Congress or BJP, Who’s Winning The Perception Game?

While the Assembly election results were a shot in the arm for the Congress, the Rafale verdict was a major blow.

The Assembly election results established Rahul Gandhi’s leadership and the Rafale verdict was a boost for the Modi government.

(Photo: altered by The Quint)

From the resignation of RBI governor Urijit Patel to the Assembly election results, and from the Supreme Court’s Rafale verdict to Rahul Gandhi’s choice of chief ministers in Rajasthan, this week has been a mix of highs and lows for both the Congress and the BJP.

So will these developments shape the parties’ perception among the public?

Talking about the BJP’s electoral losses in the Hindi heartland, in an interview with BloombergQuint, BJP spokesperson Raman Malik said that the Congress did not bag a thumping victory in Madhya Pradesh. “It was barely a victory,” he said.

He also said that the Congress should apologise to the nation for raking up controversy over the Rafale deal. “Congress and Rahul Gandhi are bound to tell the nation how they got all the data and whose interests are they following. It was foot in mouth for them,” the BJP spokesperson said.

Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha retorted saying “Rafale is a monumental scam.”

“A PIL or SC is not the forum to discuss a Rs 1.3 lakh crore scam. It has to go to through a forensic investigation. You need to call Narendra Modi to the witness stand, he has to be cross-examined.”

Sanjay Jha, Congress spokesperson

He also added that the Supreme Court verdict on Rafale “is not a clean chit for the BJP.”

Rahul Gandhi had received flak for delaying the appointment of chief ministers as well as for not choosing young leaders for the positions. Jha said that BJP is not in any position to lecture anyone on the time taken to appoint ministers.”

“Leaders like Jyotiraditya Scindia, Ajay Maken, Sachin Pilot, Manish Tiwari — they were all a part of the UPA government. Pilot is not just an inspiration for Congress party followers or Rajasthan, but for youth all over India. Let us not forget that Yogi Adityanath’s selection took eight days. BJP should not give us lectures on this,” Jha said.

“Within three days, you have chief ministers in place. These are all formidable leaders, with good political experience and a strong following in the states that they represent. When you are having a chief minister in place, you want to make sure everyone’s issues are being assuaged and addressing common challenges.”

Sanjay Jha, Congress spokesperson

Political analyst Neerja Chowdhury said the Congress has to be the pivot of opposition unity in the future to take on the BJP.

“Rahul Gandhi’s leadership has been established. He zeroed in on the farmers’ distress and joblessness. The challenge now is that regional parties will look warily at the resurgent Congress and unless the party is flexible in handling the partners, there could be trouble,” she said.