TACTICAL SHIFTS

THE CONGRESS AND BJP MAKE LAST-GASP STRATEGY CHANGES, BUT THE CORE CONTEST IS STILL BETWEEN GEHLOT'S GUARANTEES AND MODI, THE FACE OF THE BJP

- Rohit Parihar

A week before the state goes to the polls, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and the ruling Congress seem to have received inputs that their campaign is slipping. The party was ahead, spending profusely to advertise its welfare schemes before the model code of conduct kicked in, but a slide has set in since then. One reason, sources say, is the conflict between campaign strategists Designbox and the state unit.

In October, Pradesh Congress Committee president Govind Singh Dotasra had a spat with Designbox chief Naresh Arora, who reportedly refused to share the strategy matrix with him. Later, many candidates put their foot down against the plan to organise local road shows, saying it was disrupting their campaign. "This is not the time to indulge in such things," a senior leader confided. "We wanted to stick to the traditional way of campaign within the constituency." As a result, the party has left the mega shows to central leaders like party president Mallikarjun Kharge and the Gandhi siblings, Rahul and Priyanka, who will hold 10-odd rallies and road shows between November 15 and 21, around the same time as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP president J.P. Nadda will do so.

The second change is to involve Gehlot's bête noire Sachin Pilot more. Pilot's Gurjar vote bank was shifting away from the Congress as a result of which at least a dozen official candidates could lose, a narrative that the BJP has gleefully amplified to erode the former deputy CM's stronghold in eastern Rajasthan. A correction is now happening with the latest party posters and banners carrying pictures of Pilot along with Gehlot. Pilot will also now be among the lead campaigners.