Cong takes to Gandhism to win Gujarat elections

While the nation's attention is focused on the forthcoming assembly elections in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Manipur, Congress is quietly conducting a crucial experiment in Gujarat- testing electoral potency of Gandhism against what the party calls communal politics of Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Although the assembly election in Gujarat is scheduled for the end of the year, the Congress has already started preparations.

A huge gathering at Congress President Sonia Gandhi's rally at tribal-dominated Devgadh Baria, about 45 km from Godhra, on Saturday has bolstered the hopes of Congressmen.

Her rally came at the end of five-day workshop and training camp for tribals at Devgadh Baria, consisting of a series of lectures on "UPA Achievements", "Mahatma Gandhi's Noble Ideals" (by Nirmala Deshpande), "Gandhi and Satyagraha", "Role of Tribals in Independence Movement", etc. Several Union Ministers including PR Dasmunshi, Meira Kumar, Namo Narayan Meena, and Prithviraj Chavan, delivered the lectures.

The theme of the lectures centred on the contrast between Gandhi's all-inclusive faith as against the exclusivist politics of the ruling party in the state.

At the Congress training camp last Thursday, one of the speakers sought to drive home the central point- "Can there be a bigger devotee of Ram than Mahatma Gandhi? We need a Ram in dhoti....". Sonia's speech on Saturday was also replete with references to Gandhi.

"There is no alternative to Mahatma Gandhi. He is called father of the nation because he tried to take everybody together in sharp contrast to the divisive politics that we see in Gujarat today. In Gujarat, it is a clash of two ideologies- of Gandhi on the one hand, and of Golwalkar and Godse on the other," said AICC General Secretary-in-charge of Gujarat BK Hari Prasad.