Congress must reform

The rout of the Congress in the recent Assembly elections confirms the view that the grand old party is in terminal decline, and that the 2024 parliamentary election would pit the BJP not against the Congress but a coalition of regional parties, with or without the Congress. When the BJP won power at the Centre in 2014, the Congress ruled nine states — now, with the loss of Punjab, the number is down to two. In the last eight years, the Congress has won just five of the 45 elections held in the country. Its hope of wresting back Himachal Pradesh from the BJP later this year would be reduced in the absence of state supremo Virbhadra Singh, who died last year; the two states it still rules, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, go to the polls in 2023 and there is a real possibility that by the 2024 General Election, it may be in power in no state at all.

The decimation of the Congress robs the voter of a centrist option at the national level, and makes the contest in national electoral politics multipolar, with various regional parties — with vastly different ideologies and ambitions — coming together to challenge the BJP. India must have a strong Opposition to hold the government to account. However, a motley collection of parties — competing for prime ministership among themselves — may not be best suited to serve the interests of democracy. The Congress, despite its spectacular decline over the last decade, had seemed the most viable alternative to the BJP, but even veteran Congressmen are losing hope now.

The Congress’ vote share in the last two General Elections was the second-best — at 19.31% and 19.46% — behind the BJP, and it has the potential to represent Indian citizens across the country. It still may be the biggest single challenger to the BJP, but it’s obvious that it has got stuck in a rut. There is confusion at the top — after Rahul’s resignation as president in 2019, Sonia Gandhi has been interim president — and panic in the ranks. Organisational reform is the need of the hour, in the interest of a strong Opposition — and, thus, in the interests of India.

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