Bhopal: Gaddari (treachery) has become a recurrent theme of the Congress party’s campaign in Madhya Pradesh as it targets Jyotiraditya Scindia and his loyal legislators whose resignations, and subsequent defection, brought down the Kamal Nath government earlier this year.

The Congress government lasted for just 15 months, having returned to power in 2018 after a long gap of 15 years. Apart from gaddar (traitor), Congress politicians are peppering their speeches, social media posts and press notes with pejoratives such as beiman (dishonest), bikau (saleable), saudebaazi (wheeler dealer) too.

Given that Scindia was among the tallest Congress leaders in the state, the opposition party took a while to reconcile to the fall of its government in March and chose not to immediately launch a broadside against his “treachery”. They began by calling him ambitious before warming up to a vicious attack, and now even call him the “biggest bhu-mafia (land shark)”.

“Is Madhya Pradesh ka sabse bada bhu-mafia koi hai to Jyotiraditya Scindia hai (Jyotiraditya Scindia is Madhya Pradesh’s biggest land shark),’’ former Union minister and PCC chief Arun Yadav said at a campaign rally in Ashoknagar Sunday. 

The Congress uses Jaichand, a 12th century Rajput ruler whose name is synonymous with treachery, to describe its legislators who resigned and later joined the BJP. On other occasions, the Scindia loyalists have been labelled as ‘bikau’ or ‘beiman’. Explaining the campaign strategy, Congress leader Bhupendra Gupta told ThePrint that most poll-bound seats fall in the Gwalior-Chambal belt once ruled by baagis (rebels). “Gaddari (treachery) is unacceptable there. People there don’t stab in the back but attack from the front,” he said. “They (former legislators) betrayed the trust of voters and hurt their pride. They (voters) do not like it.’’

Unrelenting on social media

The Congress has also been unrelenting in its attack on social media. “28 mein se 25 beiman, fir bhi BJP mahan,’’ the party tweeted on 11 October referring to the 25 Scindia loyalists. Of the 28 seats were votes will be cast on 3 November, three have fallen vacant due to incumbent MLAs’ death.

Sample some of the other recent tweets: “Gaddaro Ki ek toli loktantra ko kha gayi (a gang of traitors has devoured democracy”; “Loktantra ka samman karenge Jaichnado ke khilaf matdan karenge (we will respect democracy and vote against Jaichands”; “Jaichando ne socha tha 35 crore lekar janadesh bech denge aur janta chup rahegi. Sun lo gaddaro, agli saat pidhi tak janata sawal karegi. Kyo biken? (Jaichands thought they could sell the mandate for Rs 35 crore and voters would keep silent. For seven generations, questions will be asked why did you sell yourselves).”

BJP leader Deepak Vijayvargiya told ThePrint that even six months later, the Congress leadership has not been able to reconcile to the fact that it has lost power. “They have lost their mental balance and are so frustrated that they are using language not used in political and social space,” he said. “They don’t have political issues. Voters make demands like basic amenities, governance and health on which the Congress record was bad. What else will they talk about?’’

To malign them further, the Congress recently shared videos showing at least two former Congress legislators distributing cash and gift. The BJP called the videos either old or doctored even as the Congress insinuated that the leaders were distributing part of the money they got for switching loyalty.

The BJP and Scindia have been forced to hit back using the same terminology. Scindia called former CM Kamal Nath a traitor for not keeping the promises made ahead of the 2018 assembly elections. Responding to the now ubiquitous traitor charge, Scindia Sunday referred to himself as a kala kauwa (black crow) while recalling a famous Hindi song ‘Jhooth bole kauwa kaate’ to accuse the Congress of lying.