Congress Law Of Inertia

December, 1985. The Congress, a brute majority in the Lok Sabha on Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi바카라�s watch, was celebrating its centenary year at a plenary in Bombay바카라�yes, that was before the city changed its name. And in a speech shocked party stalwarts at the session, Rajiv declared that Congress workers were 바카라�handicapped, for on their backs ride the brokers of power and influence, who dispense patronage to convert a mass movement into a feudal oligarchy바카라�. For such 바카라�brokers of power바카라�, Rajiv added, 바카라�the masses do not count바카라� since 바카라�their thinking, or lack of it, their self-aggrandisement바카라�their linkages with the vested interests in society바카라� are wholly incompatible with work among the people바카라�.

Nearly 35 years since those prophetic words, the Congress lies in tatters. The BJP바카라�s Narendra Modi spared the 바카라�grand old party바카라� 44 seats in 2014 and 52 in 2019. Yet, the Congress remains the 바카라�feudal oligarchy바카라� that Rajiv had cautioned against. The abject failure at the hustings has been autopsied threadbare. Rahul Gandhi, the commander who led his men into the amb­ush, told his colleagues in the Congress Working Com­mittee (CWC), the party바카라�s top decision-maker, his wish to step down as party president. A suitable replacement must be found, preferably within a month. Efforts by Congress leaders, including mother Sonia Gandhi and sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to persuade Rahul to withdraw his resignation have, so far, drawn a blank.

For the Congress, the deepening crisis is familiar territory, but no one바카라�s willing to learn. Before 2014, when Sonia Gandhi took over as Congress president in 1998 after the brutal exit of Sitaram Kesri, she had spoken about dwindling numbers of her party in Parliament, the 바카라�serious erosion바카라� of its support base among the electorate and the 바카라�danger of losing our central place in the polity of our country바카라�. She talked about the 바카라�urgent need바카라� to revive the Congress in states where the party had ceded ground.

Sonia failed to revive the Congress as its president in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and West Bengal, but she adroitly steered the party back to power for a decade starting 2004. But then, the steady gains her party made started drifting away soon after 2012 when she began abdicating responsibilities in the electoral arena to make way for her son.

In 2014, when under Rahul바카라�s stewardship of the Lok Sabha campaign the Congress touched its electoral nadir, the mother-son duo was back to add­ressing party colleagues on issues Sonia had spoken of in 1998. Both off­ered to quit바카라�Sonia as president and Rahul as vice president바카라�but the resignations were rejected. Then on, Rahul led the Congress from one disaster to another, but his formidable surname ensured that in December 2017, when he agreed to officially take over as Congress president, there was no one to challenge his ascension.

Now, while the Congress바카라�s tally has gone up to 52 seats, its vote share has rem­ained the same pitiable 19.5 per cent. The BJP, for its part, won 303 seats바카라�up from the 282 it won in 2014바카라�and, in a majority of the states where it had a bip­olar contest against the Cong­ress, its vote share crossed the 50-per-cent-mark, a remarkable feat in India바카라�s first-past-the-post electoral system. The Congress has been wiped out in 18 sta­tes and Union territories. The most def­i­nitive symbol of the Cong­ress바카라�s demolition, of course, is Rahul바카라�s personal defeat on the family turf of Ame­thi where he lost to BJP바카라�s Smriti Irani.

That Rahul has been sulking and adamant on stepping down as Congress president is understandable. However, his anger seems misguided. So far, all accounts of what went on at the CWC meeting where Rahul announced his decision to quit suggest that while taking responsibility for the defeat, he, along with Priyanka, blamed party seniors for derailing the campaign. Much of their anger stemmed from two points바카라�first, that the seniors did not back Rahul on his 바카라�chowkidar chor hai바카라� ass­ault on Prime Minister Modi and second, that several veterans (a clear reference to Kamal Nath, Ashok Geh­lot and P. Chidam­baram) pushed for tickets for their children and spent most of the time campaigning for them.

A CWC member, requesting anonymity, tells Outlook: 바카라�Rahul바카라�s anger at the party바카라�s defeat is natural, but there바카라�s much more to the reasons for our rout바카라�The BJP had turned the chowkidar barb to its advantage and, to be honest, voters simply don바카라�t want to hear Congress attack anyone on corruption because of the record of UPA-II. It바카라�s the same case when Rahul talks against dynasty. Modi바카라�s naamdaar taunt was against the Nehru-Gandhi family, not against Gehlot or Kamal Nath.바카라�

Several CWC members Outlook spoke to felt that the reasons for the Congress바카라�s defeat lie in a spot that Rahul doesn바카라�t wish to look into. 바카라�We positioned ourselves as better Hindus than Modi. Who were we trying to fool? Why would those who wish to vote for a Hindutva party choose us over Modi? We alienated those who had genuine reasons to vote against the BJP바카라�the Dalits, tribals, backward castes and youth,바카라� says a CWC member, who is also a former chief minister.

