Can Congress reinvent itself?

The central government led by prime minister Narendra Modi is currently undergoing one of its worst phases. The country’s economy, which was not looking rosy over the last few years, has taken a major blow as a result of coronavirus pandemic.

The government’s image has suffered a serious setback with its mishandling of the migrants issue and its inability to check the spread of the virus has worsened the situation. And now the face-off with China has put it in a tight corner.

While an elected government needs backing of the entire country in case of any national crises, it is equally important that the opposition plays its role and keep the government on its toes.

The government must be asked tough questions on its handling of the pandemic and the economic crisis. Constructive criticism of the government’s policies in the legitimate right of the opposition.

Unfortunately that’s where the main national level opposition party, the Congress, is again failing the country. It continues to remain in a state of moribund since its humiliating defeat, second time in a row, last year.

It failed to learn lessons from the defeats and is continuing with its follies. The latest indications are that Rahul Gandhi, who had rightly stepped down as president of the party taking responsibility for the defeat, may again get back to the post.

At a virtual Congress Working Committee meeting on Monday, the old guard in the party again beseeched him to take over the responsibilities.

Although Rahul Gandhi did not immediately agree to the demand, his silence was evidence enough that he may not refuse as he had been doing till now.

This kind of servility and mentality has already caused much damage to the party but it too is not learning its lessons. Congress has a large number of experienced and deserving leaders who can lead it to newer heights but they don’t have the guts to call for a change.

The party attempted to hold an election for the post of president last year but none of these leaders stepped up to contest elections. Perhaps they would have done so if they had got a nudge and backing from the Gandhi family.

Obviously the family was too afraid to let go of its hold. The result was that a couple of little known candidates filed their papers for the election and could not secure even two per cent of the votes. The party appears again keen to commit hara kiri (suicide).

A senior Congress leader, Sanjay Jha, who had been an effective spokesman of the party, was last week taken out of its panel of spokespersons because he dared to say that the party needed to urgently revive itself. He suggested an overhaul of the party so that it could emerge as a strong and formidable challenger to the BJP.

He had pointed out how the party was functioning in an ad hoc manner. Sonia Gandhi had taken up the post after the failure of the farcical party elections and she hasn’t been able to move around or provide an effective leadership due to her health issues.

He disclosed how no meetings were held over the last five years to evolve any strategy or to discuss ideas and stand to be taken by the spokespersons of the party. He had suggested that the party leadership should set up a shadow cabinet to keep the government on its toes.

The party had been witnessing an exodus of leaders over the last few years. These included former chief ministers Ajit Jogi, Vijay Bahuguna and Giridhar Gomang besides former state presidents Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Bhubaneshwar Kalita, Ashok Chaudhary, Ashok Tanwar and Botcha Satyanarayana have quit the party.

Among former union ministers are Jayanti Natarajan, SM Krishna, Beni Prasad Verma, GK Vasan, Shankersinh Vaghela, Srikant Jena, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Choudhary Birender Singh and Sudip Roy Burman.

Its latest loss was the dynamic leader of the future, Jyotiraditya Scindia, who was forced to leave after was denied a Rajya Sabha seat. He was in the reckoning for the post of chief minister of Madhya Pradesh but his claim was overlooked in favour of Kamalnath.

Recently there were reports of another promising leader Sachin Pilot, currently deputy chief minister of Rajasthan, having strong differences with the chief minister Ashok Gehlot.

With growing resentment against the Modi government a political vacuum is building up across the nation. All the regional parties remain confined to their states and no other party but the Congress has the potential to challange the BJP.

The chances of a mahagathbandhan also appear to be dim at least in the near future. The nearly a century and a half old party finds itself at a critical juncture of the country’s history. If it does not check its rapid slide, the party would be failing in its duty towards the nation.

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