A close fight this time, says Jairam Ramesh

Jairam Ramesh, who gave up ministership to design the Congress campaign and manifesto, talks to Aditi Phadnis about the 2009 general elections.

You were the moving spirit of the manifesto and the campaign committee of the Congress in 2004. What is the difference between 2004 and 2009 general elections?

There is a lot of difference. In 2004, the Congress saw itself as a party with its back to the wall. It was defeatist internally and was up against a formidable political machine that had enormous fire power, both financially and administratively. I can't think of a single senior Congress leader, barring the Congress president, who thought we would get seats in three digits.

But today, no one is writing us off. In fact, the problem is that there are too many in the Congress who are writing premature epitaphs for the opposition. I have no doubt at all that it is going to be a close fight.

We are much better placed in 2009 for a variety of reasons. We've been in government for five years. That peculiar Indianism, the 'mahaul' (atmosphere), has changed in our favour.

In 2004, we were facing general elections after a crushing defeat in the Assembly elections held in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. In Chhattisgarh, our vote share had been respectable - 36 per cent - but we won only 37 seats out of 90, whereas the Bharatiya Janata Party, with 39 per cent votes, was able to get 50 seats.

But this has changed. In the 2008 Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, we got 38 seats, but our percentage of votes went up. In Madhya Pradesh, we have doubled the number of seats over 2004, although the BJP has managed to form the government there. We've won Delhi, Rajasthan and Mizoram outright. So the atmosphere is in our favour.

The Left parties say economic conditions in India, job losses, especially, will be the biggest issue in the elections.

The Left has been saying this for 60 years. There's nothing new about it.

The economic situation is in response to a certain global scenario. All labour intensive manufacturing industries have suffered. But in India, elections are never fought on achievements. They are fought on sentiment. High inflation rates can damage poll prospects but low inflation rates will never fetch votes.

It is local economic factors that play a role. In 1998, despite the nuclear tests, the BJP lost the Delhi elections because of high onion prices. There are certain economic issues but they play a part locally.

Is the performance of your allies an advantage or a disadvantage? Are your allies going to weigh you down or add to your vote share?

Many of our allies are facing severe anti-incumbency. On the other hand, in the regions where they come from, they also represent durable social coalitions. They have stood by the Congress leaders through thick and thin.

Also through sick and sin ...

What sin?

While we may have differences on local issues, we need to place on record that our allies have stood by us through some of the most difficult times, like the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement, for instance.

In her speech to the Congress Parliamentary Party, the Congress president exhorted MPs to dispense with the party's dependence on allies. To many of your allies, this sounds like the