Marred By Defections And Drift, Is Congress Taking Baby Steps To Revive Itself?

Since March, the Congress has lost its government to the BJP in Madhya Pradesh and is on the edge in Rajasthan, where CM Ashok Gehlot has been putt­ing all his political skills, gathered over a career of 46 years, to stall Sachin Pilot and the BJP from toppling his regime. The threat to both governments came not just from the BJP, which has proven its mastery in the art of topp­ling elected governments, but also from its own leaders. Pilot and Jyotiraditya Scindia were once touted as NextGen leaders of the Congress on whom Rahul could rely to strengthen the party. Today, one has rep­ortedly made up his mind to sever ties with the Congress, and the other has joined the BJP.

In Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Jharkhand, where the Congress is in power either on its own or in an alliance, the threat of rebellions (particularly in Punjab against CM Amarinder Singh or in Chhattisgarh against CM Bhupesh Baghel) and defections has been a recurring one. Calls for resolving the party바카라�s leadership question have been growing louder too, as also noise over its perennial bane of veterans versus youngsters. Leaders like Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor want party positions바카라�including the presidency and Congress Working Committee (CWC) membership바카라�opened for elections.

As Sonia completes a year as interim Congress president, calls for her 50-year-old son to return to the helm will, predictably, reverberate once again. So did the change of guard effected on August 10 last year really make any difference to how the party functions? And did Sonia use the past year to quietly prepare a new transition strategy that would avoid an encore of the generational flux that was the hallmark바카라�and in some ways the undoing바카라�of Rahul바카라�s 18-month tenure as party president?

Party sources say Rahul바카라�s return as president is imminent, but Sonia won바카라�t be relinquishing the top post at least for a few months. All appointments to the party are now routed through Rahul, while Sonia works primarily as a patron, trying to keep the party바카라�s alliances intact and the old guard at ease about their fut­ure, besides pacifying agitated leaders when absolutely necessary. She seems to have also decided, rather belatedly, that Congress CMs must act with a considerable degree of autonomy and not rush to 10, Janpath before taking the smallest of decisions. On issues concerning UP, both Sonia and Rahul invariably defer to the advice of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who in turn relies heavily on inputs from state party chief Ajay Kumar 바카라�Lallu바카라�.

When Rahul had offered to step down from the Congress presidency taking ­respon­sibility for the party바카라�s second consecutive decimation in Lok Sabha polls, his colleagues in the CWC passed a resolution asking him to reconsider it. He was also authorised to carry out a 바카라�complete overhaul바카라� of the organisation. In an open letter, Rahul later made it clear that he wouldn바카라�t reconsider his stand and even took potshots at party seniors for not holding themselves accountable for the collective electoral failure. When the CWC asked Sonia to return as interim party chief, the resolution to restructure the organisation was hers to implement.

A year on, though the impression that nothing has changed holds true for the Congress at the national level, the party seems to be consistently revamping its state- and district-level organisation. 바카라�Almost every second week for the past six months, changes are being made across state units. A few of them, like the appointment of D.K. Shivakumar, Ajay Kumar 바카라�Lallu바카라� and Anil Chaudhary as Karnataka, UP and Delhi Congress chiefs respectively, or Hardik Patel as working president in Gujarat, arouse ­interest for different reasons, but there are hundreds of other district- and state-level appointments no one took note of,바카라� says AICC organisational general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP K.C. Venu­gopal. Conceding that changes at the central level haven바카라�t been made with the same briskness, he says this is beca­use 바카라�a majority of the current appointments, including those to the CWC, were made just two years ago when Rahul was the Congress president바카라�.

