Will Congress regain its glory?

Congress - the grand old party - is shrinking gradually. It is because of the leadership issue which is hurting the party badly. There is a cold war going on between the old guard and new loyalists and both camps are doing “bayanbazi” openly.

Congress, which was formed in 1885, faced first crisis after Jawaharlal Nehru’s death in 1964. Lal Bahadur Shastri became the prime minister, but the party split into two factions – Congress (O) and Congress (R). The division was more on ideological lines. The second major setback for the party came after Shastri’s death in 1966, when Indira Gandhi took over the reins. The Congress was split again in the 70s, this time into Congress (I), or Congress (Indira) and the Congress (R). The Election Commission declared Congress (I) as the real Indian National Congress or INC. However, (I) was dropped in 1996. Since then, the party is being called as Congress.  The present Congress party is passing through a critical time facing leadership crisis. It also doesn’t have a vision for future or any solid plan to revive itself at the national level, especially in the hinterlands. The party is also plagued with extreme casteism and appeasement policy has become a tool. There are no takers for Congress’s secular card because it did not alter the plank according to changing scenario. In the recently held Delhi assembly election the party could not get support of Muslim voters.

Gandhi family a must for Congress

The Gandhi family is a compulsion for Congress because starting from Jawaharlal Nehru, and the years of Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, the party was at its peak. One can say that the Indira Gandhi's time the party was most successful and reached a new high. Sonia Gandhi, Indira's daughter-in-law, pulled the party well and is the longest serving party president. But now her charisma also seems to be fading. Continuous defeat in two Lok Sabha elections - 2014 and 2019 - has demoralised the party workers. Because of her ill health, Mrs Gandhi passed the party baton to son Rahul Gandhi in December 2017. Before taking over as president, Rahul was General Secretary and Vice- President of the party.

Rahul Gandhi - a reluctant leader

Rahul Gandhi is associated with the party for the last two decades and managing its affairs for more than one decade in different capacities as General Secretary, Vice President and the President of Congress. As party sources, said in each role it was Rahul Gandhi who virtually ran the party. But unfortunately, he lacks the acumen to lead it from the front in such a way that energises the party and the grassroots level workers to fight for the cause. Many in the party have questioned Rahul Gandhi's ability to lead the party. He has changed his stand on many issues; when it came to religious beliefs, he became a Brahmin and then Christian according to need of the hour during elections. The old guard tried to launch and relaunch him with great fanfare but result was not on the expected lines. When Rahul Gandhi was General Secretary, senior and experience leader Digvijay Singh was his close advisor for UP and he along with Rahul visited many times on political tour across the state for five years. At that time, Digvijay Singh was his political guru but in 2017 UP assembly election the party bit the dust. Even its tie-up with Samajwadi Party did not clicked and both the parties lost. But even after the humiliating defeat in UP, Rahul Gandhi was given a promotion and he became President of the Congress in December 2017. In 2018, the party won the assembly elections in MP, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan and that was the only silver feather in his cap. Again, in the 2019 General Elections, the party failed to win the voters' confidence and was defeated badly. Even party President Rahul Gandhi lost his home turf Amethi to BJP's Smriti Irani. After this Rahul owned the moral responsibility and stepped down as President of the party. Continuous defeat in two Lok Sabha elections and in UP assembly election, resentment started growing within the party and many started questioning his leadership ability. Even some old guards like Vijay Bahuguna, Rita Bahuguna, Jagdambika Pal, S M  Krishna, Mohsina Kidwai, Dr Bhagirath Prasad, Shankar Sinh Vaghela decided to leave the party and other senior leaders started keeping distance from the party's affairs. Many sitting MLAs and leaders in Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Telangana, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Assam and Manipur left the party and joined other regional parties or the BJP. These leaders even claimed that "they see no future in Congress and the high command's indecisiveness has forced them to say goodbye to the party”. After every election, Rahul visits abroad for reasons known only to him. He could not become a mature and serious leader. Experts opine that Rahul Gandhi's ineffectiveness and inability has created this situation. This shows his reluctance towards the party and politics. Though Rahul have given up the party chief’s post, according to experts, his loyalists still want that Rahul Gandhi should again take over as Congress President. This shows party’s infighting.

Advisors' played a spoiler

It is a general opinion that Rahul Gandhi failed miserably to pick good Advisors. Alliance with SP in UP assembly elections and decision to go solo in the Lok Sabha election backfired for the party. Nobody had a convincing answer on who advised the high command to take such disastrous decision which decimated the party. Congress is out of power in UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha for the last three decades and the high command has made no serious effort to revive the party in these states. Party has no grassroot level set up in these states and state level leadership is almost finished. Credit to this mess goes to only advisors whose advice has shrunk the party’s base in these states and the Congress is forced to go for alliance with regional parties on their terms and conditions. Congress’s indecisiveness was clearly visible in the recently held Delhi assembly election where the high command was in double mind whether to go alone or have alliance with the AAP. Congress fought the election independently, but projected the good work during the Sheila Dixit regime because the party had no clear plan or programmes to woo the voters. The result: Congress scored a duck for the second time in Delhi assembly election; the party's vote share reduced to alarming stage. In 2019, LS election Congress drew blank in all seven seats of Delhi.

Congress needs young & fighter leaders

Congress lacks young blood and leaders of fighting spirit who can take the party to the mass. Congress's trump card Priyanka Gandhi's entry into the political arena is said to be a late entry. Her main problem is she lacks political wisdom and always thinks she has taken the right decision. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election she could not perform well and failed miserably. Her main focus area is UP where the party is almost zero. She has given the state unit command to a young leader and started giving importance to young leaders. This has created ripples in the party, especially among senior and old loyalists, and they opposed Priyanka's move and revolted against her. Ultimately some of them have been shown the door and other senior leaders have left the party and formed a separate party. This move is bound to hit the party badly. In 2018, Congress win four states assembly elections- Punjab, Rajasthan, MP and Chhattisgarh- only because of their state level popular and strong leaders. But in other states the party has no such leaders. Party is facing same crisis at the national level also. When Rahul Gandhi resigned from President's post, the party could not select a leader who can lead the party and after two months futile exercise Sonia Gandhi was again elected as interim president and she is still continuing.

Drastic surgery required

For the last many years Congress is running on ad- hoc basis. The party lacks transparency and did not believe in direct election. In the name of unity, leaders are being appointed or nominated by the high command and real fighters are being ignored. This attitude has led the grassroot leaders and workers towards demotivation. After shameful defeat in Delhi assembly election, party leader Sharmistha Mukherjee raised relevant questions. But the high command did not react to any of her query and chose to keep quiet.  Even party senior leader Manish Tiwari also wants clarity on secularism and wants to revisit the party’s economic philosophy. To revive the party and infuse synergy among leaders, the Congress should stop practice to give importance to turncoats and go for direct election. Let grassroot workers choose the leaders, this will enhance ordinary worker's participation in the party and will be ready to do anything for their leader. Keep those leaders away from the race who incite infighting and groupism. The party should also shun the politics of cast and appeasement and should follow the right path of development and need to focus on employment generated schemes to attract youths. Only then, the party will be able to win the confidence of the masses once again and will regain momentum.