By Saarthak Anand
The intensely contested Gujarat Assembly election continues to get fiercer by the day. The Indian National Congress has raised the pitch of its aggressive campaign even further by roping in technocrat Sam Pitroda to embark on a five-day tour of the state in order to obtain input for the partys peoples manifesto. Pitroda, a close associate of the Gandhi family and head of the partys overseas wing, will visit Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Ahmedabad and Jamnagar, where he will interact with various groups on issues such as health, education, environment, SMEs, and agriculture.
Hero of the telecom revolution
Satyanarayan Gangaram Pitroda, popularly known as Sam, was an advisor to Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. He is widely credited with having brought the telecom revolution to India in the 1980s. Born to a Gujarati family, he moved to Chicago in 1964 to study electrical engineering. He was invited back to India by Indira Gandhi and has served the government of India in various capacities since.
Pitrodas involvement in the electiona prestige battle for both the Congress and the BJPmay have serious implications. Besides his skills as an innovator, he is known to have the potential to attract support and sponsors from the Gujarati NRI community, most of whom have traditionally been pro-Modi and pro-BJP. This might assume an even greater relevance as the Patidars, who form a significant chunk of the community, have seen a worsening of relations with the saffron party in recent times.
Attempt to connect with the public
Pitroda, who claims to have been influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, emphasised the importance of popular participation in democracy. Addressing the media in Vadodara on 9 November Pitroda said, In the next five days, our main task is to listen to people. We will visit five cities and will reach out to people asking them what they want. The input will be used not just to fine-tune partys manifesto… but will also help create feedback bank for the party. Speaking further at the media briefing, Pitroda remarked, We are here to listen to people, understand their main points, and make a manifesto which will basically include the voices of people. It is an open process, a good process, and people should be heard.
Congress is looking to discredit Modis Gujarat model by attempting to project its own model of inclusive development. Pitroda has moved in the same direction, speaking in favour of a ‘bottom-up approach’: Democracy has been hijacked by a handful of people, and we will have to bring democracy back to people… The manifesto, which I will prepare will have a bottom-up approach to provide a new model of development for the state. Pitroda has also been helping Congress as the organiser of recent speeches by vice-president Rahul Gandhi at a number of locations across the United States.
The decision to involve Sam Pitroda in the election campaign demonstrates that the Congress is leaving no stone unturned in its attempt towards regaining power in Gujarat. The importance of this vote leading up to the 2019 election cannot be overstated. A loss in the Prime Ministers home state would take the wind out of the BJPs sails.
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