Congress fighting a grim battle for survival

The failure of the Congress to counter Modi’s attacks is causing ‘in-house’ discomfort at 24, Akbar Road. Modi has been treating the Congress as easy meat due to the party’s large political baggage — from the Emergency to dynastic politics, various acts of omission and commission. However, the entry of many dynasts into the BJP should have given the party a chance to counter Modi or point to the PM’s bid to exploit dynastic politics.

Low key: Rahul Gandhi and his team have preferred silence over Modi’s salvos. PTI

Rashid Kidwai

Senior Journalist

The Congress is fighting the Assembly polls in Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur and Uttar Pradesh as a grim battle for survival. It is locked in a multi-cornered contest in Punjab, where some pollsters are giving the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) an edge over the Congress, the Akali-BSP combine and the BJP-Punjab Lok Congress alliance. The AAP is said to be finding some traction in Goa and Uttarakhand too. Many see the emergence of the Trinamool Congress in Goa and Manipur at the cost of the Congress.

Just like the 2021 Assembly polls in Assam and Kerala, sources close to Rahul Gandhi are confident of the party winning Uttarakhand and Punjab with ease. At the Congress war room at 15, Gurdwara Rakabganj Road, opinion poll surveys have been dismissed and the projections by the in-house data analysts have been given greater weightage. These were the people who had predicted that the Congress would cross the 100-mark in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and win the Kerala Assembly polls with ease.

At the organisational level too, Rahul’s core team is planning sweeping changes, enforcing a ‘generational change’ and setting the stage for ‘smooth’ (read consensual) party polls, including the appointment of a new full-time party president and a new Congress Working Committee (CWC) for a five-year (2022-27) tenure. Rahul’s aides insist that once the Congress wins Punjab and Uttarakhand, he would have the upper hand and only two types of leaders would excel in the party — those capable of winning elections, and the ‘cerebral’ types with a professional background.

At variance with Team Rahul’s grand plans, a section of the Congress insiders fears that AAP’s success in Punjab would further undermine the party in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, where the Assembly polls are due later this year. A belligerent AAP would try replacing the Congress as the principal opposition force to the BJP, they argue, dreading that a poor Congress performance in Punjab and Uttarakhand would trigger an exodus of sorts — in various directions i.e., towards AAP, Trinamool Congress and the BJP.

The BJP has been observing ‘political eclecticism’ in picking and choosing Congress leaders who have a better public image, caste-based advantage or a potential role in public life. Some disgruntled Congress leaders, on their part, have had a degree of discomfort with the BJP and its practising ideology. In a nutshell, they have avoided switching sides. AAP, on the other hand, offers a pitch that these Congress leaders think would weigh light on their political conscience. Ditto for Trinamool Congress, whose party constitution and ideology have been nearly identical with those of the parent organisation — the Congress.

There would be more bad news in store for the Congress if March 10 throws up a dismal verdict for the party. A section of regional satraps in Haryana, Karnataka, Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh is reportedly contemplating to float breakaway groups. Political hiccups in Maharashtra and Jharkhand are also being speculated.

The failure of the Congress to counter PM Narendra Modi’s verbal attacks is also causing ‘in-house’ discomfort at 24, Akbar Road. Modi has been treating the Congress as easy meat due to the party’s large political baggage — from the Emergency to dynastic politics, various acts of omission and commission etc. However, the entry of many young Congress dynasts into the BJP should have given the party an opportunity to counter Modi or point to the Prime Minister’s bid to exploit dynastic politics.

Modi has of late been making a distinction of sorts on dynastic politics. In a recent TV interview, much like his Constitution Day speech on November 26, 2021, he tried to justify political dynasty at the entry level but vehemently opposed the supremacy of a family over a party. Modi said in the interview, “When dynastic politics takes place, family is supreme, save the family whether the party is saved or not, whether the country is saved or not, when this happens, what is the first casualty? Howsoever the son, he will be the party chief, the biggest casualty then is talent.” He also said that dynastic politics was stopping young people from entering politics.

The Prime Minister has, however, glossed over the fact that every second Lok Sabha MP under the age of 40 is from a dynastic background. The intrinsic link between money and dynastic politics has not been scrutinised both in terms of money management during the elections and protecting the family’s long-term business interests.

In Uttar Pradesh alone, the number of second and third generation political families is staggering. Names such as Nitin Aggarwal, Aditi Singh, Nilima Katyar, Sandeep Singh, Pankaj Singh, Archana Pandey, Riya Shakya, Sushant Singh and dozens of others provide a lead on how dynastic culture is not only thriving but being perpetuated by the BJP.

Only DMK leader and Tamil Nadu minister P Moorthy chose to respond to Modi, pointing out that people do judge politicians by the work they do. “After Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi came to power. So many current ministers are such. O Panneerselvam’s son is the MP from Periyakulam, Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s son had held the party post, Jayakumar’s son was an MP. Don’t look at it as dynastic politics, look into the work done by the heir,” he argued.

The Congress, in its wisdom, has preferred to remain silent, giving credence to Modi’s allegations.