- The Grand Old Party is commencing Chintan Shivir by congregating in Udaipur, an ostensibly honest exercise in introspecting successive setbacks the party has suffered of late, and to formulate necessary policies to regroup in the national political firmament. This exercise comes on the back of a relentless campaign of few Congress leaders who were seeking a change of tack, read it as leadership, to not only resurrect the free fall of the party’s fortunes but also provide a semblance of purpose and intent to take on the awesome political machinery of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The moot point to ponder over here is whether such an exercise will yield desired results in the coming days.
PC: Supriya Bhardwaj
- As things stand presently, the answer to that question would have to be a big no. Indications emerging from the party’s loyal leaders show that the Gandhi family continues to be inseparable from the entity’s fortunes and concerted efforts are already underway to unanimously request Rahul Gandhi to preside over the organization. As such, it is amply evident that the Congress leaders are likely to think about many things except perhaps whether Nehru-Gandhis should continue to lead the party. Of course, they are likely to deliberate a lot about taking on BJP, except they will not recognize that BJP is India’s most focused party when it comes to linking leadership with the ability to deliver success.
- Looking back will reveal how BJP was humiliated in the 1984 elections, it lost despite the favorite in 2004 and failed to dislodge UPA in 2009 as well. And every time, BJP changed its leadership. Note that even before Narendra Modi emerged as the party’s choice of leader in 2013, LK Advani had quit his leader of opposition post after the 2009 defeat. And despite Advani’s stature, his word wasn’t the most consequential when BJP chose Modi for the 2014 elections. Understandably, if BJP was like Congress, it wouldn’t be where it’s today electorally. Many democracies across the world like the US, UK, and France welcomed new leaders to lead the party to glory. However, Congress chose Sonia Gandhi when Rahul Gandhi resigned after the 2019 defeat.
PC: Supriya Bhardwaj, Rahul Shrivastava
- The political system in the country is such that regional parties who wield considerable sway don’t change leadership either. For instance, SP and BSP are still led by the same leaders, never mind repeat losses. Akalis under Badals, Shiv Sena under Thackerays, and DMK under the Karunanidhi clan are all parties where defeat doesn’t and won’t change leaderships at all. However, Congress is likely facing an existential crisis, so its incentive should be far greater. Sadly, the stick-to-old-guard and Gandhi’s preference to keep pulling the party down is lost in the melee. Needless to mention, the time is ripe now for Congress to think seriously to move ahead of the Gandhis or face irreversible oblivion. Indeed, Congress needs to think the unthinkable without any further delay.
