BJP’s CAA outreach is turning out to be a resounding success and the Congress workers themselves agree to this ground reality. As per reports, worried Congress cadres have revealed that the BJP is finding success in its door-to-door pro-CAA campaign.
This development immediately followed former Karnataka CM, Siddaramaiah’s remarks that the Congress should take the lead in the anti-CAA campaign. Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Siddaramaiah said that it is the duty of every Congress worker to oppose the CAA. He added, “What’s the intention in keeping Muslims out? There are refugees who’ve come in from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar and Bhutan as well.”
“The BJP is going door-to-door and they are able to convince people about the CAA. People are asking us questions challenging our narrative. If we don’t act, things will go out of hand,” retired IAS officer, Syed Zameer Pasha, told the Congress leadership during a CAA-NRC workshop organised by the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC).
Congress MLA from Jayanagar constituency in Karnataka has also voiced a similar concern. She said, “For the past one month, BJP councillors and legislators are going door-to-door. From our party, the least that can be done is provide us with pamphlets or handbooks explaining the CAA and the National Register of Citizens.”
Mahila Congress leader, Kavitha Reddy has also corroborated that the Congress has been unable to counter the BJP outreach on CAA. She said, “People can’t comprehend if we use jargon involving Constitutional articles.” She added, “We need to have a simple list of frequently asked questions that we can take to people.”
In what also discloses that the relentless opposition to the CAA is hurting Congress’ image and further strengthening the nationwide negative sentiment against the Congress, party cadres have also sought clarification from the leadership on how to counter the idea that the Congress is “anti-Hindu”. Therefore, by opposing the CAA, the ground-level opinion about Congress is only plummeting further. It has already emerged as the party which is against the interests of the Hindu community, and opposing legislation like the CAA doesn’t help its cause.
Despite adverse feedback from the party cadres, Congress leadership seems unmoved. The fact remains that the Congress campaign against the CAA has failed because it is an unconscionable campaign, based upon an illogical assessment of the historical context.
On the other hand, BJP’s pro-CAA outreach which was launched merely three weeks ago is turning out to be a grand success as admitted by the Congress workers itself. The simple reason behind its success is that the campaign resonated with the people at large.
The nation at large is in support of giving relief to those persecuted minorities in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who have no country to look towards except India. In such circumstances, it was never really a battle of perception. All that the BJP had to do was to explain the legislation and debunk the myths and rumours against it. The Congress and other opposition parties had made all possible efforts to mislead the nation about the CAA, but few weeks of BJP’s outreach have done to dust the entire propaganda against the Amendment legislation.