- The severe drubbing received by the Grand Old Party of India in the recently concluded assembly elections to five states should have resulted in not only soul searching for the top-brass vis-à-vis failing to guide the party on the professed directions but also must have ensured fixing accountability in failing to deliver. Alas, the Congress party does not function in the manner expected by the majority simply because there are very few who dare question the Gandhi family for repeatedly failing to steer the organization in the right direction. It is becoming increasingly clear that Congress’s continued poll debacle is benefitting other parties including the relatively new entrant like Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the political firmament.
PC: Karan Thapar
- That the safe citadel of Punjab, where the Congress was the incumbent party in power, was lost so overwhelmingly to AAP speaks volumes about the Grand Old Party’s loss of traction amongst the electorate. Of course, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would be not complaining either since it keeps relentlessly marching ahead with the self-proclaimed objective of seeing Congress Mukt Bharat in the foreseeable future. Note that Congress is ruling in only two states viz. Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh with one state after another slipped away from its grip. Some concrete measures to address the Congress party’s emblematic slide should happen forthwith. At least for the sake of democracy in the country, you see.
- As you are aware, the dissident group of Congress leaders, called G-23, are voicing concerns over the way the party is shaping up in the last year or so. As is its wont, the family loyalists are onto the G-23 in a flash fiercely protecting the top leadership from further insinuations and questioning about the abilities in decision-making every time the organization suffers a setback. Even now, the dissident G-23 leaders have called for collective and inclusive leadership and decision-making during one of their recent meetings. However, the attempts of the Congress high command and Gandhi family loyalists to shield the family from responsibility for poll debacles is facing a determined pushback. No surprises there.
PC: Arvind Gunasekar
- As it turns out, though Sonia Gandhi has reportedly reached out to G-23 front-man Ghulam Nabi Azad, a détente had appeared unlikely after another prominent leader from the group Kapil Sibal’s remarks suggesting that the family step aside. However, by calling for collective leadership the dissidents appear to be worried that a maximalist position could end up isolating them. Interestingly, the G-23 meeting also saw some new faces like high-profile Shashi Tharoor along with five former chief ministers who were not lost on political watchers. This only goes to show that the G-23 is getting more footing by the day.
- Mind you, knee-jerk reactions like Sonia Gandhi’s move to demand the resignation of the PCC presidents who helmed the party in the five states has only triggered questions of why the accountability doesn’t stretch to Rahul or Priyanka Gandhi who were primarily responsible for a number of controversial decisions that ended up hurting the party. Past experience amply demonstrates how dissidence targeting the central leadership has culminated in acrimonious splits or ousting of incumbent presidents. Thus, the next moves of the Congress leadership read as the family, and the G-23 will reveal how this new chapter in Congress’s internal intrigues end.
