Just as morning shows the day, the Congress appears elated after the first phase of polling, confident of comfortably forming the government.
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“The PM is so rattled that he has had to resort to language unbecoming of a prime minister, but that’s Mr. Modi for you!,” says Supriya Shrinate, Chairperson, Social Media Department, AICC in an interview to Devraj Mahanta of GPlus. She adds that the BJP’s `all is well’ claim, on the other hand, is actually a throwback to the film 3 Idiots.
GPlus: The Congress’s star campaigner, Rahul Gandhi, is yet to visit Assam. Is it because of cash crunch or strategy?
SS: First of all I must specify that Rahul Gandhi is not the only star campaigner. We are blessed to have star campaigners like Priyanka Gandhi, Congress president, and a host of young leaders who have a huge pull whether it is Sachin Pilot and people like that. We are very excited about this election, Mr. Gandhi has been traversing the length and breadth of this country. He was in Assam a few weeks back for the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, it is another thing that he scared the living daylights out of Himanta Biswa Sarma and he didn't allow him to visit Guwahati. But, the reality is that Mr. Gandhi has toured Assam extensively and Mrs. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has a huge pull which is why she came and Mr. Gandhi might come, one doesn't know. But, we're trying to cover as many constituencies as possible. Places that he’s been to, our effort is to not repeat because it is strategic to send him to places he has not gone to. Given his popularity, given the huge currency he carries, given the message of love- Nafrat ke bazaar mein mohabbat ki dukaan- that he carries. I think it’s strategic to not repeat him in places that he has been to.
GPlus: What is the status of INDIA bloc? Is it in a position to do what it was meant to do– unitedly fight BJP?
SS: More than that actually, if you see the first phase of polling in 102 seats across 21 states, we are very comfortably going to form the government. BJP is running helter-skelter. The PM is so rattled that he has had to resort to a language unbecoming of a prime minister, but that’s Mr. Modi for you! He’s never held the grace or the dignity of his office very high. I am very hopeful that in each state, sometimes as junior partner and sometimes as senior partner, together we are fighting the BJP, together we are going to stall the BJP and its allies whether it’s in Bihar, West Bengal or in Tamil Nadu. Elections that have been held from Maharashtra to Rajasthan to UP, we have done very well so I am very excited about a good prospect for the INDIA alliance. And it is simply because we are fighting on issues that matter to the people. We refuse to be diverted, we refuse to be distracted, we are hell-bent on raising the issues of unemployment, price rise, income and equality, high levels of poverty, the issues of farmers, the issues of daily wage labourers and women. And that is what election is all about.
GPlus: The PM has declared that BJP has already swept the first phase of polls. What do you think?
SS: The PM’s declaration that BJP has swept in the first phase itself is a huge stamp on the things that I have mentioned. A rattled man says that he has won when he is actually losing. If you remember that movie 3 Idiots, when all is going wrong you keep saying all is well, so the PM is resorting to tricks like that. That is the biggest exit poll possible that BJP is going out of power. But, set aside the PM, after years of governing this country with a stunning majority in both his terms, he is not speaking about one issue that matters, he does not have one piece of work that he can term it as his achievement and discuss that. He does not have one issue for the future. The PM is rather resorting to issues which even local level B grade leaders will also not talk about; the language that he is using, the body language that he is resorting to, the kind of bigoted, crass communal statements that he is making. Of course, on watch of the Election Commission of India!
GPlus: Does lower polling in comparison to 2019 signify anything as far as the outcome is concerned?
SS: Actually, it does! I would want more and more India to come out and vote, but each time there has been lower polling, it has spelt disaster for the BJP. In 2004- lower polling we won; 2009- lower polling we won; 2014 and 2019, higher polling they won. That is why alarm bells are ringing within the BJP.
GPlus: Do you have any regret that Himanta Biswa Sarma is no longer in the Congress?
SS: I cannot be more thankful that he is no longer with the Congress. At times I ask my boss, why didn't you throw him out earlier? A man as deeply communal, a man as deeply crass, a man as deeply deficit, what was he doing in the Congress all this while. I don't know if this is a colour or a hue or a characteristic that he has acquired after going to the BJP, but the Congress is no place for people who share the kind of ideology, who make the kind of crass jokes, who make the kind of statements that HBS does. Again, he learns from the best and his role model is the prime minister himself. The PM should be censored and barred from campaigning for the deeply communal statements that he has made, but on Election Commission’s watch he goes on unabated.
GPlus:How are you matching up with the BJP’s social media campaign, the way they have been pouring in money?
SS: BJP has more money than even God can print. Whether it is the electoral bond, which was a quid pro quo for deals. There were cuts that were being taken, there was an entire extortion racket that Narendra Modi and Amit Shah were running. They have more money than God can print and they will pour it into their campaign. 6500 crore rupees spent on government advertisements only to amplify the image of Narendra Modi is not a mean task and it is happening only because they have that kind of money. Congress does not have that kind of money, and not just that we don't have that kind of money, our resources, our funds have been choked. Our accounts were frozen, 135 crores unaccounted, taken from the contacts where we should have got reprieve, a common association should be allowed to deposit 20 per cent and then fight the case, exceptions were made for us and that was not allowed. So we don't have that kind of money, what we have is the power of raising real issues. Why is it that with the fraction of the money the BJP is spending, we are the talk of town? Why is it that the PM constantly needs to attack only the Congress party? Why is it that we have higher engagement on our social media platforms than the BJP? Why is it the people are talking about our manifesto and not theirs? So, there is some truth to the fact that we fought this election valiantly, we have fought this election on issues that matter, and we have projected before people an alternative that is right for India, an alternative that will keep India united and an alternative that will build India that our forefathers laid down their lives for.
GPlus: Are you satisfied with the campaign outcome in Guwahati?
SS: I am very happy that I actually went for one of those meetings of our Guwahati candidate. I think Guwahati is such a beautiful city, it has no business being the second most polluted city in the world. Why should people in Guwahati face drinking water problems the way they do? Why should Guwahati face the traffic jams the way they do? I think these are very basic issues and these should be raised by the local governments, they should also be raised by representatives who they choose to be represented by in Parliament. The BJP has changed its candidate, but I don't think that they will win, I do believe that the Congress candidate is fighting a very good fight in Guwahati. And you may shut down Guwahati for Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, but you cannot shut down Guwahati from voting right, and making a wrong that you have committed right, eventually.
