Biggest challenge is to get voters to booths: Congress leader Jairam Ramesh

Senior Congressman and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh believes the Karnataka assembly elections is crucial for his party, especially since the next round of elections is in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh — where the party is at the helm — and Madhya Pradesh where it emerged the single largest party.Also See: Karnataka Election 2023 LiveDuring a freewheeling interaction at TOI’s office in Bengaluru, Ramesh said there is an excitement in favour of Congress, but the party needs to maintain discipline and not get diverted by unnecessary issues. Excerpts:

How has it been going for Congress in this election?

There has been good traction for Congress and its candidates. While I would not term it a wave, there is certainly a sentiment in favour of the party. My assessment is that we will make it with a simple majority.

Would you say that the ticket distribution has worked out favourably?

Yes, this time we did not make a mistake in ticket distribution. For example, in Karkala, we used to always give it to a micro community. Incidentally, former CM Veerappa Moily won from this segment six times, and he hails from a micro-backward community. But the major communities here are Billavas and Bunts. This time we gave the ticket to a Bunt.

What is your assessment of campaigning over the next one week?

It will be quite interesting. For example, the movie ‘Kerala Story’ is strategically scheduled to release on May 5. It is likely to turn into a controversy despite not pertaining to Karnataka at all.

Has there been a change in Congress’ approach in this election?

Yes. We have stayed away from controversies, maintained discipline and concentrated only on local issues. Look at Rahul Gandhi’s speeches. You can see a change in his approach with national issues like Gautam Adani and his relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi taking a backseat. He is speaking 90% only on local issues. Moreover, we are covering all 224 constituencies systematically with Kharge, Rahul, Priyanka, DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah concentrating on small and big seats.

But comments by the AICC president and his son have given BJP a stick to beat Congress with…

I do not believe these are make-or-break issues and, thankfully, there are statements made by BJP functionaries against Sonia, Rahul and others. This will help us negate any influence of those statements. Kharge’s statement was heavily edited.

Where does the Congress need to be careful?

The biggest challenge for Congress is on election day. We need to do booth mobilisation. There are 250 booths on an average in every constituency. We need 8 to 10 volunteers for each booth in the state. So, election day management is very crucial for us and we must ensure we bring voters to booths.

Why has the Congress failed to build a cadre base in Karnataka despite being strong?

There definitely is cadre for Congress in Karnataka. But it also depends on the candidate. If the candidate is dedicated, then the cadre base is strong. But we do need to organise it and not depend on floating party workers. We need ideologically committed workers.

Are you facing a challenge in attracting fresh cadre?

While it will be a serious challenge for us in the longterm, we do have a considerable working, middle-class cadre in this election. Cadre must be young. In comparison to other states, the cadre in Karnataka is still young. When there is a prospect of the Congress forming the government, our cadre is young but when there is no such prospect, they turn out to be old.

What is the difference between the campaigns of Congress and BJP?

While BJP is heavily dependent upon PM Modi and Union minister Amit Shah who have limited campaigns, their local leaders are not to be found. DK Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah and even Mallikarjun Kharge, also a local, are the face of our party.

But what will happen if the Congress fails to form a government?

It will be a big psychological blow. In the next cycle of elections we have two governments in power [Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh], and another where we were in power before defections [Madhya Pradesh]… So, we have a lot invested in these next elections. If we win in Karnataka, we will go to this round of elections with self confidence. But if we lose, with the track record of this government [Centre] and anti-incumbency, it will be a devastating blow. We must retain at least two of the four to survive. If we win three, then revival is on hand.