The Hindu : Sonia's poll managers get media act together

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 21, 2004

National

National - Elections 2004

Sonia's poll managers get media act together

The party, still smarting under its December 2003 poll debacle, has decided to put in place a communications strategy that will be in sync with its political strategy, says Anita Joshua.

December 2003 was not the first time the Congress was made to bite the dust in an election. But this drubbing by the electorate in the north — particularly Rajasthan — left the Grand Old Party in a state of `shock and awe'. Well, almost. For, the party has not called it quits despite its losses.

However, the `shock and awe' it was subjected to has changed the Congress, the party's war managers say. While its style of functioning and decision-making remains as opaque as ever, insiders maintain that the December 2003 drubbing has forced the party to reinvent itself; and that, too, at short notice.

A reluctant student of media management, whatever the Congress does today will appear to be a pale imitation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has mastered the art of using the media to its advantage. Still, working on the `better late than never' principle, the Congress appears to have decided to put in place a communications strategy that is `in sync with the party's political strategy' and not a case of the right hand not knowing what the left is doing.

As an indicator of the party's state of preparedness - particularly vis-a-vis communications strategy - poll managers point out that the Congress released its first advertisement within 24 hours of the announcement of elections. "In 1999, our advertisements came out a week after candidates were finalised." In fact, this time round a conscious effort is being made to announce candidates as early as possible to allow them at least a month if not more time to campaign - another first for the party if realised.

Going by what the AICC secretary, Jairam Ramesh, a member of the party's war-room, has to say about these elections, the Congress is doing a lot of things differently. "For the first time, the Congress is an active alliance-seeker and coalition-builder. The very nature of Congress president Sonia Gandhi's campaign has been restructured dramatically from a rally-based exercise to the Jan Sampark Abhiyan, which will take her through key States by the first week of April. Normally, the campaign is cent per cent rally-based. This time, rallies constitute only 30 per cent of her campaign."

Instead of taking the people to the leader — the rent-a-crowd rallies — the Congress is taking their leader to the people. "This is a more interactive mode; it gives her greater exposure and what comes across is the persona of a caring person." While no Congressman will say so, it doubles as a perfect foil for what is generally seen as Ms. Gandhi's weak spot — public speaking. Interestingly, the route of her `roadshows' is the same as that of Rajiv Gandhi's 1991 Sadbhavana Yatra, when the party was trying to stage a comeback too.

An attempt is also being made to have a `multi-focal' campaign instead of one that is Delhi-based and Congress president-centred. While the `filing' of a chargesheet on the Vajpayee Government from four cities is a case in point, the party had 30 `youth leaders' criss-crossing the country in its first phase of campaigning - which ended on March 5 - with the theme `Disha 2004: Siksha Aur Rozgaar' (Vision 2004: Education and Employment).

Similarly, the media strategy is regional media-focussed, and some States — Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh — where the Congress feels it has a good chance will get particular attention. Its advertisement campaign is aimed at taking the sheen off the Government's `India Shining' propaganda "which the BJP has appropriated for itself after the Model Code of Conduct became operative by christening the Deputy Prime Minister, L. K. Advani's roadshow as Bharat Uday Yatra". But, this constitutes only 30 per cent of the ad campaign; the bulk will portray `Congress achievements and priorities'.

While the thrust of this is to expose the `tall claims' made by the ruling alliance by urging people to ponder — `Sochiye, Congress ko vote dijiyae' (think, vote for the Congress) being the bottom-line of the campaign — the Congress backroom boys are "up against the odds as the BJP is more aggressive, is the party in power and perceived to be on a comeback trail, and has more money". The impact of black-and-white over multi-colour glossies as a stark medium of `telling the truth' notwithstanding, the choice of colour and size of advertisements was mandated by cash constraints. "Ours is a low-cost, no-frills campaign."

Another challenge has been to ensure there is no `panic/knee-jerk reaction' to the BJP's spin machinery. And, while a conscious effort has been made to give the party's image a `face-lift' by sending out youth leaders to campaign, the Congress appears to have decided that it cannot jettison its past just because a sizable section of the electorate was born after 1947. Neither is it apologetic about having a foreign-born leader as party president or its dependence on one family.

Or so it would seem. For video CDs have been brought out on popular patriotic scores like `Kar Chalaen Hum Fida Jan-o-Tan Sathiyo' and `E Mere Vatan Ke Logon, Zara Aankh Mein Bhar Lo Paani' with a loud and clear message that the Sonia-Rahul-Priyanka troika are the true heirs to `The Party of the Freedom Movement', `The Party that built Modern India', and `The Party that brought India to the 21st Century'. And, for added punch, there is a five-minute audio recording in clipped phrases with the refrain `Ek galat vote purae rashtra ko apahij bana deta hain' (one wrong vote, can handicap a nation).

Despite the widespread acclamation that the BJP's Pramod Mahajan got for turning a possible 1-3 verdict into a 3-1 result in December 2003 through sheer `management', those steering the Congress' campaign machinery are not so sure that elections can be won by media management alone. "At best, it can complement political mobilisation for which there is no substitute.'' Still, there is a view that the audio-video material will help galvanise the party's `sleeping network' across the country to do its best.

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