A rarely talked about side of these app­ointments is the party바카라�s concerted move to push grassroots leaders to key positions바카라�a huge contrast from the popular perception of the Congress either obliging dynasts or political lightweights with such responsibilities. Venugopal says this is an extension of the much mocked effort by Rahul to 바카라�promote new talent and democratise the organisation바카라�. A close confidante of Rahul adds another important perspective: 바카라�If you look at the UPA years, most young leaders who were elevated as Union ministers were those with a political lineage바카라�Jitin Prasad, Sachin Pilot, Milind Deora, Jyotiraditya Scindia바카라�while hardworking youngsters like Meenakshi Natarajan and Manickam Tagore, who struggled their way up, were kept away. Today the challenge is to keep the Pilots and Deoras happy, while the dedication of those like Tagore remains the same as before. The lesson is clear바카라�pedigree alone doesn바카라�t ensure ideological commitment and the Congress seems to be realising that finally.바카라�

Youth Congress president Srinivas B.V., who earned public app­lause for relentlessly organising relief camps for mig­rants and the poor during the lockdown, and is presently touring Bihar바카라�s flood-­affected areas to help those stranded, tells Outlook:바카라�I have no godfather in politics. From a booth-level worker of the party, Rahul picked me up to work in the Youth Congress, and I am now the YC president.바카라� Srinivas says the people quitting Congress today are mostly those who 바카라�got everything on a platter without any struggle and are now nervous ­because they have to work on the ground to rebuild the party바카라�. People like Srinivas and newly-elected Congress Rajya Sabha MP Rajiv Satav were among several young leaders Rahul had identified during his talent search progra­mmes between 2004 and 2009, when he was in charge of the party바카라�s frontal org­anisations, and was experimenting with reintroducing organisational elections.

Back then, the internal elections process was mocked by party veterans, media and political rivals alike who routinely scoffed that the experiment would never work in a dynastic party like the Congress. 바카라�It takes time to groom new leadership,바카라� says Venugopal. 바카라�For people like Satav, Tagore, Jyothimani, Ramya Haridas, Hibi Eden (all MPs now), Jitu Patwari (former minister in MP) and Hardik Patel, it has been a long journey full of hard work on the ground. None of them came into politics with the advantage of money or pedigree. Now these are the people Rahul can rely on to build the next generation of party leaders.바카라�

This trend of upcoming leaders without the trappings of a political family with massive financial resources is visible in the party바카라�s media and social media departments too. In fact, party insiders feel that the changed tenor of the Congress in its media and social media interactions is in part due to the grassroots connect that the still evolving team brings with it. Rohan Gupta, another first-generation politician from Gujarat who was appointed the Congress social media chief in September, tells Outlook that the party began redrawing its social media strategy from scratch after he took over. 바카라�We wanted to open our communication strategy to the lowest rung of Congress workers and even the common citizens. We pushed for participation even from the booth level. This gave us a huge mass of content creators. Now we have started another initiative called 바카라�With Congress바카라�, which involves professionals from various fields who aren바카라�t ­active Congress members, but believe in our message. As of today, the social media engagement of Congress exceeds that of the BJP by almost 30 per cent and this can be verified using various tools and algorithms,바카라� says Gupta.

Over the past two months, the Congress has launched several online campaigns under the 바카라�Speak Up바카라� theme. These campaigns feature video messages by party leaders, workers and supporters on diverse subjects like rising fuel prices, issues concerning students, the India-China standoff in Ladakh and, most ­recently, the alleged threat to democracy by BJP바카라�s attempts at toppling Congress-ruled state governments. Gupta claims that each of these campaigns emerged as the most trending themes on Twitter with a 바카라�minimum original tweet volume of about 3 lakh posts; excluding retweets and other interactions바카라�.

When the delayed coronavirus-­induced lockdown was announced by the prime minister, Sonia had set up an 11-member consultative group of the party under the chairmanship of former prime minister Manmohan Singh and with Rahul Gandhi as a member. The brief for the group was clear바카라�firm up the party바카라�s position on various issues of critical importance. The composition of the team, many said then, was an indicator of Rahul softening on his reluctance to be actively involved in the party바카라�s day-to-day functioning. At least five members of the group바카라�Venugopal, Randeep Surjewala, Praveen Chakravarty, Supriya Shrinate and Gourav Vallabh바카라�were app­ointed on Rahul바카라�s recommendation.

The handling of the coronavirus pandemic and its crippling impact on India바카라�s already stagnating economy were, a member of the consultative group says, two issues handpicked by Rahul to corner the Modi government on. The ­party바카라�s media cell was instructed to 바카라�hold no punches바카라� while criticising the government for its failures, but to also sim­ultaneously ensure that 바카라�no personal attacks were made against the prime minister so that the BJP doesn바카라�t get a handle to go on the offensive바카라�.

