The Congress Conundrum

Recently, eminent political commentator and renowned historian, Dr Ramchandra Guha drew parallels between the Indian National Congress and the British Liberal Party. He opined that although both parties have a great historical past which they can boast of, however their political future is as bright as India's hopes to be a 5 trillion dollar economy in a post Covid world. According to him the Congress like the Liberal Party will win a handful ammount of seats but they are now permanently incapacitated to form a government.

Dr Guha mentions if the Gandhis at all care about the the perilous conditions of democracy in the Indian Republic, they should not only go from Congress but also retire from Politics.

The main reason for the debacle of the Congress  as many say is attributed to the Gandhis clinging to the central posts in the party undemocratically. Although, this is nothing new and has been in practice since the late 1960s, the Gandhis then were competent and admired for their immense contributions to the Freedom struggle but now it has become a surname stinking of entitlement. The Congress and its Central Command has become a Durbar of which the Gandhis are the hereditary masters. That's why according to Dr Guha they view the Prime Minister as a form of Sher Shah Suri who's disrupted the dynasty of the Mughals which should have passed on from Humayun to Akbar. I don't think History and the Present of the Congress can be more beautifully illuminated than this example. Just like Humayun was a well-intentioned intellectual busy with his books and opium leaving the reins of administration to his ministers, Rahul and Sonia Gandhi are somewhat similar. Whilst the latter has done her part and is now physically incapable of handling duties anymore, the former quits in the middle of campaigns to vacation with his sister and other family members. 

The Gandhis' ideological positions too have been questioned by Dr Guha. He says whilst the Gandhis call themselves as Secularists, during elections Rahul is seen going to temples claiming himself to be Shiv Bhakt and a Janeodhaari Brahmin. The 2019 alliance post the Maharashtra Elections along with Shiv Sena is another example which dealt a blow to Congress' integrity on secularism.

The Congress has failed to provide alternatives in states. Barring a few states like Rajasthan, Punjab and Chattisgarh where although there might be capable heads but are plagued with factionalism, there have been no such Congress leader in states like West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra, Telengana, Andhra Pradesh or Tamilnadu radiating hope not only amongst the workers but also amongst the citizens at large. However once upon a time it was a party that pioneered the need for state leaders producing giant stalwarts like K Kamaraj, Govind Vallab Pant, BP Chahilla and Dr BC Roy amongst many others. When the INC performed so horrendously in the recently concluded Bihar Polls, many of the workers in the state blamed the absence of a figure which the other two partners in the Mahagathbandhan Coalition, the RJD and the Left found in Tejaswi Yadav and Kanhaiya Kumar respectively. It has been left with a group of white-haired leaders whose lives, both physical and political are nearly over and who gladly do the Gandhi's bidding and those who don't, like Kapil Sibal or Gulam Nabi Azad are promptly sidelined and blamed of not showing concern enough such as during the campaignings when it requires but using their sharp tongue when the party fails. 

To come back on the point of the Gandhi Durbar, any of their critics is sharply repudiated. The Gandhis have surrounded themselves with some loyalists who are appointed to top positions as spokespersons and General Secretaries which has resulted in the formation of echo chambers  who come down harshly on dissent. In mainstream media, the biased journalists diplomatically give them very little time when they criticize Government policies but give them a whole show when it involves targetting of dissenters. Recent reports may show how a process of integrating the dissenters has begun by appointing them to Committees on policy and more recently they met Sonia Gandhi. However reports again suggest that Rahul Gandhi would be back in charge when the elections in the party occur next year. 

An excerpt from a soon to be published memoir of the late Former President, Pranab Mukherjee also questions the Gandhi's abilities which says, "I do believe that the party's leadership lost political focus after my elevation as president. While Sonia Gandhi was unable to handle the affairs of the party, Dr Singh's prolonged absence from the House put an end to any personal contact with other MPs"

Ideally, Congress should have followed the British Labour Party's example when they replaced Jeremy Corbyn who failed to lead the party to victory in the 2019 UK General Elections, by Keir Stramer, a person seen more positively by the British people than the former who's suspiciously looked down as a dangerous socialist. As mentioned earlier that although the Gandhis are no longer positively looked upon but can the Congress exist without them considering the ingrained hostilities the leaders have for each other? This is a question that is very difficult to answer considering examples of two such rivalries coming out so open only in this year between Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia and Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot and as history testifies the unfortunate demise of Sitaram Keshri as party president in 1998. The Congress leaders are socialized in a pattern that they won't respect the authority of anyone but the Gandhis permanently and even if there is someone else as President, he maybe overranked by Rahul or Priyanka with his tenure threatened, just as the US does between Israel and Palestine, while hostiles increase amongst the disputed parties, the 'mediators' gain more leverage. 

Thus the question remains of whether the Congress to quote Mr Salaman Khursid will rise like a phoenix from its ashes or as Karan Thapar points out it's rise will remain as myth like the bird in question. The former remains particularly optimistic about the party's victories in the forthcoming elections under leadership of Rahul Gandhi without throwing any light on prospective alliance partners or state leaders. How much will the restructuring of the party into a more democratic entity that is being planned for next year will help or ultimately weaken it even further is a query, the future can only answer.