Sunil Gatade
‘Success has many fathers. failure goes abegging”, this saying sums up the churning going on in the Congress after the worst electoral debacle of the party in the Lok Sabha polls over three months back.
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government is basking in the glory of completion of 100 days in office, 24, Akbar Road, the Congress headquarters is witnessing growing internecine quarrels.
The AICC office is overcast by the shadow of the BJP’s massive victory and the failure of the Congress leadership to get its act together in spite of the severe drubbing. Daggers are out in the Congress. Some leaders who were singing paens of the high command day in and day out are now attempting to teach a lesson or two to Rahul Gandhi who led the grand old party in the polls.
“Why our people have gone crazy after the defeat,” a Congress General Secretary remarked in exasperation as the battle between the old guards and the young turks refused to die down.
The battle has come out in the open following certain statements from Party General Secretaries Digvijay Singh and Janardan Dwivedi at a time when the reorganization and revamp of the AICC Secretariat is on the cards. Digvijay Singh, who was once close to Rahul, has been the most caustic. In diplomatic ways, he has let it be known that the leadership of Rahul has failed. His remarks that the Congress lost the battle of perception due to silence of Rahul on critical issues has turned out to be a red rag to the supporters of the Congress Vice President.
A section in the Congress is silently promoting the idea of leadership role for Priyanka Gandhi as it feels that Rahul has failed in the leaderhip role. The demands for bringing Priyanka voiced subtly is message to Sonia Gandhi that her projection of Rahul as the future leader is not that welcome.
A senior leader put the problem in the Congress aptly. “What we are witnessing is glasnost, perestroika (restructuring) will follow”. Glasnost was ‘openness’ witnessed in undivided Soviet Union under Mikhail Gorbachev. The openness and the restruscturing led to the collapse of the mighty USSR and division into several nations.
The leader, however, hastened to add that the openness and restructuring in the Congress wouldnot lead to division in the party but the party going into the hands of younger leaders.
And that is being opposed by the old guard in their own way. The fact of life, politicl life, is that whenever a new leader comes he brings his own team. No one like to go into retirement mode in politics. Veteran like Madhu Limaye is an exception.
While the Committee led by senior leader A K Antony has gone into the causes of the debacle, there have been more than ample indications that the leadership has not been blamed in any way in its report, which till now is a classified document and has been handed over to the party chief.
This was not also possible given the fact that notwithstanding the claims that it is the world’s largest democratic party, the Congress remains a ‘family affair’-it is controlled by the ‘First family’.
The fact is that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are the real high command and not the Congress Working Committee. It is common knowledge in top party circles that Sonia and Rahul keep Priyanka involved in all respects on policy matters. During the Manmohan Singh government’s tenure of ten long years, there were always charges that the show was being run by 10 Jan Path, residence of the Congress President.
Congress insiders say that the setting up of the Antony Committee was a mere ritual to give talking points to the media, but the introspection and the post mortem is going on behind closed doors to decide future strategy. The leadership of Rahul Gandhi is being strongly protected by his supporters but the experienced leaders say that Sonia Gandhi has now understood that matters require her involvement and intervention.
The results of the just concluded Assembly polls in several states offered a ray of hope. Congress winning three out of four seats in Gujarat and Rajasthan where the BJP had swept in the Lok Sabha polls by winning all seats is a cause for minor celebration. A mere 44 seats in the Lok Sabha is not a happy situation and the BJP is going all the way to marginalize and humiliate the Congress. The refusal of the Leader of the Opposition post in the Lok Sabha is deliberately intended to bluntly tell the Grand Old Party that ‘you are down in the dumps and it is better that you keep quiet”.
Congress President is realizing that it is a long haul at a time when the Prime Minister has vowed for a “Congress-mukt Bharat”. The party is in political wilderness in the Hindi heartland for 25 long years as the Mandal and Mandir upsurge has made it a fringe player in the politics of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. In Tamil Nadu, the Dravidian parties are on a roll for the past nearly 40 years while West Bengal is a similar story.
No party can grow on its past laurels. Congress may have been instrumental in ensuring freedom for the country under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. But nearly seven decades have passed since then and each passing day is leading to growing hopes and aspirations of the people.
The emergence of Modi as a ‘man of development’ despite carrying the baggage of 2002 riots of Gujarat has lessons for Congress. It is time for the Congress to introspect and introspect deeply to come out with the winning formula.
The success of Congress in all these years was because it has changed with the times. The party which in the fifties swore by Socialism had the distinction of ushering in liberalization in early nineties. The Congress has the unique ability to bounce back. Whether and when it will do so now depended upon the will and the ability of its leaders. Sanjay Gandhi had ensured the return of Congress at the Centre in just three years by hitting the street and exposing the then ruling party. How much Rahul Gandhi will emulate his uncle? Only time will tell.
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