Beyond defeat: Will Priyanka Gandhi finally take charge of the Congress?

Beyond defeat: Will Priyanka Gandhi finally take charge of the Congress?

The Congress high command has perhaps finally realised that it would be too late for them to wait for the BJP to make mistakes, and it was now time to come out of their slumber before it is too little too late.

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Beyond defeat: Will Priyanka Gandhi finally take charge of the Congress?

New Delhi: As soon as counting started on Sunday, the early trends had confirmed the worst suspicions of Congress. The bravado showed by their leaders when exit polls were out had now given way to drooping shoulders even as party headquarters wore a deserted look. The anti-incumbency factor seemed to weigh too heavy on the party that appeared sluggish throughout the election campaign.

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A section of Congress party workers have called for Priyanka to take lead in the party over her brother Rahul. PTI

Party president Sonia Gandhi was quick to accept defeat. “Congress politely accepts the mandate. We will play a conscious and positive role in the future… We hope that parties that have got mandate will deliver on their promises made in the elections,” she said in a statement.

While Maharashtra was headed towards BJP running just short of a simple majority, Haryana was the eye opener where the saffron party managed a simple majority on its own. What should have the alarm bells ringing for the Congress is the fact that there has been little upward swing for them in terms of vote share in the two states.

“Haryana is something we have to look at as BJP has won comfortably. The breaking of alliance with NCP damaged us in Maharashtra but the margin from previous vote share is not much,” said Abhishek Manu Singhvi, national spokesperson Congress.

The BJP had polled 31 percent of the total votes in the general elections of 2014 compared to 19 percent of the Congress. While BJP’s vote share has swung upwards for them with 33.2 percent in Haryana and 27.8 percent in Maharashtra where they fought without the Shiv Sena, the Congress had to be content with 20.6 percent in Haryana while sliding to 18 percent in Maharashtra. Clearly, the party seems to have missed out on how to arrest the slide on familiar political turf. Even though both Prithviraj Chavan and Bhupinder Hooda may have won their respective elections, the gap between people and the state leadership was growing by the day. What added to the problem was the reluctance of the high command to change status quo to stem the rot.

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“I congratulate the BJP and thank Congress supporters on their support. Our workers are committed to the ideology of the party and we worked hard. Congress party will work hard again to get the grassroots,” said a statement from Rahul Gandhi, party vice president.

With an organisational revamp on the cards, it is perhaps the best opportunity for the Gandhi scion to weed out the deadwood. But the BJP seems to be always a step ahead of them on every occasion, be it relieving the old guard or making the required changes in their organisation. Though sister Priyanka is likely to meet some senior leaders of the party on Monday, it is expected to be a stock taking exercise.

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“If she does take a review meeting, then it is the best thing that has happened to the Congress after losing in May this year,” said a senior Congress leader on condition of anonymity. “This will also boost the morale of the party cadre that has only got bad news one after the other this year,” he added.

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What is significant is that Rahul seems to be willing to let Priyanka give her own feedback about the prevailing political scenario. Many see this as a ray of hope. “We have done it earlier and we would do it again under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. No need for demoralisation,” said senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Twitter.

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Perhaps the high command has finally realised that it would be too late for them to wait for the BJP to make mistakes, and it was time to come out of their slumber before it is too little too late.

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