Congress at crossroads

It is arguably the best time for the Congress to corner the BJP-led Union government. The country’s economy is in free fall, Covid-19 cases are growing by leaps and bounds, and there is no end in sight to the border standoff with China. However, the main opposition party is certainly not best placed to mount an offensive against the Centre. The Congress still doesn’t have a full-time president, more than 15 months after Rahul Gandhi quit in the wake of the 2019 Lok Sabha poll rout. The party is busy expending its energy on taming or punishing the has-beens who were part of the ‘Group of 23’ that had lobbed a ‘letter bomb’ at interim chief Sonia Gandhi on the eve of the Congress Working Committee meeting. Taking a predictable course, the August 24 meet did nothing more than to uphold the status quo. The party’s reluctance to introspect and its tendency to give the misleading impression that everything is hunky-dory have virtually ruled out the possibility of sweeping reforms.

Ahead of Parliament’s monsoon session, the Congress’ strategy group will meet today to prepare a plan to confront the government on the floor of the House. Leaders of the Congress and other opposition parties are likely to put their heads together later in the week to finalise a joint floor strategy. Ironically, despite being in a state of drift, the Grand Old Party is expected to lead the charge against the BJP.

The Congress’ attempt to seize the initiative on the JEE-NEET issue was defeated, with the Supreme Court dismissing a review petition filed by six non-BJP-ruled state governments against its own order allowing the Centre to hold the two premier entrance tests. But the Central government finds itself on a sticky wicket over its failure to compensate the states for the shortfall in GST collection. Having so much ammo, all that the Opposition needs is a strong, vocal party at the forefront. The onus is on the Congress to set its own house in order. For a start, it should announce the schedule for the much-delayed organisational revamp.

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