With the beginning of the Modi era in 2014, the challenges for Congress started growing. It has become increasingly difficult for Congress to overcome the politics of the Modi-Shah pair and their strategy to counter the opponents. Not only has the influence of Congress reduced in states, but its leaders have also failed to secure the minimum number of seats required to form an opposition. Such is the condition that even the regional parties do not see Congress as a resourceful ally. Out of compulsion now it has to accept the role of a ‘junior partner’ in most states, where it earlier used to rule. The general election of 2019 proved to be more embarrassing when in larger states like U.P. and Bengal, the dominating parties of the states (SP-BSP in U.P., TMC in Bengal) refused to co-align with the Congress. They did not see any benefit in aligning with Congress.
But now, the ongoing internal crisis within the Congress seems to be more dangerous than all those external problems.
The external factors are diverse and aren’t in control, but the internal factors can always be controlled if you can identify and fix them on time. Congress can’t do either, and this is the reason that the crisis in Congress not only increased in 2019 but also became more serious than in 2014. Now, Congress is standing at a peak, where the path ahead is filled with the thick darkness with no clear outcome in sight.
What Is The Actual Problem?
The Congress party has several hierarchies. One group of leaders have also worked with Indira Gandhi, and they continue to serve the party. Then there is the second group which made their place in the era of Rajiv Gandhi and won his trust. Sonia Gandhi ran the party with her mother-in-law and husband’s loyalists. The same loyalists are now standing with Rahul Gandhi, but the difficulty is that Rahul is a leader for them only as far as they make their own decisions through him. Whenever they disagree with Rahul’s decision, their ‘self-help’ begins. Rahul Gandhi surrenders to them for the sake of keeping the party alive. The extent of this compulsion is such that Rahul could not even fulfil his commitments to the party.
The Sidhu row in Punjab is the latest example. Rahul brought him to the Congress, but Sidhu could not get the due importance or say designation from Captain Amarinder Singh, as decided. On the contrary, he was neglected on many occasions to an unbearable extent, which gave a clear signal that all decision would be taken only by the Captain. This has proven to be costly for the party.
When Gandhi gave Pratap Singh the command of the party in the state overlooking Captain’s wishes Amarinder Singh’s rebellion reached to the point that Rahul had to turn his decision to keep him in the party. In the meeting of the Congress Working Committee post-election results, Rahul Gandhi categorically remarked senior leaders like Kamal Nath, Gehlot and Chidambaram took a stance for their sons through stubbornness and pressure, without caring for the party’s prospects or success.
When Rahul resigned after the defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, he would have believed that the chief ministers of Congress-ruled states would definitely offer a resignation, especially in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, where the party failed to repeat its performance just four months earlier. Surprisingly, there was no resignation from these three Chief Ministers.
Seeing their names nominated for the national president, Ashok Gehlot and Captain Amarinder Singh suggested that a young leader should be elected as the Congress President.
In Congress, there is multi-factionalism within the party, and Rahul did not succeed in any aspect to eliminate it.
What Could Be The Way Ahead?
Sometimes you need a bitter pill to save the life of a patient. The Modi-Shah duo has proved that a party has to accept change and evolve with time. The pair showed the courage to let go of Advani, a veteran leader. There was no hesitation in implementing a policy not to give tickets to leaders over the age of 75. As a result, not only a new form of leadership emerged from the national level to the state level, but the party also stands firmly with a new zeal from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.
Congress will also have to get rid of the ‘loyalists of the family’ and create a new leader with a mass appeal. Currently, there are 47 members of the supreme institution for decision making in the party, but only eight are elected representatives. Rahul also needs to inculcate the habit of trusting his judgement.