“Bhool jao yaar (forget it, man),” a middle-aged shopkeeper declared contemptuously when asked if her earnings had increased. “I barely manage Rs 4,000 now compared to Rs 10,000 a few years ago,” she added.
Countless such videos were posted by the Congress on Sunday as thousands of party workers and leaders marched on foot across the country to create awareness about the savage increase in prices of essential commodities under Narendra Modi.
This is probably the first time in decades that the Congress has reached out to people in every state in such a massive coordinated exercise. Under the Jan Jagran Abhiyan, social media platforms are being used only to supplement the in-person campaign so that the message is adequately amplified.
The sense the Congress workers are getting on the streets — the real experiences of the masses — is being posted on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The party workers had been asked to make videos, distribute pamphlets and explain the real situation to the people, who are being “misled on the true reasons” behind the price rise.
The Congress leaflets pose questions about vital concerns and try to answer them in simple language. The party has also put out a toll-free number — 1800212000011 — through which the people can join the campaign digitally.
The videos shared by the Congress capture a wide spectrum of miseries caused by soaring prices and falling incomes. “Who says incomes have increased, who…?” a man questions angrily in a video shot in a Delhi market. “Money is only with the big players, not with small businesses. Those who were earning Rs 15,000 are now getting Rs 6,000 a month.”
While women complained about edible oil being sold for more than Rs 200 a litre, men reported job losses, nose-diving incomes, depleted sales and, invariably, the menacingly high prices of petrol and diesel.
The Congress got overwhelming responses in states such as Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Telangana and Karnataka as senior leaders, ministers, MPs and MLAs joined party workers in the marches that would continue till November 29.
People poured out their hearts on their struggle to manage households and the rising unemployment, alleging that Modi had spared none and extracted more that what he had given. “Pahle se kharab ho gaya (things have got worse),” was the general complaint from the poor who had been sold dreams of “achchhe din (better days)” by the Prime Minister.
The Congress campaign with the catchphrase “Together, let’s protect India’s interest” is meant to be interactive between the party and the people. Leaders have been asked to reach out to people, talk to them and spend the night with them in every district to ensure longer conversations. The leaflets draw attention to the problems through simple questions instead of deploying lofty rhetoric.
Sample these: “Prices are increasing or decreasing? Has the slogan — ‘bahut hui mahngai ki maar/abki baar Modi sarkar’ – proved to be a jumla (rhetoric)? Is the Modi government torturing the people by selling petrol for more than Rs 100 a litre? Is the Modi government rubbing salt into the wounds inflicted by corona and falling incomes by increasing prices?”
The millions of leaflets to be distributed over the next 15 days seek to give specific information such as the hike in the price of an LPG cylinder by Rs 205 in 2021 alone.
Explaining how a cylinder costing Rs 450 during Congress rule was now being sold for Rs 900, the leaflet said: “The central excise on petrol was Rs 9.48 per litre under the Congress government, which has jumped to Rs 32.90 now. On diesel, the central excise has been hiked from Rs 3.56 per litre to Rs 31.80.”
The leaflets also give details of prices of eatables, which have seen over 100 per cent increase.
The Congress, often criticised for its perceived disconnect with the masses, plans to run similar campaigns on unemployment, the sale of national assets and the problems being faced by farmers and labourers.
Party office-bearers feel the Congress workers will feel motivated and the support base will expand substantially if they can sustain the mass contact programme till 2024. Sources say the campaign will receive a massive boost next year when the Congress organisational elections are complete and the party mounts a fresh challenge to Modi under a new president.