In 2nd door-to-door drive in a year, Congress to talk about BJP ‘failures’ | India News

NEW DELHI: Barely a year after its “ghar ghar guarantee” campaign, Congress will again touch every household for a political dialogue in the coming days, as it seeks to turn its protests against the “targeting” of the Gandhi family by the governing BJP into a nationwide mobilisation exercise.
The party has planned a household-level political outreach between May 20 and May 30, during which booth-level teams of state units will undertake door-to-door dialogue with families, encouraging them to air their grievances over bread-and-butter issues and governance. At the same time, the teams on door knocks will seek households’ support through symbolic pledges to “protect the Constitution”.
The micro-level engagement is reminiscent of the “ghar ghar guarantee” campaign by state Congress units to take the party manifesto to voters in every household during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, while also pushing the opposition INDIA bloc’s charge of “Constitution in danger” against BJP.
Before the door-to-door campaign in May, Congress has planned a 30-day three-stage protest rallies – “Samvidhan Bachao Abhiyan” – over national issues, including the “witch hunt against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and family of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra”. As per the communication sent out to states by Congress general secretary KC Venugopal, Congress units will hold state-level rallies from April 25-30 and district level rallies form May 3-10 and assembly level rallies from May 11-17.
The elaborate exercise from state to assembly level will target the Modi govt and BJP but the conversation will shift with every rung. While the state level rallies will focus on national issues like “subversion of Constitutional institutions, freedom of expression, attacks on federalism”, with eminent citizens to be invited to lend credence to the charges, the district protest agenda includes “failures” of the Modi govt – rising unemployment, inflation, collapse of MSMEs, rural distress and weakening of welfare policies – which would be buttressed by local narratives and testimonials of citizens.
In contrast, the assembly protest rallies will talk about the “collapse of local governance” and “targeting” of opposition members through agencies and “marginalisation” of SC/ST/OBC/minorities, with focus on “ideological betrayal” of the constitutional promise of social justice.
While the protests are devised to highlight the “harassment” of the Gandhi family by BJP, Congress strategists see it as an opportune vehicle to mobilise people, which fits well with the party’s new-found interest in empowering the district units to rejuvenate the cadres and increase the voter outreach.