Getting the Message Right

The Congress Party at its AICC session held in Ahmedabad last week seems to be firmly committed towards the plank of social justice. Clearly Rahul Gandhi feels this is the way to rebuild the party and regain its lost glory, by reaching out to the marginalised and weaker sections. This he also hopes will ramp up into an effective foil against the BJP’s Hindutva politics. It is the old Mandal versus Kamandal story once again. But does the Congress have the credibility to emerge as the champion of the backwards?

The AICC political resolution, adopted at the Ahmedabad has pledged that when the Congress returns to power it will conduct a nationwide caste census and breach the 50 percent cap on reservations for OBCs, SCs and STs. In the meantime the state government in Karnataka is looking to implement a caste census that suggests a significant rejigging of the existing reservations by increasing the existing quota to beyond 75%. A cabinet meeting of the state government scheduled on April 17th will take a call on whether it should go ahead and implement this report or not. Given the fact that Rahul Gandhi is rooting for its implementation the cabinet’s decision is expected to go along the expected lines. Of course this will be challenged in the court by the BJP but at least the Congress will have made its intent clear. In fact the AICC session began by praising the Congress government in Telangana for the successful completion of its caste census which was completed within three months. This was a promise made during the 2023 state election campaign. Since then the Telangana government has passed two key bills that increase reservations for Backward classes to 42% across education, employment and local governance sectors.

The intent and the messaging is clear. Now the Congress is tackling the question of credibility. For instance, the BJP still talks about Rajiv Gandhi’s opposition to the Mandal report, and even Rahul Gandhi’s flaunting of his janeu during 2019 elections. What the Congress needs now is a consistent approach. Also, this is a stand that will clash more with its own allies than with the BJP. In Bihar it is the RJD that has fashioned itself as the champion of the backwards as has the SP in Uttar Pradesh. Will the Congress be stealing their vote bank with its renewed commitment to the Mandal plank?
Take again the Congress party’s renewed outreach to the Muslim minorities. By not attending the Ayodhya Pran Pratishtha ceremony or going to the Kumbh mela, Rahul has made it clear that he is not going to play up the soft Hindutva card anytime soon. Yet when it came to the Wafq board debate in parliament, he did not lead the Opposition’s charge. One obvious reason as to why he sat out this particular debate could be that he did not want to give the BJP further ammunition to polarize the narrative. One of the main criticisms against the Congress has been that it is not clear what it stands for, apart from opposing Modi and the RSS. If Rahul can deliver a consistent and credible message to the backwards, OBCs, SCs, STs and Muslims, then it could be a step in the right direction.