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Journalism of Courage
THROUGH THE five years that the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress was in power in Chhattisgarh, senior leader T S Singh Deo bided his time – more or less patiently, unlike the more open intra-party bickering in Rajasthan. While chief ministership did not come the way of Singh Deo, 71 – though whispers that the initial understanding was of a two-and-a-half-year term each for Baghel and him never died down – the senior was persuaded by the high command to finally accept the post of Deputy CM in the months leading up to the elections.
This picture of forced unity did not eventually pay off for the Congress, and even less so for Singh Deo, who lost his own seat Ambikapur by 94 votes and saw the party wiped out in Sarguja, seen as his turf for his family’s royal links to the area. Excerpts from an interview:
The BJP did something right and we probably couldn’t match them. They did some work in terms of strategising. After (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah came here, the party worked out the points they should raise or which touched public sentiment. There was the PSC (exam paper leaks) issue, corruption issue, they went after the same very proactively and systematically. Even where there was no proof… there were just allegations… they were able to somehow convince the people.
We did very badly in urban areas. So urban areas proved a very weak spot for us. The focus currently is on the tribal areas (seen as Singh Deo stronghold)… but we must see the urban areas (seen as Baghel turf), where we have done badly.
It is not about being simplistic. They (the BJP) were always equally present as the Congress… Their preparation for the match was better. They had done their homework and were able to reach out (to people). We did some good work in government, but somehow we were not able to stay put and win the confidence of the people in a large number.
Raipur, we got 8 out of 20; Durg, where the CM (Baghel) is from, we are 10 out of 20… 10 out of 20 when we got even 5 out of 6 in Rajnandgaon (BJP ex-CM Raman Singh’s district). So the overall showing has not been good in urban areas. Bhilai area we lost; Durg city we lost; Durg rural we lost; Ahiwara, Vaishali Nagar… out of the 6 seats, we were able to get only 2. Bhupesh bhai’s seat and the seat of Devendra Yadav (Congress leader who barely retained his Bhilai seat)… the urban areas completely deserted us… right where the CM is. So there might have been some perception we were not able to counter, and they were able to magnify.
Corruption was there. The PSC scandal was there. The BJP made it into an issue, whether or not anything really went wrong. We were not able to counter it. That is how it appears to be. There were different issues in the tribal belt – different issues in Bastar, in Sarguja.
Frankly, I don’t know. That needs a lot of assessment. Rather than that, I think we were not able to retain the support of tribal social organisations, which is the Sarv Adivasi Samaj… They felt that maybe we are interfering in their internal matters, their relations etc. And it didn’t stop. Eventually, they formed a political outfit and contested. So we need to see what exactly happened.
There was disaffection amongst a section of the people, that is true. In Bastar, among the tribal Christian community, there was a lot of disaffection. The RSS, BJP outfits were preventing them from burial (in some places)… and they (the tribals) felt that the government would not stand with them and ensure their constitutional rights were protected…
A lot of development was done. We have to assess how we managed intra-party matters, how closely knit we were. Was there something wrong there? We need to analyse all that. Every constituency will have a particular story… because we have done very well also in many seats.
There has been a conscious attempt by the Congress to not appear to be distant from religious identities. The BJP had put us on the back foot on that. They tried to paint secularism as anti-religion. So the Congress made every attempt to appear to be not distant from religion… There are crores of Congress people who are very religious… So this was just an attempt to correct the perception.
Yes. I am sure it would have been that. Wherever it is being done, rather than being any Hindutva thing, it was just a positive thing that religion is also our individual right and we practise it.
I doubt it. For one, the Christian community is not that large. They are only 2%. And many of the tribals are pro-BJP… So why would religion affect them? Half the tribals would be pro-BJP, half of them would be pro-Congress… even today and even tomorrow.
It is my own responsibility, first and foremost. I was not able to present myself as a better candidate. And again in urban areas, where I was down by more than 8,500 votes. That is my personal responsibility, and I will make every attempt to correct it.
* The Congress swept the Sarguja region in 2018… Was there a perception that the party did not treat you well, and did that play out here?
The party has always been very accommodating and nice as far as I am concerned. But the perception among the people is another matter… And if that has made an impact, I cannot really say… I have no grievance… It is true that BJP leaders raked up the issue time and again during the campaign. Mr Modi did that, Mr ( BJP president J P) Nadda did that, Assam Chief Minister (Himanta Biswa Sarma) came, he did that… So I don’t know if that made an impact.
It starts from my doorstep and stops at my doorstep.
* And for the overall defeat of the party in the state?
Similarly, those responsible.
Everybody. We cannot single out anybody. We must take collective responsibility… India was winning all the matches in the cricket World Cup, but we sadly lost the final. This seems to be a similar scenario. We were doing pretty well on all fronts – local body elections, urban body elections, by-elections – but we couldn’t win the final.
We were quite aware that it was not going to be a walkover. There was confidence, there was no overconfidence. In our internal surveys, we constantly discussed that it (the Congress tally) is appearing to be between 45 and 55. The professional reports we were getting… these did not show a walkover either. Some reports said 52 to 62, some 45 to 55… Some of our senior leaders, obviously to pump up the morale, were saying 75-plus. That is an expression of strategy rather than overconfidence.
Stayed more together.
We needed to do something, and I think one of the things that appears is that we should have been seen and been more together.
When we say the Congress is reduced to one state, we do not say that it got more than 40% votes in all the three states. It is sad that the perception that is created is that the Congress has been washed out. If you have more than 40% of the vote share, you have a very substantial presence. The attempt is to build on that.
Everybody is a factor. Every leader comes and enthuses their party… If Rahulji comes, it enthuses us tremendously. If Khargeji comes, Priyankaji has been touring… it helps a lot, certainly.
The BJP did not have a face in this election. So that is hardly a criterion… anywhere. The BRS (Bharat Rashtra Samithi) had a face in Telangana. How did it help them? The Congress did not have a face in Karnataka or in Himachal Pradesh, how did it negatively impact the party? It just so happens that Mr Modi is a face currently.
There tends to be sycophancy. We can see shades of that in almost all parties. They take it beyond a point. Everything that is done, they will credit Mr Modi, which is not true or correct at all. That he would not have any presence is not what I am saying, but to do things like standing up and clapping in Parliament (for him), it is taking things just too far…. Is there no BJP? Is there no RSS? There is only one Mr Modi and will they collapse after him? How do we get taken in by things like this? Time catches up with all of us. Today Mr Modi is there, tomorrow — it is probably not nice to say these things, I am just trying to put it in perspective – will the BJP and RSS be zero when Mr Modi is not there?
We must come together, that is the basic thing. Where there are huge challenges before the national polity, where its very nature is apparently under threat and challenge, the basic tenets of the Constitution are being set aside, most Constitutional agencies are being misused, when there is a huge challenge to the nature of our nation, even then if we are not able to come together, then it is very sad. We need to come together.
The Congress and the parties. Because now we are talking about the INDIA alliance.
It seems difficult today, and I don’t think it is necessary. It is not at all necessary.
