AAP demonetised ruling Badals, Cong encashed it

Sunday, 12/03/2017

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Cong pulled it off by winning Dalit, Hindu vote bank, outwitting AAP in perception game.

CHANDIGARH: If the ruling Akali Dal-BJP lost currency in the Punjab polls, they have the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to blame. The rookie party had whipped up strong anti-incumbency sentiments in Punjab against the ruling Badal family attacking their business empire, naming and shaming its ministers for drug links and promising nothing less than a revolution in the state.

Congress workers celebrating the party’s win in the assembly elections at Moti Bagh Palace in Patiala on Saturday.

But unfortunately for AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, it was the Congress that encashed it all to romp home a winner.

For one, the Congress was able to beat AAP in the perception game. In the final lap, it won over Hindus and moderate Sikhs to its side by hammering AAP for “pro-radical” links. It fielded its tall leaders such as party chief Captain Amarinder Singh and Ludhiana MP Ravneet Bittu against the Badal father-son duo at Lambi and Jalalabad to counter AAP’s propaganda that the Congress was in “cahoots” with the Akalis. CM Parkash Singh Badal and his deputy Sukhbir Badal won their respective seats but lost face after the alliance suffered a near-rout in the state.

Unlike Kejriwal, who kept the suspense on party’s CM face on and fielded his top guns in tough battles to claim the CM’s throne, the Congress left no ambiguity on this count. The announcement of Amarinder as the party’s CM face came late in the day but it helped it defeat propaganda of political rivals, AAP and SAD, that cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Sidhu was in the reckoning for the top job.

The Congress victory was also scripted by party strategist Prashant Kishor. On one side, he repackaged “Brand Captain” by building his entire campaign around him and on the other, he played the deal-maker to ensure the entry of cricketer-turnedpolitician Navjot Singh Sidhu into the party. His many campaigns ensured Amarinder shed the royal tag and hit the road meeting leaders, workers and voters. It also helped Kishor’s team, I-PAC, create a huge database of dole-happy voters who registered for smart phones, debt waivers and jobs.

KISHOR FACTOR

By going uninvited to Sidhu’s home and roping in Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka, to woo him, Kishor gave Congress prospects a booster dose in the final lap, just when the fight was heading for a photo finish. Even Amarinder admits that the youth identifies with Sidhu and he would be only too willing to pass the baton on to him after signing off on a winning note as CM. The Congress also won back its traditional vote bank of Dalits and Hindus. It has bagged 20 out of 34 reserved seats in the state, up from 10 in the 2012 polls. Though some tickets tangles by Amarinder were self-inflicted, his “one family, one ticket” rule worked to party’s favour. It ensured more youth faces without political backgrounds were in the fray and tickets were not cornered by just the kin and loyalists of state leaders.

OUTWITTING RIVALS IN POPULISM

The Congress also outwitted other parties when it came to competitive populism. Giving prudence a go by, it promised voters the moon — be it smart phones with free data to youth, one job, per family or debt waiver to farmers. As CM-inwaiting, Amarinder also played the emotive card by calling it as his last election and voters did not disappoint him.

DERA FACTOR

The AAP-wary alliance ensured Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda announced its support for the ruling alliance which cut both ways — AAP lost dera vote and the Akalis that of Sikhs angry at the dera. Both ways, it was advantage Congress.

In Dalit-dominated Doaba belt, the dera Ballan seems to have also gone the Congress way.

So last and certainly not the least, the Congress can thank ruling Akali-BJP alliance for its victory. The signal to the Akali-BJP leaders and voters was clear on polling day — stop AAP, even if it means adding votes to Congress kitty!