This initiative was led byRahul, who was the first political leader to warn the government of the perils of ignoring the pandemic on February 12바카라�over a month before the lockdown was announced. He addressed some press conferences while maintaining that he only wished to make 바카라�constructive suggestions바카라�. He followed this up with an 바카라�in-conversation바카라� series in which he spoke to leading public health and economic experts, businessmen and common citizens about various aspects of the pandemic and the lockdown. These interactions were then shared on social media platforms. Rahul has now begun recording brief videos for his social media channels in a bid to dir­ectly share with his audience his views of various issues of national importance.

Meanwhile, Congress spokespersons, long criticised for being insipid while ­responding to the BJP바카라�s verbal attacks, have turned uncharacteristically combative. The continued border dispute ­between India and China in Ladakh and Modi바카라�s steadfast refusal to acknowledge the gravity of the crisis saw Congress spokespersons shed their historic ­reticence in critiquing India바카라�s China ­policy. Modi바카라�s statement of June 19 ­denying Chinese incursions into the Galwan Valley, just four days after 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives in primitive clashes with the People바카라�s Liberation Army, further helped the Congress slay the ghost of the 1962 Sino-Indian war바카라�arguably the Congress바카라�s gravest blunder from the Nehruvian era. Party ­spokespersons Manish Tewari, Pawan Khera, Gourav Vallabh, Supriya Shrinate, Jaiveer Shergill, Ragini Nayak, Shama Mohamed, Rohan Gupta, Rajiv Tyagi and several others have had a field day, even managing to stun the BJP바카라�s Sambit Patra, G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, Shaina N.C., Shahnawaz Hussain and Sudhanshu Trivedi into relative silence during TV debates바카라�despite evidently partisan anchors who seek to push the government바카라�s narrative.

Vallabh says the aggression of Congress spokespersons is as much a ­result of the party바카라�s anger at the 바카라�steady erosion of democracy and secular polity of India under the BJP바카라� as it is out of 바카라�frustration at a section of the media that pushes the government바카라�s agenda ­instead of speaking in national interest바카라�. That a major chunk of Indian media has become an 바카라�enabler of BJP바카라�s fascism바카라� has now become a prominent feature of the Congress바카라�s political diatribe.  

The slew of appointments being made across the party바카라�s state units and the hitherto absent cohesion in the party바카라�s communication strategy suggest small steps towards course correction have been made in the grand old party. However, the real test of a political party is at the hustings. This is where the Congress has made little headway. 바카라�Electorally we are still in an existential crisis. In the assembly polls due over the next two years, we aren바카라�t even key players in Bihar or West Bengal, while in UP we aren바카라�t sure whether Priyanka바카라�s efforts will yield any tangible results. We can바카라�t challenge the BJP if we have no revival strategy for the grassroots,바카라� says a senior party functionary.

Journalist and Congress Rajya Sabha MP Kumar Ketkar admits that the ­challenges before the Congress today seem difficult to surmount. However, he says this isn바카라�t purely because of the 바카라�so-called leadership crisis or the Congress바카라�s inability to enunciate its ideological ­position바카라�, but largely for the kind of politics that the BJP has succeeded in perpetuating and how an 바카라�embedded media바카라� has helped keep the saffron wave on a crest. The BJP바카라�s ideology has been that of 바카라�divide, polarise and rule on the simulated hate바카라�, Ketkar tells Outlook, adding that the only way in which the Congress can respond to this is by ­remaining steadfast on its own ideology of secularism and liberalism, while building on its grassroots base by reviving its long legacy of mass movements. Ketkar says doubts being raised by many on the leadership of the party need to be put to rest decisively but adds that under the present circumstances the best bet for the Congress is to work under a Nehru-Gandhi. Ketkar points out that between 1991 and 1997, no member of the Gandhi family was in politics바카라�the only such period since 1947바카라�and the Congress failed to rally behind a single leader. Today, there are three Nehru-Gandhis바카라�Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka바카라�in active politics. Can they collectively put the party back on track?