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In Kerala and Tamil Nadu, Congress’ new booth management plan
A central team in Delhi, independent field staff, who are not party cadres, and communication set up between the Congress headquarters and the candidates in poll-bound states are part of this new approach to booth management
On Wednesday morning, a Congress candidate in poll-bound Kerala’s Kochi got an email from the party headquarters in Delhi asking him to check three booths in his constituency for alleged bogus voters of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF). Every day, such alerts are sent to the Congress candidates in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, where polls are being held on April 6.
A central team in Delhi, independent field staff, who are not party cadres, and communication set up between the Congress headquarters and the candidates in poll-bound states are part of this new approach to booth management, which its arch-rival Bharatiya Janata Party is believed to have mastered, in the grand old party.
About 270 independent field staff are involved in covering the length and breadth of constituencies. They talk to the voters and send feedbacks--negative or positive—about the prospects of the party and the micro-level challenges at key booths.
“Based on these feedbacks, we send daily alerts to our candidates,” said a Congress functionary on condition of anonymity.
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The alerts cover a wide range of concerns. “If an LDF candidate in a particular constituency is giving more emphasis to a booth area, we ask our candidate to go there. If there is a resentment among people over an issue or special focus is required in a particular area, we alert them,” said a second Congress leader, requesting anonymity.
K Thennaresu of Tamil Nadu’s Udumalai constituency, for instance, got a message on March 23, asking him to focus on a certain number of booths in this constituency. The feedback also suggested that Kamal Hassan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam has made inroads into that area in the last few days.
“It is not as if all threats are genuine. Sometimes, the candidate goes to a booth but reverts that the feedback is not correct. But the exercise does not stop as it is always better to be cautious,” said the first leader.
The second leader said the objective is that while the candidates are usually surrounded by their loyalists and workers, genuine concerns or potential troubles might not be registered. “So, we take help from independent observers and alert our candidates,” said the second leader.
The Congress, which is hoping to wrest power in Kerala, swept the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in the state by winning 15 out of 20 seats even as it lost the national polls for the second time in a row. Its allies won four seats. In Tamil Nadu, Congress’s ally, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which is hoping to return to power, also swept the 2019 polls in the state.
Chennai-based political commentator Walter Scott said the idea of micro-managing the booth is good but perhaps too late. “They could have organised such micro-level canvassing at least a month ago as the candidates would definitely prefer to cover entire constituencies with a few days left for polling.”
