Congress to go after Rafale case till 2019 general elections

The Supreme Court verdict on the Rafale deal has drowned the morale of the Congress party, but it seems unlikely that they would shift their focus from it.

Soon after the verdict, party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told reporters that the judiciary is not the right place to discuss the deal, and said the party will continue with its demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe.

"The Supreme Court is not the forum to decide the issue of such sensitive defence contracts. Article 136 and Article 32 are not the forums to decide the issue the pricing and the process," said Surjewala.

Party insiders say that in the Bofors deal too, which pinned the political fate of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, the apex court had passed a similar verdict, with a subsequent Joint Parliamentary Committee even absolving it.

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Moving ahead for 2019, the Congress is likely to continue its focus on Rafale deal, making a special mention of it in rallies that party president Rahul Gandhi holds.

The party will focus — as indicated by Rahul in a press conference in Delhi this week after the party won three elections in the heartland — on unemployment and farmers distress.

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"How will India give employment to its youngsters? How will India ensure that farmers have a future in this country? How will agriculture be fixed into the larger economic vision of the country? I keep repeating again and again that demonetisation is a scam. In Rafale, everybody knows corruption took place," said Gandhi, listing all these as the party's rallying points for 2019.

What is crucial for the party will be how its new governments in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan will behave in the next few months.

With only five months for the 2019 elections, the government will need to speed up poll promises, primarily of the farm loan waiver, which has worked for it in these three elections as well as in Karnataka and Punjab.

The Hindi heartland wins show that Congress's ground force is gaining ground, which has been one of its bigger worries in 2014.

It is also focussing on stressing on its digital outreach, an area where it was lagging way behind the BJP in 2014. Apart from Twitter, the Congress's various teams are strengthening their bases on WhatsApp and Instagram.

With over 13 crore first time voters in 2019, the Congress is also likely to step up efforts to woo them. While the National Students Union of India (NSUI) is helping reach out to students, the Indian Youth Congress has been working to deepen the party's activities on the ground and is working on aiding the party in election campaigns.

PLAN OF ACTION

• After the Supreme Court ruling in favour of the BJP in the Rafale deal case, Congress spokesman said “judiciary isn’t the right place to discuss it”. 
   
• This hints at the fact that Rafale will continue to feature in campaigns for the 2019 general elections.
   
• This apart, the Congress plans to focus on unemployment and various other issues pertaining to agriculture