In what should be taken as an admission of Congress’ fear of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s charisma and popularity, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has stated that PM Modi is the only major hurdle for the 2019 general elections.
Ramesh also talked about changes within the Congress which fueled it to the so called Karnataka victory. One fails to understand how these were positive changes with the Congress still losing out on bulk of the seats.
It seems that the Congress is rattled by what the BJP has done in the last 4 years. As per news reports, Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh is set to be appointed as the chief strategist of the grand old party for 2019, which is battling dwindling fortunes. Therefore, the Congress at its top brass seems to be baffled by PM Modi’s charismatic leadership and widespread popularity. It no longer seems to be using the ancestral heritage that it claimed to have along with Rahul Gandhi’s “young” and strong leadership.
Only god can save a party whose prospective campaign chief himself is in awe of his competitor’s persona and leadership. In fact, the Congress seems to be making the same mistake that it made in 2014 by focusing entirely on PM Modi. At that time, while the entire Congress was busy hurling distasteful remarks and abuses at Modi, he was constantly connecting with the electorate. Modi’s track record spoke for itself and Congress’ poor strategy only backfired. Whatever happened afterwards is known to everyone. Congress, which was the only undisputed pan India party at one time has now been reduced to a desperate political outfit seeking the support of regional satraps. In fact, since 2002, PM Modi has been an issue for the Congress but whenever they tried to centre their campaign around the charismatic leader, it has massively backfired for them. And now, this is the “only” issue for the Congress. Thus, it seems that 2019 elections will see a highly negative campaign on the part of Congress. It will be lacking substance and there will be an aggressive mudslinging campaign against PM Modi.
This also raises a question whether the Congress doubts its own ideology and leadership, which is why it feels the need to indulge in mud-slinging against PM Modi. Congress has nothing to show for itself and its poor governance track record does not help either. Congress therefore seems adamant on spewing venom and indulging in hateful politics. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always shown the capability of growing out of such vengeful politics. The cabal has been coming at him with full force but he has only grown exponentially with such undue and unfair criticism.
During the Karnataka elections, Rahul Gandhi had claimed stake on the top post. Even Siddaramaiah had come out supporting his candidature. But it seems that Congress has been shocked to the core after adverse results. There have re-strategised and now feel that Rahul Gandhi cannot be projected as a prime ministerial candidate. His weak leadership and uninspiring persona cannot take such a huge burden and responsibility. This statement by Jairam Ramesh has exposed an incompetent, incapable and nervous Congress which feels compelled to resorting to the most negative brand of politics. The 2019 Lok Sabha elections should make for an interesting campaign.