After K'taka, can poll strategist Naresh Arora deliver for Gehlot in Rajasthan?

By Anand Singh
New Delhi, May 15 After delivering a thumping victory for the Congress in Karnataka while working closely with its state unit chief D.K. Shivakumar, poll strategist Naresh Arora is now eyeing a similar result in Rajasthan where he is busy formulating strategies for the upcoming Assembly elections in the desert state with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

In a candid conversation with amid the leadership tussle in Rajasthan, Arora opined that Gehlot is a "very popular leader" and the pro-people schemes launched in the last four and half years are working in favour of the grand old party veteran.

Arora, the Director and the Founder of DesignBoxed a political campaign management company, said: "I think Rajasthan has a very popular Chief Minister. All the surveys indicate that Gehlot is the most popular politician or elected representative of Rajasthan. And the schemes which the government has launched over four and half years are quite popular on the ground, and the chief minister is working day and night to ensure that those schemes actually reach people and benefit them."

Arora said this when he was asked about the Congress facing a crisis since 2020 after rebellion by party leader and former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot.

"I am confident that these schemes and these popularity factors will take care of a lot of other issues around and the Congress will come back to power," he said.

When asked if people are really buying the claims of the Rajasthan government, Arora said: "Definitely, if you tell anyone in the country, then you're going to get a cylinder which is worth Rs 1150 for Rs 500. Do you think that people are going to be lapping up to it?"

They are very good schemes which the government has announced over there. For example, health insurance worth Rs 25 lakh. He opined that many people do not have Rs 25 lakh as a health insurance cover in their families.

"There are good schemes. And I am pretty sure that these schemes will be quite helpful for Congress to come back to power in the state," the DesignBoxed Founder said.

When asked about his plans for the desert state, he said: "Our plans for Rajasthan are already on, there are certain things going on the ground, and we are also getting into assessment more to see how, and what areas that need to be addressed by the Congress and soon you will see them on the ground."

His remarks came on a day when Rajasthan Congress leader Sachin Pilot threatened to launch a statewide movement in the desert state if action on his demands is not taken by the month-end.

When asked about what he feels about the prospects of Congress in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh assembly elections, Arora said: "I have worked in Chhattisgarh and I have not done any survey over there. But my sense from both sides is that the chances look right for Congress in both the states."

When asked about comparison with "brand BJP", and what kind of impact "brand Congress" has in the mind of the people, and how he tries to convey people about brand Congress, he said: "Every state has different challenges and the dynamics are also different. So the brand Congress is nothing that needs to be sold to people. It is only that the Congress and the parties which are contesting elections need to connect with people in a better way because the format of connectivity have changed, people have less time. Digitalization has happened, newspapers and other things are secondary source of information, TV channels, people have all the information on their phone.

"They need to speak to the voter in the voice that they want to be heard and not what the party wants to say," Arora added.

Assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are scheduled later this year in the month of November and December.