Changing the dynastic leadership of the party is not the answer to its present troubles. Real revamp is needed
The more the Congress talks of change, the less it happens. The reaction from the party after its worst debacle confirms the fact. However, no one expected the party to get rid of the dynasty, as it is the only uniting factor. So the dynasty continues despite the fading charm of the family. Changing the leadership is not the answer. A complete overhaul of the party and its style of functioning, is needed. The Congress is not in sync with the aspirational class of voters.
The warning signals for the Congress came as early as after the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election in 2012, followed by the humiliating debacle in 2013 Assembly poll. But the party failed to prepare itself.
look at the state of affairs in the Congress now. It cannot even get the status of the leader of Opposition in lok Sabha. It has lost deposits in 193 seats. It has not reached a double-digit figure in any State. The vote-share of the party has also come down significantly. This alarming picture shows that without a major course-correction, the party cannot survive. After all, the elections to the two Congress-ruled States — Haryana and Maharashtra — are hardly a few months away, and the party is facing anti-incumbency in both the States.
The first thing the Congress has to realise is that Mr Narendra Modi was able to benefit from the huge anti-Congress wave like the country had witnessed in 1977. People were fed up of corruption and wanted to throw out the Congress. Mr Modi positioned himself as the alternative.There was a total disconnect not only with the people and their problems but also between the party and the leadership.
The Congress lost the perception war to the BJP, which depicted it as a party of corruption and one that clings to the dynasty. Till the last day of the polling, the Congress was in its own world behaving in an arrogant fashion.
The Congress also lost the communication war to the BJP, which was able to project Mr Modi in a much better light. Mr Modi himself is an excellent communicator while the Congress lacked articulate leaders. More importantly, its poll strategy completely went wrong as it was managed by Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi’s coterie, which has no clue about how to fight a poll. They were all rootless wonders and theoreticians, while the old-timers were totally sidelined. Moreover, the party was in a dilemma that while it did not want to give any credit to Mr Manmohan Singh’s Government and distanced itself from it, the Congress could not also take credit for the welfare schemes implemented by the Government.
This is not the first time the Congress has lost power. But the times have changed, things have changed, the outlook has changed. New players like Mr Modi, Mr Arvind Kejriwal and Mr YS Jaganmohan Reddy and the regional satraps have emerged to challenge the Congress. The Congress leadership lacks the capacity to rise to that occasion.
If Mr Gandhi wants to run the party he should become a 24/7 politician and not disappear from the scene, as he does so often. He should take the party leadership in Parliament, as it requires a strong leader supported by a good and experienced team. The party has to build up a powerful second line of leadership. This is being talked about but the dynasty does not want anyone else to overshadow Mr Gandhi and hence there are no State-level leaders. Mr Gandhi’s talks of changes has not happened. The grassroots Congressmen have no access to the leadership and unless this changes the party cannot grow.
The party needs to hold elections for all the organisational posts, including the Congress Working Committee and Pradesh Congress Committees.The wonderful performance of the regional parties this time, like the AIADMK, the Trinamool Congress and the Biju Janata Dal, shows that the regional forces are getting stronger as an alternative to the Congress and the BJP.
It is time that the Congress realised the real state of affairs and put its house in order. It needs to take several crucial and drastic decisions to revive the party. It needs to change its perception. Otherwise the ‘Grand Old Party’ faces the danger of fading away.