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Journalism of Courage
In spite of the constitution of the Congress Campaign Committee two months ago, the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) held its first campaign committee meeting on Tuesday, less than a month before the state goes to polls. While the Congress campaign has remained largely dormant for the last two months, the ruling BJP has slowly but steadily announced its campaign across the state.
State Congress spokesperson Satinder Raghav says that veteran Congress leader Kamala Beniwal chaired the first Congress campaign committee meeting on Tuesday. Though the committee consists of 44 senior leaders from the state, only 30 turned up for the meeting. Most candidates who have secured tickets have begun campaigning in their constituencies sans directives from the campaign committee.
The last Congress rally in the state was held as far back as September 8, when party chief Sonia Gandhi kicked off the party campaign from Deoli in Tonk district. The only leader to have covered the state in recent days seems to have been former chief minister Ashok Ghelot, who toured the state three months ago.
The BJP’s Maha Kumbh for party booth workers held on November 7 in Jaipur saw close to three lakh party workers turn up from across the state. “Equally important was the Kumbh’s timing, just before announcing the first list of candidates, which ensured a good turnout,” claims state BJP vice president Arun Chaturvedi.
It is not incidental, in this context, that the Congress’ infighting over ticket distribution is far from over. The first Congress list saw bouts of protests in several districts in the state. The party high command is yet to disclose candidates for the remaining 54 assembly constituencies, most of which are controversial. For the first time, however, the BJP’s first list has also managed to irk party workers, with the high command distributing tickets to candidates who jumped ship after being denied a Congress ticket.
