The more-than-a-century-old party is getting almost fossilised. It needs to shake itself with vigour and meet the new challenges
The year 2013 began with the Congress electing Rahul Gandhi as its vice president in Jaipur with great hopes, and it ended with the snide remark, “Rahul nahi chala” (Rahul did not click), from senior Congressmen who feel sidelined. There is also a view that UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi should take over command once again.
Can the Congress reinvent itself to suit the present day requirements and function like a party of the 21st century rather than cling to its pastIJ This is being debated in the party circles, which is panicking after the recent rout in the four State Assembly elections. The ‘grand old party’ has won elections and lost elections in the past. looking back, the Congress was in a worse situation in 1998, when Ms Gandhi took over from Sitaram Kesri, and tried to reinvent the party and was successful in bringing it back to power not only in 2004 but also in 2009. She took two important decisions in the process. The first was to invoke the common man, coining the slogan, “Congress ke haath aam aadmi ke saath”. The second was the 2003 Shimla conclave where she changed the ‘ekla chalo’ policy of the Congress and decided to go for a coalition. She built up the UPA brick by brick. Even senior leaders like Jyoti Basu and Mr M Karunanidhi accepted her leadership. After all this, she declined the crown, nominating Mr Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister twice.
After almost 10 years, the Congress is now facing a different challenge with the rise of regional satraps like Ms Mayawati, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, Ms Mamata Banerjee, Mr Nitish Kumar, Ms J Jayalalithaa and Mr Naveen Patnaik and the rise of leaders like BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and the latest entrant, Mr Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party. They are trying to occupy the space vacated by the Congress by its governance deficit. After all, 2014 will not be 2004 or 2009 because the number of voters has grown, and so have the aspirations of these voters.
What has gone wrongIJ The Assembly results show that the party is totally disconnected with the public. Its organisation is weak, so much so that even the AAP was able to mobilise the voters.
The Congress should realise that the voters are not attracted by the freebies anymore. The welfare measures suggested by the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council are not the solutions to remove poverty. People want jobs, they want reasonable standards of living, and they expect the Government to help them be self-sufficient.
Corruption seems to be yet another issue which is hitting the Congress. While the UPA is facing a series of scams, the party is unable to change the perception while the Opposition is able to attack the Government. Most measures introduced by Mr Rahul Gandhi, including bringing in a corporate culture, have not helped. Senior Congressmen have watched the rout in the recent polls with glee. The party, they think, is run by inexperienced theoreticians and paratroopers from other parties who have never contested any election.
Above all, the Congress lacks communication skills. This is in contrast with leaders like Mr Modi and Mr Kejriwal who are articulate. The irony is that the leadership is not even connected with its own rank and file. Congress MPs complain that they are unable to meet their Ministers and the party workers complain that they have no access to their representatives and their leaders. Because of this dismal performance, allies like Mr Sharad Pawar have started talking of a weak leadership.
The Congress should realise that it is time to introspect on what has gone wrong. A full-fledged discussion within the party should take place to make a course correction. The party has to find ways to retrieve the lost ground before the 2014 poll or else it will not cross even the double-digit figure. Senior Congress leaders like Mani Shankar Aiyar has already belled the cat by calling for cleansing the party. The party must reinvent itself to suit the 21st century voters. Getting votes in the name of Nehru and Gandhi doesn’t work anymore. The party should develop strong leadership in the States like the BJP has done, instead of imposing leadership from above. There should be a mix of young and experienced office-bearers. Above all, the communication system of the party needs a thorough overhaul. Connectivity with the voters as well as the rank and file is the key to winning elections.