UP lesson: Party workers more important than leaders
Tuesday March 06, 2012 04:57:00 PM,
Arun
Anand,
IANS
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Why did the Congress do badly in
Uttar Pradesh? The answer is simple: it had a weak organisation. A
similar answer explains the BJP’s woes also.
And why did the Samajwadi Party (SP) perform so well in Uttar
Pradesh? Because it had a strong organisational structure.
Popular leaders and big rallies attract the media glare but one
requires an organisational structure at the grassroots to
transform popular mood into votes.
This is one of the basic principles of electoral politics that
many of our political parties tend to ignore. And they pay the
price.
Both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have lot to
introspect.
A comparison between Akhilesh Yadav, son and scion of Samajwadi
Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, and Rahul Gandhi, scion of the
Gandhi family, could help in understanding the Uttar Pradesh
riddle.
Akhilesh may not be popular nationally as much as Rahul Gandhi but
the fact remains that the former’s efforts to revive the SP’s
fortunes were backed by a strong organisational network.
Both young leaders worked really hard. There is no taking away
from Rahul Gandhi the credit due to him.
The BJP too tried all the tricks in its bag including getting Uma
Bharti, a backward leader and Hindutva hardliner, to campaign in
the state.
But the party’s weak organisational structure, now collapsing
under the weight of its too many leaders, did it no good.
It is clear there was a strong anti-incumbency factor in Uttar
Pradesh. The BJP and Congress were far ahead of SP in ’star
power’.
But when it came to transforming popular sentiment to votes, SP
took advantage of the anti-incumbency mood in India’s most
populous state.
The BSP faced the wrath of people due to poor governance as well
as the fissures in party at the lowest level.
The knee jerk reaction of Mayawati as she got rid of a number of
ministers over the last year in a bid to reclaim lost ground shook
the party structure, resulting in its drubbing.
For both the Congress and the BJP, the challenge ahead of the 2014
general elections will be to rebuild their organisational
structure — if they want to be an important player in the state
which elects 80 MPs.
This is a huge challenge as members of both parties stand
demoralised in wake of the rout.
Arun Anand can be
contacted at arunanand1972@gmail.com
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Picture of the Day |
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Union
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Water Resources Pawan
Kumar Bansal inspecting the damaged gate number 16 at the
Farakka Barrage, Murshidabad district, West Bengal on March
03, 2012. State Minister of Irrigation & Waterways, Micro &
Small Scale Enterprises & Textiles, Government of West Bengal
Dr. Manas Ranjan Bhunia and State Minister of Development &
Planning and Power, Government of West Bengal Manish Gupta are
also seen. |
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