Plan panel helps Congress to take on BJP

NEW DELHI: Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia is not regarded in Congress circles as someone with a feel for electoral politics. However, at a time when Congress managers are having a tough time heading off charges of non-performance and failure on many fronts, it is the plan panel under him which has been furiously providing the convenient numbers.

Sources in Planning Commission said the relentless offensive over alleged inaction and disarray had forced UPA managers to turn to the plan panel for facts and figures that could be hurled back.

They also said the panel has stepped up to the plate. It has prepared factsheets comparing performance on key economic and social indicators during NDA and UPA regime, and which Congress spokespersons can cite to argue that the Congress-led coalition fared better than its predecessor.

This was confirmed by other officials in Planning Commission. Speaking to TOI on the condition of anonymity, they said the commission was virtually acting as the back-end office for Congress's 2014 election campaign as it was supplying data related to economic and social indicators to Congress poll managers to counter opposition's "false propaganda".

Sources said UPA media managers have asked the commission to prepare reports on the performance of flagship schemes and community-wise details of who benefited from these schemes.

A source told TOI that those in charge of Congress's outreach regularly seek plan panel's support in countering BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's charges on development deficit, slow economic growth, unemployment and poor social indicators during UPA regime.

"The data supplied by plan panel was also used to rubbish Modi's Gujarat model," an official said. Sources also said that while the engagement with Congress's poll effort has gathered momentum recently, the plan panel was never aloof from Congress's anxiety about BJP's PM candidate. In fact, a political aide of a Union minister known for his spats with Gujarat government was allowed to sneak in the meeting Planning Commission had with the Gujarat CM to finalize the annual plan for the state.

A controversy erupted in September last year when members of the Planning Commission addressed a workshop of Congress spokespersons to equip them to speak on economic issues and the UPA government's schemes. The attempt was part of Congress strategy to blunt Modi-led BJP attack by equipping spokespersons with information to effectively articulate the party's views on issues in social and TV media.