There is considerable resentment against the team of professionals that Rahul relies on to make his political strategies. 바카라�Just like Rajiv made the mistake of surrounding himself with professionals and technocrats who didn바카라�t know a thing about grassroots politics, Rahul has done the same. If we told him that 바카라�chowkidar chor hai바카라� was not working, Praveen Chakraverty (Congress data analytics cell chief and Rahul aide) would show some survey to say we were wrong. If we said res­ponse to his comments and rallies on social media does not reflect larger public sentiment, people like Nikhil Alva, Divya Spandana and Kanishka Singh would convince him otherwise. And then we had Sam Pitroda going around foolishly questioning the Balakot strikes,바카라� says a senior party leader who lost the recent polls.

A party veteran, who was once a Rahul confidante, stresses that there were several organisational deficiencies which collectively made the Congress electorally weaker. 바카라�Look at our general secretaries and state in-charges. A majority of them have zero electoral record. Most of them do not even command the respect of party colleagues. In states like UP, Odisha, Andhra and Bihar we have no organisation at all. How do you expect to mobilise workers?바카라� he said.

The Congress, under Sonia, was plagued by similar problems. But it survived electoral challenges. Sonia knew her limitations and the constraints on her acceptability as a mass leader. She made up for the deficiencies by her pol­itical astuteness. She reached out to disgruntled leaders, read the riot act when factional feuds compromised the party바카라�s position and constantly engaged with existing alliance partners while looking out for new ones. Rahul, sources say, does nothing of the sort unless an election is approaching. That explains his failure at forming new alliances, keeping existing partners happy and preventing defections.

The entry of Priyanka as AICC general secretary months before the Lok Sabha polls, sources say, was Rahul바카라�s idea of reviving his non-existent party in UP after alliance talks with Akhilesh Yadav바카라�s Samajwadi Party and Mayawati바카라�s Bahujan Samaj Party failed. Seen as the more incisive political alternative to her brother, Priyanka was smart enough to declare at the start of her political innings that reviving the Congress in UP will take time. After the Lok Sabha debacle, at least in public appearances, Priyanka seems most disturbed among the three Nehru-Gandhis by the rout. She isn바카라�t keen on taking on the mantle from her brother and Rahul too has insisted that the new Congress president must 바카라�not be from the family바카라�.

But, herein is the 바카라�feudal oligarchy바카라� that the party has come to be. Publicly, every Congress leader has demanded that Rahul stay on as president. Sonia and Priyanka have reportedly told him that a 바카라�Gandhi never quits바카라�. The real fear within the Congress is not of ano­ther debacle under Rahul바카라�s leadership, but that the party would 바카라�derail without a Nehru-Gandhi engine바카라�.

바카라�The Nehru-Gandhi name has always kept the party together. Each time there has been an outsider at the helm, the party has collapsed. We saw it under P.V. Narasimha Rao and Sitaram Kesri. It is more important than ever that Rahul remains the president because unlike the BJP of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Modi바카라�s BJP is out to destroy us. The moment Rahul steps down, all factional leaders will be at each other바카라�s throats while those of a lesser stature will go to the BJP for patronage,바카라� 90-year-old Motilal Vora, the eldest CWC member, says.

Agreeing with Vora바카라�s view, another senior leader says: 바카라�He should stay on and, as the CWC has suggested, he must restructure the party immediately. Get rid of the syndicate of Rajya Sabha members. The party needs to go back to the drawing board, reach out to the masses, and launch sustained campaigns on issues like unemployment and atrocities on minorities. A good way to begin could be a Chandra Shekhar like Bharat Yatra.바카라�

The Congress바카라�s summer of discontent began in May 2014 and it shows no imm­ediate signs of ending. Whether Rahul stays on as Congress president or really prevails in working as a 바카라�common Congress worker바카라� is still unclear. What is clear though is that irrespective of Rahul바카라�s decision, the challenges ahead for the Congress are seemingly insurmountable. Can it shed its baggage of old ideas, tired faces and, as Rahul said during his many interviews during the Lok Sabha campaign, give India a new narrative? Past experience says no, but will the future be different?