NEW DELHI: For the first time since Independence, the Congress campaign in the capital will be projecting its central leadership in a low key manner and relying greatly on some of its past stalwarts to give the party candidates victory in the elections primarily against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BP).
Although the campaign strategy does not seem to have been planned that way, most of the candidates contesting the assembly poll are consciously either keeping P.V.Narasimha Rao’s name and photograph out of the posters or are using it as one of the many which also depict charismatic leaders like Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi besides Sonia Gandhi. On Oct.25, the Indian Youth Congress put up several hoardings in the city, two of the most Prominent being at the Rajpath Rafi Marg crossing and the Windsor place roundabout which carry pictures of Rajiv Gandhi with the caption “Maa bete ka yeh bulidaan, yaadkarega Hindustan.” Another hoarding right opposite the LYC office, the site of a car bomb blast last month, carries a huge portrait of Indira Gandhi, who was assassinated nine years ago.
The intention behind such hoardings and posters is clear, an attempt is being made to recall the contributions of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi as the contribution of those now at the helm of affairs may not be enough.
There are hoardings showing Rao also but they get totally over shad owed by those of either the candidates themselves or of the giant hand symbol of the Congress party. Many of the candidates contesting the polls say, in private conservations, that the Prime Minister was a liability and nor an asset to their campaign strategy. But they had to include him in their scheme of things as otherwise they would unnecessarily cam the wrath of the high command.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 29, 1993
