Is Congress Copying BJP Playbook Or Reclaiming OG Moves? | Tell Me Why | Episode 43

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]Is the Congress using the BJP playbook of late? As I watched DK Shivakumar take over as Chief Minister, there is a certain trend that I'm spotting. So, let me tell you why I think the Congress is starting to look a lot like the BJP.

[00:00:13]>> [music] >> First, they managed a change in Chief Ministership from meeting to resignation in 48 hours. That is unimaginable in the old Congress. It's something we see quite often in the BJP. Vijay Rupani, B.S. Yeddyurappa were all moved without any fuss, and that's what Congress also achieved this time. Second, there was no humiliation of the outgoing Chief Minister. Now, as a student of political history, we all know the famous story when Rajiv Gandhi sacked the Andhra Chief Minister T. Anjaiah on the airport tarmac. Just gone because he made the Prime Minister angry. That's in the '80s, but just in 2021, Captain Amarinder Singh also sacked as Chief Minister unceremoniously with consultations being held behind his back. He said he was humiliated, and he quit the party. In contrast, today we see the pictures of a smiling Siddaramaiah quitting on his own terms and announcing the news himself.

[00:01:21]Third, the new Congress can think quicker than before and can be quite ruthless, just like the BJP. Take what happened in Tamil Nadu. The Congress decided to ditch the DMK and go with the more popular TVK and Vijay, and they took that decision on the same day of the results. It took Rahul Gandhi just hours to ditch year-old allies. It got them a lot of criticism, but they now seem to have BJP's whatever it takes to win attitude. They figure that the TVK will give them more seats for 2029, and Vijay will be a more popular campaigner for them instead of Stalin. This is a far cry from 2017 when the Congress was the single largest party in Goa, but was too slow in forming an alliance and BJP beat them to it. Fourth, the Congress also has a troll army now just like the BJP does, which means that those who criticize them online get attacked mercilessly. While this is unsavory, what may be more positive is that they're also paying attention to what feedback that people give. Something the BJP is very good at. We saw that in action in Kerala where they wanted to have K.C. Venugopal as Chief Minister, but when they saw the outpouring of support for V.D. Satheesan, they adapted to that. And finally, one other big BJP strategy they seem to be adopting is to jump on to popular bandwagons. Remember how BJP supported India Against Corruption in 2012?

[00:02:47]That led to weakening the UPA government. Congress has jumped onto the popularity of the cockroach Janata Party. The youth Congress leaders are wearing cockroach t-shirts and are out on the streets claiming to be cockroaches. So, the Congress is trying to change, but we don't know how far it will pay off for them.

[00:03:06]>> [music]