Weeks before Assembly elections, age-old fault lines resurface in Cong

KV Prasad
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, October 8

Just weeks before the October 21 polling for the state Assemblies of Haryana and Maharashtra, the Congress could have done without intra-party battle. The banner of revolt raised by two state leaders Ashok Tanwar in Haryana and former Mumbai chief Sanjay Nirupam hit the party at a time it is still tottering from the twin blows — a major setback in the Lok Sabha polls and Rahul Gandhi walking away from the leadership.

What is it the Congress and its members are squabbling for, a handful of seats in the assemblies of Haryana and Maharashtra where the challenge is formidable or is it that the leaders on a rebellious path are of the view that the Congress is within striking distance to storm back to power. It will be simplistic to explain it as a struggle between Rahul Gandhi’s team and the old guard, wresting control.

Are the issues that Tanwar, Nirupam or Sampat Singh raked up reflect a deeper malaise of the manner in which the Congress leadership continue to do more of the same or is it a manifestation of ambitious leaders’ inability to strike a balance with changing equations in the party? After remaining in the driver’s seat, the pressure on these leaders to demonstrate they remain a force is one plausible explanation.

Yet, these squabbles reinforce public perception that the Congress needs to do a lot more and do it differently to get a handle on its existential problem. Just savour this: “In some places, intra-party rivalries and infighting cost us dearly. In others, we have been unable to regroup effectively and turn the tide that went with us…was an observation of Congress president Sonia Gandhi 15 years ago in the backdrop of formation of UPA-1. Ignore the November 2003 context and these words ring true even today.

The current tussle re-emphasises the age-old party lore “Congress hi Congress ko harati hai”, which loosely translates into infighting as one of the causes behind the party’s defeat.

Whether there is empirical evidence to test this lore against actual results, either in scale or in magnitude is not important. What is critical is that members of the Indian National Congress wallow in a make believe world that the Grand Old Party is the natural party of governance and people are eager to vote it to office. Since 2014 the party is unable to crack the code that is paying the BJP handsome electoral dividends across large parts of the country.

Five months after the Lok Sabha results, these Assembly elections offer to the political opponents of the BJP the first opportunity to do a reality check whether the BJP remains a top draw or there is a dent in its popularity. What parties in the Opposition make of this opening will come out soon.