is unlikely to cause any damage to the national parties or regional parties like BRS.

What is most interesting with every election in the last decade is that the role of election strategists has gained popularity. Good number of them are trained by Prashant Kishore and have now independently opened their shops.

There are many such strategists and even the Telangana government is said to have hired the services of some of those who were in I-PAC team headed by Prashant Kishore in the past. Even to select a candidate, the political parties are depending on the survey reports by such strategists. Political intelligence has given way to AI. In states like Chhattisgarh, MP and Rajasthan, the saffron party along with survey reports is depending more on the panna samities and panna pramukhs to reach out to the electorate. But when it comes to Telangana, a disturbing trend was seen on Monday when the BRS Medak MP who is the Dubbaka candidate was stabbed and doctors had to perform a major surgery and remove intestines.

This trend is really disturbing. Such incidents are generally seen in the neighboring Andhra Pradesh. While all political parties should make sure that such elements are weeded out from their parties, the government should ensure a thorough probe and nip such tendencies in the bud. Otherwise the political ecosystem will get polluted as is being seen in Andhra Pradesh.