Gujarat elections: Congress following ‘PODA’ strategy

Ahmedabad: As elections in Himachal Pradesh are completed on Thursday, the entire country is now eagerly waiting to see whether BJP will retain its position or Congress will win in Gujarat elections.

This election will be a litmus test for the Center government. It will prove whether common man is happy with GST and demonetization or not. On the other hand, this election is also important for the Congress. It is trying to gain power in Gujarat which is ruled by BJP since 1995.

According to the report published in The Statesman, in order to win the Gujarat elections, Congress is following ‘PODA’ strategy. PODA stands for Patidar, OBC, Dalit and Adivasi.

It is also reported that Congress, after UP elections, decided to avoid communal polarization. With this aim, Congress Vice President, Rahul Gandhi started working on the lines of “Soft Hindutva”. He started visiting temples frequently.

Basically, Congress is working at two levels. Rahul Gandhi is following “soft-Hindutva” strategy and other Congress leaders are trying to use Patidar, OBC, Dalit and Adivasi communities to win Gujarat elections.

It may be noted that in 1985 Rajya Sabha elections, Congress followed KHAM (Kshatriya, Harijan, Adivasi, Muslims) strategy and won 149 seats.

It remains to be seen whether PODA strategy of Congress will work successfully or not.