With its credibility at an all-time low, the Congress party is struggling to even come up with a slogan for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The party is hoping to find one post December 8 when the verdict of the five-state assembly elections will be out. Anita Katyal reports

With less than six months to go for the next Lok Sabha polls, the Congress is struggling to find a catchy and winning theme for its campaign.



Party strategists are currently engaged in vigorous brainstorming sessions to zero in on a slogan, which will effectively counter the Bharatiya Janata Party’s campaign, convey the party’s ideological moorings and project party president Rahul Gandhi’s profile.

Senior Congress leaders in the election war-room told rediff.com that the 2004 slogan -- Congress ka haath, aam aadmi ke saath which had resonated with the people by projecting the grand old party as a champion of the common man as against the BJP’s pro-rich policies -- needs a make-over.

The slogan had clicked then as the Congress put it to effective use by laying bare the hollowness of the principal opposition party’s ‘India Shining’ campaign.



It also reflected Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s pro-poor image, on the same lines as her mother-in-law Indira Gandhi who had captured the imagination of the electorate with her garibi hatao slogan.

The Congress tweaked the slogan for the 2009 Lok Sabha polls to Aam admi ke badte kadam to reflect how the common man had benefited from the United Progressive Alliance’s various flagship programmes.



Unlike 2004, the slogan did not make any waves and had virtually no recall value.



If the Congress Lok Sabha tally went up to 206 in 2009, it was essentially because of the overall positive public mood towards the UPA, the continuing admiration of the middle classes for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Sonia’s credibility and Third Front’s projection of Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati as the future prime minister.

There is a vast change in the scenario today.



Click on NEXT to read further...