CONGRESS GAMEPLAN  FOR  2019 ELECTION.MANIFES TO VS MODI.
When the Indian National Congress released a 55-page manifesto for 2019 general elections on April 2, 2019, raining sops and making big promises, the poll managers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were somewhat taken aback.    

Many in the BJP thought that the Congress would adopt a moderate approach, having crashed to its lowest ever tally of 44 in the 2014 polls. After all, it had many potential allies to keep in good spirits and not appear to be dominating the narrative....
    But the Congress surprised all with the manner in which it used the manifesto to project itself as the “only national alternative” to the BJP. Having released its manifesto to much fanfare, the party immediately lined up 22 manifesto launch conferences in different state headquarters and said more such events were in the offing.

Contrast this with the BJP, which is yet to release its manifesto. In a sense, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s promises and the personal appeal of its poll mascot, Prime Minister Narendra Modi,  are doing the work of the BJP manifesto.Yet, the party comes across as not being sufficiently interested in a poll-time ritual that the Congress has made into a big occasion this time round.

But even for Congress, this is a new trend. What may have prompted the Congress to try this out is the knowledge that it would be fighting a losing perception battle in a clash of personalities. With Modi at the helm of the BJP campaign, the Congress needed to come up with something that would help it stand out. It seems to have decided to throw its weight behind ideas rather than personalities.