Rajasthan Assembly Speaker C P Joshi headed the Congress Manifesto Committee in the state and was part of its 10-member Core Committee too. In the results that were declared on Sunday, Joshi was among the major candidates who lost. Contesting from Nathdwara, he lost to first time candidate Vishvraj Singh Mewar, by over 7,500 votes. Known as professor in party circles, Joshi talks to The Indian Express on what could have been done differently by the Congress party. Excerpts: What could be the reasons behind the Congress loss? If you see, last time the Congress vote was 39 per cent. We have retained the vote percentage. The reason (for the loss) is that strategically you have to increase the vote share to win the election. BJP has increased its share, we have to appreciate it. But we will have to adopt a strategy to increase our vote share too. What could have been done differently by the party? You are fighting against a well organised, well-oiled party like BJP, supported by RSS. So there were dedicated workers in the BJP. We have to look at the organisation structure of (our) party. That is the only difference, because they work 24X7. Somewhere RSS is doing some work, somewhere else it's (talking about) Ram Mandir. There is some (constant) activity within the umbrella of the party. So you have to match the activity accordingly. Election is one part and after the advent of Information Technology, opinion making is a continuous process. You have to develop a narrative and you have to use your organisation. There are different strata of people: young people, women, SC, ST, OBCs, people who are thinking about local issues, national issues, all of which requires organisation working in different areas. So it cannot be only a one-time effort where you work for one year and not the entire five years. There was anti-incumbency against sitting MLAs and even then the party repeated most of them. Fortunately, there was no anti-incumbency. People started thinking about pro-incumbency. But the pro-incumbency was not so much where it could be turned into a victory. That’s all. And adding new faces adds to the strength of the party. But you still have to address the issue of the organisation. In Bundi, Mr Harimohan, who is over the age of 85, won the election. Mr Shanti Dhariwal has won, Rajendra Pareek has won — there are a number of old guys who have also won the election. Party was banking heavily on welfare schemes but it doesn’t seem to have translated into expected numbers. That’s why I am saying BJP still received more votes (because of organisation). However, I have not gone through all the 200 constituencies and I have not analysed the data yet. I can speak broadly, that’s all. Last time Congress had done well in eastern Rajasthan. Do you think side-lining Sachin Pilot cost the party on several seats? It is speculation; I won’t be able to comment on this because I have not gone through all 200 constituencies. Please understand, it is a reflection of organisational weakness. Sometimes a caste combination gives you an advantage, other times it doesn’t. It is the organisation which is important. So you have to address the issue of having 24X7 activities for the party. You contested from the Mewar region which witnessed the Kanhaiya Lal case. It was constantly raised by top BJP leaders, apart from acquittal in Jaipur riots. It’s not as if some (BJP) people just raised Kanhaiyalal (and that was it). If you take feedback right from the grassroots level, they’ve mobilised the local religious leaders in every town and village. If you go to the rural areas, you will find out they have used every small district and town (to this end). What are the next steps for the party? I am a teacher. I will not be able to comment on it but the Pradesh Congress Committee chief and honourable CM will be able to. My knowledge and every adjective (for me) is irrelevant if I can’t win my own election. That’s the crux of the problem in electoral politics — you have to win the election. All the attributes and adjectives are positive when you win the elections. But if you lose.
