The first decision is of leadership; if Sonia has to give the charge to Rahul, then this is the right time. There is no other strong leader in the Congress and that is the party’s biggest woe.
The second decision is to finalise pre-poll alliances, and the Congress must decide the policy on it soon
There is still a section of leaders in the Congress that has high hopes from Sonia Gandhi. Recently, in Parliament, party leaders were happy to know that Sonia had returned from the US and was feeling better. In the regular briefing also, the party said their leader was in good health, following which many partymen shared the information on Twitter and Facebook. Some close aides of Rahul Gandhi also did the same.
In fact, the Congress leaders are expecting a miracle like the one in 2004. They feel that the situation of the party is similar to as it was in 1997. At that time also, the Congress had been pushed to the margins. It was not in power at the Centre and it was losing power in States one by one. But when Sonia became the party president in 1998, things changed for the better, they believe. Under Sonia’s leadership, the Congress grabbed power at the Centre along with 14 States.
The Congress leaders are hopeful Sonia can perform the miracle again. That miracle can either be to push Priyanka Gandhi Vadra into politics or to supervise Rahul’s team after handing over party reins to him. One leader says Rahul should be given the command of the party immediately and Priyanka should be included in his team.
Now that Sonia and Rahul are back, it is being speculated that Sonia will take some strong decisions to resurrect the party after consulting with senior leaders. She has to take two decisions and if she delays them any further, the party’s problems will only rise. The first decision is of leadership; if she has to give the charge to Rahul, then this is the right time. There is no other strong leader in the Congress and that is the party’s biggest woe. Sonia, Rahul, and Priyanka have their own power centres and party leaders are working on their own.
The second decision is to finalise pre-poll alliances, and the Congress has to decide the policy on it. Till date, the party has been taking decisions depending on the situation in various States. Now, the decision has to be taken in totality and after that regional stalwarts have to be approached. This task should be accomplished either by Sonia and her core team or by Rahul after he assumes charge. Till other Opposition parties do not see Rahul in a decisive role, they will be hesitant in even talking to him.
Then there is the issue of financial crisis in the Congress. This came out in the open during the local body elections in Maharashtra and Odisha. The party has to understand that it can’t run on just the donations of MlAs and MPs. It has to evolve a centralised system of funding. In the Congress, MlAs, MPs, and ministers create their own independent islands, with themselves at the top of the agenda. The Congress can take a cue from the BJP, where Amit Shah has connected all members with the party. No BJP leader works for his/her own self, rather they work for the party.
The Congress must understand that elections have become an expensive affair. The old theory of committed workers of Indian politics has become redundant. This is the age of paid volunteers. Remember, the AAP had recruited paid volunteers and defeated the Congress and BJP with their help.
Another fight relates to the cyber space. The Congress claims it was Rajiv Gandhi who had brought computers to the country, but interestingly, the BJP knows how to use computers in elections. With the help of computer technology, PM Narendra Modi and Amit Shah have changed the perception of the people and it is not easy to counter that.
So, it is obvious that a miracle will not happen easily. Even the magical leadership of Modi could not ensure the BJP’s victory in Delhi; it could not save the BJP-Akali Government in Punjab, neither could it come to the BJP’s recuse in Goa. Seeing this, if the Congress leaders are expecting a miracle from Sonia, Rahul, and Priyanka, then it is just like living in a fool’s paradise. For any political miracle, a solid organisation, ample resources, inspiring leadership, and smart use of technology are needed to change people’s perception.
CONGMEN AGAINST AllIANCE
The central leadership of the Congress is gearing up to prepare the ideological ground for future elections. There is a feeling among leaders that the party must fight after going into an alliance. The Congress knows that only political polarisation might be able stop Modi and the BJP, and that is possible only when all anti-BJP parties come together.
However, there is no unanimity over this theory among Congress leaders, with State leaders strongly opposing the idea. leaders of many Pradesh Congress Committees are not comfortable with the idea of an alliance. They are saying that party workers are not ready to work at the ground level because they feel insecure that their seats might go to another party if there is a tie-up. Only after it is clear that the Congress will fight on these many seats will the party workers give their 100 per cent, they claim.
Regional leaders have other issues too; they say that if any seat goes to the quota of an alliance partner, workers of that seat will also move to that party. In this scenario, at any point of time, if the Congress decides to fight alone, there will be no workers left on these seats.
Sources in the Congress say that maximum resistance is from West Bengal. President of WBCC, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, is opposing any possible alliance in the State. Although he was not as much against an alliance with the left Front, but he is not in favour of a tie-up with Mamata Banerjee’s party. Under his leadership, the State unit has decided to oppose Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi as both are advocates of TMC MPs, who are accused in the Narada sting case. In fact, the Congress leaders don’t want to let go of the opportunity to oppose the TMC, which would otherwise go into the hands of the BJP. And that is why the Congress leaders want to fight against the TMC.
In the same manner, the Congress is opposing the idea of an alliance in Andhra Pradesh. Though this is also true that the party has no presence in the State and can salvage its position only if it ties up with Jaganmohan Reddy’s YSR Congress or if he merges his party into the Congress. State leaders of the Congress prefer a merger over an alliance.
In Jharkhand, many leaders of the Congress want the party to announce that it will go alone into elections. During littipada byelections, the Congress leaders wanted to pitch their own candidate, but later the party decided to support the JMM candidate. The Congress leaders say that after the BJP came into power in the State, byelections were held on two seats and the Congress won both. In UP, too, Congress leaders are demanding they go alone under a new leader.
TRAINING NEXT-GEN lEADERS
Prime Minister Modi is preparing next generation leaders of his party. He is not only pushing ahead the second generation leaders but also giving shape to the third generation, which will come into action after 10 years. Yogi is 44 years old and the party has appointed him as the CM of UP; this can be seen as a smooth power transfer to the second generation. Before this, the BJP preferred veterans. Right from Kalyan Singh to Ram Prakash Gupta to Rajnath Singh — these old generation leaders became CMs of UP. But this tradition has been changed. Modi and Shah ushered in a change when they appointed Sarbananda Sonowal as the CM of Assam.
Before that, PM Modi had done a similar experiment in Maharashtra after the lok Sabha Elections. He had given the CM’s post to Devendra Fadnavis, and not to established leaders such as Nitin Gadkari, Vinod Tawde, and Eknath Khadse. And interestingly, Fadnavis is working satisfactorily.
Now, Modi and Shah are gearing up to give the command of Odisha to Dharmendra Pradhan. He is unofficially working as the party’s CM candidate. Next month, the BJP’s national executive meeting is scheduled in Bhubaneswar.
The BJP is also keeping an eye on West Bengal, where it is expecting gains in the next elections. It is being said that the party will push forward some new faces. Though there are many States where veterans still rule the roost, even there new leaders are being groomed for bigger roles and responsibilities.