Congress must think and act positive
Negative campaigning built around personal attacks on Modi is failing to bring political dividends to Rahul Gandhi or his party
The average Indian politician wakes up in the morning and starts attacking opponents. Whether they’re in power or in opposition, whether they’re tall mass leaders or drawing room dealmakers, the sport that they truly enjoy is to condemn the opponent.
The media, and even the public, have a role to play in negative campaigning. If a politician calls his opponent a thief, it’s a headline. Mic-waving reporters then go to the opponent and ask for his response. He calls his accuser a crook. The TV editors will say their ratings show the public loves it too.
If the same politician says he has a plan to create millions of jobs, news editors will not see it as a headline. They’ll say why should we do the politician’s PR? This is just how news works: Dog bites man is not a story.
While negative campaigning may be an easy way to get attention, this attention does not always translate into votes. When it comes to voting, at least the swing voter wants to know which politician can deliver them the best in terms of development, governance and economic upliftment.
Critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi might say he and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spend too much time attacking an already-weak opposition. The truth is that the BJP’s message is mostly positive. You can check any BJP social media handle: Most posts are about the government’s achievements and plans for development.
In 2013-14, as the Congressled UPA government was very unpopular, the Modi campaign could have won easily by simply attacking the government. But Modi promised “achche din” (good days) instead. Perhaps this helped him get a full majority and end the coalition era.
One pattern that this election tourist has observed is that when a party is in a position of strength, negative campaigning helps. So if the BJP is far ahead of Congress and it attacks Congress,
the message seems to resonate. The public seems to nod in agreement that the Congress is weak, inefficient, corrupt, nepotistic or whatever.
But when the BJP attacks a strong party, such as the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal or the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi assembly elections in 2020, the public seems to consolidate further in favour of the strong party. The public seems to feel that an Arvind Kejriwal giving free electricity to the poor or a Mamata Banerjee giving all kinds of schemes to women are being unfairly attacked.
This is true not just for the BJP, but for all parties in most situations. When you are David, the stone you throw at Goliath needs to be one of positive campaigning. This is why no amount of Modi-bashing seems to work for Rahul Gandhi.
Whether it was Rafael in 2019 or Adani in 2024, Rahul Gandhi’s message does not resonate with voters. It may be harder for him to get attention with positive campaigning, because it’s not going to be easy for Gandhi to convince voters that he knows better than Modi how to create jobs or reduce inflation. But that is the only way he can get the swing voter.