BJP'S 'HINDU UNITY' TAKES ON CONGRESS' CASTE CARD

The congress despite facing crushing deT feat in Haryana is trying to ploy the similar tactic of using the card of backward classes.

- AJIT MAINDOLA

This strategy made the Congress face severe repercussions, in Haryana. In the Lok Sabha, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi is once again steering the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) toward the arena of backward-class politics. In the Maharashtra and Jharkhand elections, he has brought this strategy back into play with the "Save Constitution" slogan. Congress believes its 99 seats in the recent Lok Sabha elections were due, in part, to this focus. However, a deeper analysis of its substantial defeats across various states might have led Rahul to reconsider this approach. In most Hindi and non-Hindi belt states, Congress faced direct losses to the BJP. Following a smaller-than-anticipated seat count in the Lok Sabha, the BJP overhauled its strategy in Haryana, where the 'Sangh' openly took charge of election management. Learning from its Lok Sabha missteps, the BJP presented a unified front, while Congress stuck to its traditional reliance on the Constitution and familiar tactics, ultimately leading to defeat.

BJP found a solution to Rahul's politics of backward classes with slogans like, "Bantoge to Katoge ('If you divide, you will be cut off').