Congress and BJP locked in copycat campaign clash, cadres worried

Time of India

17-07-2025

Bengaluru: Cadres of both governing Congress and opposition BJP in Karnataka are in a quandary as their parties are increasingly mirroring each other in political messaging. From OBC welfare to farmers' rights, both parties are deploying similar strategies in what is now being seen as a 'battle of borrowed themes'.
On Wednesday, Congress organised a national OBC convention in Bengaluru, pushing for inclusion of data on social and educational backwardness in the upcoming nationwide caste census. The party also passed a resolution urging the Centre to lift the 50% cap on reservation.
In April, BJP-led Centre announced a nationwide caste census — set to begin in Oct in northeastern states and March 2026 elsewhere — and launched an awareness drive on its benefits for OBCs, including in Karnataka.
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But the overlap goes beyond caste data. From price rise protests to campaigns for farmers and constitutional protection, both parties appear to be shadowing each other in tone and tactics. Just a day before Congress' convention, chief minister Siddaramaiah announced the scrapping of a govt notification to acquire 1,777 acres near Devanahalli for an aerospace park — an issue raised by protesting farmers.
This strategy convergence has frustrated party workers on both sides, who worry that their outreach campaigns are becoming indistinguishable from the opposition's.
The result: A fresh round of allegations over who is copying whom.
"The way Congress is structuring its programmes to reach out to people shows a bankruptcy of ideas," said N Ravikumar, BJP chief whip in the legislative council. "Since it has nothing new to present before people, it is mirroring our initiatives. For instance, their OBC campaign comes after the Centre announced the caste census. We are attacking Congress for posing a threat to the Constitution by imposing an Emergency on the country, but they are responding to it by launching a campaign on saving the Constitution.
And it is ridiculous that the Congress held public rallies on price rise after BJP held a series of Janakrosha Yatre rallies as the state govt has hiked prices of as many as 52 items including milk and alcohol."
But senior Congress functionaries insist that their strategies are rooted in conviction, not imitation. "It may look like the two parties are echoing each other on issues related to people's problems but Congress has a completely different approach," said KPCC vice-president BL Shankar.
"We are genuinely committed to issues such as upholding social justice. BJP has no moral right to talk about caste census and welfare of OBCs.
It had categorically stated that it opposes caste census, while RSS functionaries had even insisted on scrapping reservation of OBCs."
Congress chief whip in the legislative council Saleem Ahmed added, "People have noticed that BJP was forced to announce caste census only after our leader Rahul Gandhi insisted on it. We pioneered a caste census in Karnataka and Telangana. It is BJP which is copying us. The difference is their moves are pretentiousness, while Congress is genuinely committed to the cause."