The Congress, as the leading party of the ruling coalition, is completing two terms in power. But 2014 is going to be the toughest task it has faced in recent decades. Reasons are many: a series of corruption scandals, popular middle-class movements against it, the rise of Narendra Modi and finally the apparent indecision over Rahul Gandhi’s role. Veteran leader Digvijay Singh, who is, among other things, in charge of the Congress’s campaign and publicity drive, shares the party’s views on these and other issues in an exclusive interview with Bhavdeep Kang. Edited excerpts:

What do you think was the most significant outcome of the Congress chintan shivir in Jaipur?
I would say the Jaipur Declaration (is) a very well-prepared document covering all the national issues and all the political, socio-economic and organisational challenges. Unfortunately, the media has not been able to look at it the way it should have.

The media was only interested in one thing: whether Mr Rahul Gandhi was getting a bigger role in the party. All questions were centred only on that. And once that happened, it overtook everything else — more so after his speech. The Jaipur Declaration was lost.

Also, I think the Congress gave an opportunity to the youth to participate in discussions on challenges facing the country. This youth element was missing in the Pachmarhi and Shimla declarations.

Why the newfound focus on the middle class?
First, the demographic profile of the country is changing. More people are coming into urban areas. There is a definite shift from the rural to the urban — the rural is (now) becoming semi-urban and the semi-urban is becoming urban.

Second, if you analyse the results of the 2009 general election, the Congress did very well in all urban areas and in all the metros. So we have to pay attention to this fact.

Do you think this urban middle-class constituency is slipping away from you, especially after civil society protests like that of Anna Hazare?
No, that has not made any impact. If you see poll results of all states (where assembly elections were held) after the Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal movements and the sustained social media campaigns, we took away Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh from the BJP and we increased our vote share in Punjab and Gujarat, even though we could not form governments in these states. So if there was an impact, it was not visible on the ground.

The urban, educated middle class is said to be Narendra Modi’s constituency. Will 2014 be a Modi versus Rahul contest?
Narendra Modi is not a threat to us and we do not consider him a threat. Modi has to tackle his own party first.

The Jaipur Declaration says one thing but the central government is pulling in another direction on many issues, for example, on the Forest Rights Act (FRA), which is said to be interfering with infrastructure projects.

We are committed to the Forest Rights Act. If there are one or two issues on road projects, they can be taken care of.

What about the provision that demands approval of gram sabhas before diversion of forest land?
That’s not FRA — the FRA just gives rights to the encroachers; that is PESA [Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act]. Now, this is definitely an Act that needs a relook because it was drafted in a very short time and therefore contradicts some existing laws. PESA certainly has to be looked at.

There is a debate on two kinds of growth, one based on mining versus the other based on agriculture. Where do you stand?
You can’t have either this or that. It has to be an inclusive programme. Can you do away with either mining or agriculture? Would people opposed to mining like to live in darkness? Can we have energy without coal? Coal still provides the maximum energy needs of this country and because of the inefficiency in the mining sector, we have not been able to bridge the gap between supply and demand. So when we have coal resources, we have to increase the availability of coal for thermal energy.

Cash transfer of subsidy — with the slogan “Aapka paisa aapke haath” — is an important part of your strategy. Won’t the cash transfer of food subsidy result in the diversion of the funds to other purchases instead of meeting nutritional needs?
The fact is, we have to reduce the subsidy without hurting the poor, by making it more efficient and direct. Why should we subsidise the rich? We are giving food grains at subsided rates to the APL (above poverty line) category. Where is that subsidy going? It is being pocketed by the PDS (public distribution system) shop owners.

Even today, if you see the ground reality, some of the poor families keep their ration cards with the PDS shop owner and take money per month. This is something that is happening already but at least if the money is transferred to her account, the woman of the house would be more sensitive to this.

At Jaipur, you emphasised your commitment to the food and land bills. Will they be a game-changer for the Congress?
No one act can be a game-changer. For example, the RTI (right to information) has brought out scams. So there is some kind of fear within the system that they should be very careful; otherwise they may be caught. It is a revolutionary step, but it is not all. We have to change the judicial system so that justice is not delayed and denied.

Every act and step takes you ahead, but it can’t be a full stop.