Congress set narrative with sharp campaign devoid of 'agar magar', put PM Modi on back foot: Jairam Ramesh

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh discusses Congress's campaign strategy, narrative setting, and expectations for Lok Sabha polls

The Congress set the narrative during the Lok Sabha polls with a sharp campaign that was devoid of "agar-magar, kintu parantu" and pushed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the "back foot", senior party leader Jairam Ramesh said on May 30.

In an interview with PTI on the last day of campaigning for the seven-phase elections, the Congress general secretary, in-charge communications, claimed that the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) will get a clear and decisive majority of the type it got in 2004.

"After the first two phases, it had become clear to me and I am sure, clear to any unbiased, non-partisan observer, that winds of change are blowing. 'Dakshin mein BJP saaf, uttar mein BJP half' [wiped out in the south and reduced to half in the north]," Mr. Ramesh said.

As the campaigning draws to a close, Mr. Ramesh said the first shot at creating a new narrative for the Congress was fired by Rahul Gandhi in the Bharat Jodo Yatra. The yatra was held between September 2022 and January 2023.

The 144 days, 4,000-km walk from Kanyakumari to Kashmir was a very transformative movement for the Congress and for Indian politics, he said.

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"He [Gandhi] constantly saying that 'main nafrat ke bazaar mein mohabbat ki dukaan kholne aaya hu' was the theme. What gave structure to the 2024 campaign was the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra [this year] in which Gandhi had unveiled the 'paanch nyay pachchees guarantee'," Mr. Ramesh said.