Congress road map for revival lacks clarity

It must be borne in mind that Rahul Gandhi has all along fancied himself as a youth icon and a ‘dreamer’ on the lines of Rajiv Gandhi of 1985. It is a different matter that so far, he has failed miserably to sell a single 21st-century cause to the young. From 2004 to 2014, when the Congress-led UPA was in power, Rahul showcased a band of young MPs but most of them were young dynasts who have now parked themselves in the BJP.

In a fix: Congress is not quite clear on implementing party plans and policies. PTI

Rasheed Kidwai

Senior Journalist & Author

The Congress Chintan Shivir at Udaipur resulted in the Gandhis consolidating their hold over the grand old party. The dissenters, aka G-23, failed to articulate their concerns or pose any kind of leadership challenge to Rahul, Sonia and Priyanka Gandhi.

There are several ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ takeaways from the conclave. The party did well to encourage and promote younger people, promising to accommodate 50 per cent of the nominees in elections who would be under 50. It is a tall order. The task of identifying 272 Lok Sabha candidates below the age of 50 for the 2024 parliamentary polls would be a daunting assignment, particularly if winnability is given prime consideration. Ditto for ticket aspirants from women, weaker sections and minorities categories. Priyanka Gandhi’s recent experiment in Uttar Pradesh, giving 40 per cent assembly seats to women candidates failed to find any traction even among the female voters.

It must, however, be borne in mind that Rahul Gandhi has all along fancied himself as a youth icon and ‘dreamer’ on the lines of Rajiv Gandhi of 1985. It is a different matter that so far, he has failed to sell a single 21st-century cause to the young. Between 2004 and 2014, when the Congress-led UPA was in power, Rahul showcased a band of young MPs but most of them were young dynasts who have now parked themselves in the BJP. In real terms, their presence in the Congress and Manmohan Singh’s Council of Ministers had discouraged the grassroots workers who were made to realise that the leaders were parachuted from the top. Rahul himself candidly admitted that the Gandhi ‘tag’ helped him emerge on top.

Rahul’s talent hunt drive ran in sharp contrast to what the Youth Congress had stood for in 1975-76, when Sanjay Gandhi’s associates were compared with ‘Hitler’s storm-troopers’ or Mao’s ‘Red Guards’. The Youth Congress then was viewed as ‘hardcore, loyal, dedicated, disciplined, ideologically committed workers’. In fact, the youth wing of the Congress peaked during 1976 to 1981 when Sanjay Gandhi was calling the shots. Members of Sanjay’s group still form a backbone of sorts in the present-day Congress, such as Kamal Nath, Ambika Soni, Vayalar Ravi, AK Antony, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mukul Wasnik, Ashok Gehlot, Digvijaya Singh and BK Hariprasad.

It is interesting to note that after the 1977 General Election was announced, Sanjay made sure that Youth Congress leaders got a hundred-odd Lok Sabha tickets. As a result, the Youth Congress remained fiercely loyal to the leadership. When the counting for the 1977 Lok Sabha polls was going on in the

Tis Hazari court of Delhi, jubilant Janata Party and Jan Sangh workers shouted, ‘Congressi dikhao, sau rupaye pao’. Some Congress leaders chose to swallow the humiliation but the Youth Congress leaders decided to challenge them even though the counting had shown that all Congress nominees from Delhi were trailing. ‘Haan hum hain Congressi, lao sau rupaye,’ they shouted back. Of course, no monetary reward was given to them.

The Udaipur meet also saw the Congress leadership candidly admitting that the party has lost ‘connect’ with the masses. The leadership, however, opted for a cure that seemed high on optics but low on delivery. The proposal for a nationwide padyatra from Kashmir to Kanyakumari is extremely ambitious and adventurous.

As per one estimate, this padyatra may consume time running into year and a half considering roadshows, stopovers and other constraints. The question in Congress circles is whether Rahul and Priyanka would be leading from the front or symbolically flagging off batches of yatris from one town to the other. Such a course may expose them to criticism and ridicule. After all, from Mahatma Gandhi to Chandrashekhar, Sunil Dutt, YS Rajasekhara Reddy to Digvijaya Singh, the political superstars took backbreaking expeditions facing multiple challenges. The idea of ‘Bharat Jodo’ sounds great but the grand old party needs to fine-tune its ideological dilemmas. As reported earlier, Kamal Nath, Bhupesh Baghel and other North Indian party leaders pitched for a ‘religious outreach’ (read Hindu outreach) and a greater participation in Dahi Handi, Ganesh Utsav, Durga festivals. However, Congress leaders from Kerala, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Andhra are said to have cautioned against it and favoured the participation of party leaders in such events in their ‘personal capacity’. Typically, the Congress leadership dithered and the issue was not clinched at Udaipur.

The formation of an ‘Insight Department’ to constantly read the mood of the people offers promise. But ask any Congress leader of consequence, the experience of Vishvjit Prithvijit Singh to Praveen Chakravarty has been far from being encouraging. Just like the [in]famous intelligence department feedback and assessments to the outgoing governments, the Congress leadership invariably found somewhat comforting facts and figures when the actual results dealt blows. The latest in the long series was the outcome of the Punjab and Uttarakhand Assembly polls.

Similarly, the creation of a separate department for election management sounds good. But just like the Insight Department, this department would require professional touch and out-of-the-box thinking, something poll strategist Prashant Kishor had recommended. The Gandhis may still be wondering if it would not be naïve or too late to rework some offer to Kishor.

The formation of an advisory group within the CWC is short of reviving the party’s Central Parliamentary Board. The Congress party constitution vests supreme powers in the parliamentary board. However, Sonia Gandhi is said to have indicated that the proposed advisory group would be from within the CWC. At present, the CWC has 57 members, including permanent invitees but does not include Sachin Pilot, Kamal Nath, DK Shivakumar, Bhupendra Singh Hooda, Bhupesh Baghel, Ashok Gehlot, Prithviraj Chavan and other leaders. Would this panel without the likes of Pilot, Nath, Baghel, Hooda or Shivakumar carry much weight?

Days after Chintan Shivir, the Congress suffered a blow when the Gujarat party unit working president, Hardik Patel, parted ways, making some hard-hitting and politically embarrassing remarks. The Gandhis, particularly Rahul, had kept tolerating Hardik’s whimsical ways, hoping that his presence would provide rich dividends in the Gujarat Assembly polls later this year. The Hardik episode has again exposed the Congress’ vulnerability in inducting ‘prize catches’ on high organisational posts without considering ideological compatibility.