In the current Lok Sabha poll campaign BJP appears to have a clear edge over Congress Party. The communication strategy of the BJP has given it an upper hand over Congress. This is so despite the fact that Congress has a host of issues to corner the BJP. These range from demonetisation, growing unemployment, rural distress, Pulwama attack and BJP’s misplaced view of nationalism as borne out by Sadhvi Pragya’s sad remarks on martyrdom of Hemant Karkare.

 

Congress first came up with a pointed and biting slogan like 'Chowkidar Chor Hai' to target PM Modi. But it could not continue the push called for to sustain it a bit longer or till the end of the polls. The BJP did not take much of a time to turn it around to its 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' blitz to blunt or minimise the damage that the Congress’ charge could have caused.

 

This is so mainly because of a delay in deciding what message is to be sent and how it is to be sent by the Congress communication department. The party insiders feel that too much reliance on the chairman of the department Randeep Singh Surewala is taking its toll upon the message and appeal issued by the party and its top leaders. First the department waits for the message to come through the top ranks of the party instead of generating it through its own initiative and then at best it confines itself to rebut the tirade that follows from the rival or BJP’s side against those ranks and the points made by them.

 

Seldom does the communications wing of Congress come up with its own ideas to preempt or reverse the push coming from the BJP, say Congress sources. This is despite the fact that in 2014 the then Congress president Sonia Gandhi had attributed the defeat of the party to its inability to effectively communicate its point of view in the media and among the public. Yet, the change that was desired or sought by her never came through the past five years or so, remark old hats of the party with a wry face.

 

The result of this is palpably clear as the party often struggles to present its point of view with the desired deft, drive and in a focused way in primetime TV debates. No team of spokespersons could be built in last five years to match or worth facing the array of personalities put by the BJP for TV shows. And when it came to confront the strong nationalist push mounted by the BJP to get an edge in the current polls, it was none other but the newly appointed Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi who had to come forward to take on the BJP. During her recent campaign at Fatehpur Sekri she challenged BJP’s brand of nationalism by arguing that people should be at the centre of any definition of nationalism and a nationalist thrust cannot come without taking along the people. What she meant was that as the Government merrily goes around playing its tune of nationalism majority of people find themselves to be left in the cold.

 

Thus, the communication strategy of the Congress is turning out to be top down rather than its being the other way round where even getting the full backing of party’s actual communicators to points made by the higher leadership is impossibly difficult. This is also turning out to be the case with the party president Rahul Gandhi’s minimum income guarantee, or NYAY, scheme for the poor, needy and deserving individuals and families who have for long been left to rot at the bottom of the huge heap built by the society.

 

The question is who is to be blamed since the BJP’s Main Bhi Chowkdar campaign has reached the last corners of the country and a scheme like NYAY or Nyuntam Aay Yojna is yet to catch up? Among other things the answer lies in the communication gap between the different communication arms of the Congress. The party’s social media team is headed by film actor-turned-media player Divya Spandana. She obviously needs political content from her party peers of whom there should be no dearth because of Congress being always crowded by so many senior and experienced leaders and former ministers. But the fact that Congress’ social media campaign is way behind that of the BJP speaks of the gap between different wings of the older party.

 

Besides, this it is no secret why two former Congress spokespersons Tom Vadakkan and Priyanka Chaturvedi have to break ranks and join BJP and Shiv Sena respectively. This, indeed, points to bickering and heartburns within the media department of the Congress. Moreover, a former Union Minister Jaipal Reddy has rarely been seen at Congress Press conferences in past eight months or so after he was made a spokesman of the party by Rahul Gandhi. Thus, the sooner Congress puts its media department in order, the better for the party and the better for its rank and file.