After the massive drubbing it got in the traditional stronghold of Maharashtra and Haryana on Sunday where it was reduced to the third spot, the Congress now stares at an uncertain and gloomy future.
With Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi displaying little resolve or ability to revive the sagging morale of the cadres, the “Priyanka lao Congress bachao” slogan got both serious and shriller on Sunday. Senior party leaders feel that unless drastic steps are taken to restrain the slide, the Congress faces a grave existential crisis.
With these two defeats, the Congress continued to perform miserably in the Assembly polls. In December 2013, the party was routed in Delhi and Rajasthan and was unable to prevent the BJP from retaining power in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. A party that once ruled from Kanyakumari to Kashmir is now confined to around half-a-dozen States, and its prospects in the upcoming Assembly polls in Jharkhand and Jammu & Kashmir are equally bleak.
A section of the Congress leaders feel that Rahul failed to lead the party from the front in both the States. They feel that Rahul did not want to be blamed for the inevitable defeat and that is why he made just a symbolic presence in the poll campaign.
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the BJP campaign from the front, addressing 34 rallies together in both the States, Rahul and Sonia together addressed just ten rallies — six in Haryana and four in Maharashtra where the stakes were quite high. The Congress could win only three of six Assembly seats where Sonia and Rahul held election rallies.
Rahul’s reluctance to be the face of the Congress in both the States seems to have percolated down to even diehard Congress supporters. This is being cited as the reason behind the modest crowds at his poll rallies. On the other hand, sharp differences led to senior party leaders deciding not to campaign in both the States.
At a time when a major section of the party seniors are unhappy with their marginalisation at the hands of Rahul’s handpicked men, the poll outcomes have provided them ammunition to question his leadership ability.While no leader was ready to come on “quote”, there were tell-tale signs that in the days to come, the voice of dissension can get louder.
In the run-up to the Assembly elections, the party was struggling between senior party leaders and young generation leaders over leadership issue. The party went to the extent of issuing a ‘gag order’ to its top leaders, including a couple of former Cabinet Ministers.
Even as the trends started projecting a defeat for the Congress in both the States, a group of party workers gathered outside the AICC office demanding that party president Sonia Gandhi’s daughter Priyanka should be roped in active politics. This is not the first time that such a demand has been made, but it has repeatedly been snubbed by party and Priyanka herself asking people to avoid from such speculation.
Waving posters, which read “Priyanka lao Congress Bachao” (Bring Priyanka; Save Congress)’, a large number of workers, including women, appealed to Rahul Gandhi to take the initiative to bring Priyanka into active politics.National vice-president of Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) Jagdish Sharma, who is leading the “Priayanka lao” front for the Congress, said that the successive defeat of the party in elections makes it necessary to bring Priyanka into active politics.
“We appeal to Rahul ji to bring Priyanka Gandhi into active politics of the Congress at a time when the party is passing through tough times. She can supplement him in stopping the march of Narendra Modi,” Sharma told The Pioneer.A section of the leaders again questioned Rahul’s “escapist” tendency. “On the day of results when the party vice-president should have been amidst the party workers to keep the morale intact irrespective of the anticipated results, Rahul chose to keep away and visit the Cyclone-affected areas in Visakhapatnam and Odisha,” said a senior AICC functionary of its 16-member youth wing requesting not to be named.
The Congress has blamed corruption charges against its erstwhile coalition partner NCP and an overall anti-incumbency factor for the party’s “depressing” performance in the State. While Sonia hoped that the new Government in both States would meet the expectations of the people, Rahul congratulated the BJP for its success.
In both the States, the Congress has stood third and the party’s attempt to stop BJP from getting a clear majority did not work. A section in Congress also believes that over-emphasis on Marathas in Maharashtra and Jats in Haryana did the party in as there were multiple claimants --Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress -- for Maratha votes while Jats were this time favourably disposed towards the INlD in Haryana. In Haryana, the non-Jats, including Dalits, earlier used to vote mainly for Congress, a party leader said.