Party desperate to regain lost ground in poll-bound Bastar
AJAYBHAN SINGH
rajputajaybhan@gmail.com
Kanker, 31 October
Magician Rafiq Bhai leaves his election camp office here every morning, disappears into the thick jungle and mesmerises tribals in remote villages with his tricks, campaigning for the Congress for the Assembly poll in Bastar. 
He is drawing a large crowd with his magic repertoire that has an instant appeal for the tribals plagued by illiteracy, ignorance and lowest levels of human development index. Simultaneously, he also symbolises the cash crunch most Congress candidates in Bastar are facing. 
“Almost the entire village flock to my shows and enjoy watching ‘Jaadu’, I perform a few tricks and urge them to vote for the Congress” , the 49-year-old Nagpur-based professional magician said.
Ousted from power a decade ago, the cash starved Congress is battling with a renewed vigour not only to regain lost ground but also for its very existence in Maoist-hit Bastar, especially in ethnically more diverse northern Bastar.  
“This is economical and far more effective than any of the high-tech poll campaign devices, especially given our weak financial status,” said Mr Rajendra Patil, who controls the election office of Kanker Congress candidate Shankar Dhurwa. The party was shocked by a near rout in the 2008 Assembly elections in this mainly tribal terrain ~ it could secure only one out of 12 Assembly seats in the area. Party activists are now determined not to yield an inch to the BJP without a fight even though on a shoe-string budget.   “Having been in the Opposition for a decade we are disadvantageously positioned and facing a severe cash crunch in this election, but the selection of candidates is commendable and party activists are enthusiastically working overnight despite all odds. They have reached almost all villages of the constituency,” says Ashish Dutta Ray, a Left-leaning Congress activist of Kanker.  
North Bastar comprises Kanker and Kondagaon district which has five Assembly constituencies ~ Kanker, Bhanupratappur, Antagarh, Keshkal, Kondagaon and parts of Narayanpur constituency. Incumbent BJP has made deep inroads into this Maoist stronghold  but the resentment among disgruntled RSS activists may queer the pitch for sitting BJP MLAs and ministers.