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| No road to recovery in sight for the Congress | | | Balbir Punj | 1/22/2015 11:01:23 PM |
| If 10 Janpath believes that taking cheap potshots at the BJP, instead of rebuilding its broken political structure, is the way forward, then clearly the grand old party is learning no lessons from its continued electoral losses
The silence among middle-level Congress leaders that followed the recent Congress Work
ing Committee's decisions may be the first signs of what the future holds for the grand old
party that is hurtling from one disaster to another. A day before the CWC met there were rallies in the national capital itself heralding the Delhi Assembly election season. The next day's newspapers featured the BJP's challenge, voiced with telling effect by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. News reports on the BJP rally also took note of Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal's counter-challenge. But there was no mention of the Congress that had ruled Delhi for 15 years, even though the party had also just announced its poll presence.
If by now Congressmen themselves have accepted that their presence in the Delhi Assembly will shrink further on February 10, the message from the CWC meeting, which was held the day the election gig had begun to roll, gave them no adrenalin boost to face the double challenge from the BJP and the AAP. There was little leadership from the two Gandhis. The party that once had illustrious leaders from many different States with Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in the lead. Today, the 'national' party is in danger of being reduced to a notional outfit. Starting with the late 2013 Assembly elections, through the general election of May 2014 and following sets of State-level polls, a dark shadow has been gathering over the party and its has only become more menacing as the party's prospects have gone from bad to worse.
With most analysts saying that this trend will continue in the upcoming Assembly elections and extend right up to 2017, and that the BJP will possibly take over the reins of the Government in the States of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam and possibly even West Bengal, not to mention Delhi itself, what does the Congress rank and file have to look forward to? In Assam, the Congress performed miserably during the Lok Sabha election, and the recent bloodshed in the Bodoland areas has possibly taken away whatever support the party may have expected from the tribals in that region. Also, the heavy inflow of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh is threatening these indigeneous communities, and this is yet another reason that can be expected to play into the anti-incumbency sentiment building up in Assam.
At the CWC meet, party leaders sought to focus on 'ordinance Raj' and said that the party will fight the supposed 'dictatorship' of the Union Government. This strategy only underlines the Congress's inability to revise its political strategy. In this part decade, the Congress ruled at the Centre and in many States and its tenure across the country was described as an era of 'policy paralysis'. This is why the people voted in Mr Modi, whom they saw as a decisive and firm leader. So, when this Government, makes up its mind to be what the electorate wants it to be, the crushed and humbled former ruling party, notorious for policy paralysis, tries to thwart legislative reforms with irrelevant issues.
During the Winter Session of Parliament, several days of legislative work were wasted in both the Houses as the Opposition refused to cooperate. For example, the Opposition wanted the Prime Minister to make a statement on a controversy that was raised by a non-governmental group. Why should the Prime Minister own, disown or even critique something of this nature? Besides, in a diverse country like ours, there will always be fringe elements, some even friendly to the ruling party, that will be trying to push their own agenda. The Congress, which has enjoyed power for decades, was surely aware of the fact that had the Prime Minister made a statement on such issues, have been a serious political misstep. For instance, did Mr Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister make a statement in Parliament, on the several controversial speeches made by his Ministers in the run-up to the Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh?
In December 2014, the Congress-led Opposition was trying to entangle Prime Minister Modi in a political controversy with which neither he nor his party had nothing to do. Mr Modi had perceived the trap before him and refused to walk into it. It was then that the Opposition sought to hit back by by disrupting parliamentary proceedings and holding up important legislation. This left the Government with no alternative but to make use of the weapon that the Constitution has offered precisely to be used in situations such as this.
It is rather ironic that the Congress, with its legacy of imposing Emergency and ruling the country by putting the entire Opposition in jail, has labelled the current Government as dictatorial and raised the slogan of 'one nation, one party, one leader'. The land acquisition law that the party had enacted in 2013 was a classic case of how its flawed policy of letting a clutch of advocacy groups dictate state policy had not just dampened national growth and progress but also vitiated democratic institutions.
Notably, the Congress-led Government had closed its eyes when land sharks in Haryana and Rajasthan grabbed acres of farm land and reaped an illegal harvest. When the matter came to the fore, not just the Opposition but even some responsible Government officials objected to the land deals. Again, it is ironic that the same leaders that enabled land sharks to exploit farmers is now talking about the current government being 'anti-farmer' merely because the latter has rationalised the land acquisition process so as to allow for rapid industrialisation, which is necessary for national growth.
The Congress's 'Big Mouth' has demanded that the Prince take full charge of the party as the dual power centre arrangement may not working. But these are diversionary tactics. The Congress, having been fed on a 'one family' diet for so long, is lost; the possibility that good leadership at the helm must rise from the from the ranks, challenges its DNA. Some one has rightly described the Congress predicament: If the Nehru-Gandhis continue at the helm, the party will collapse; without them, it might break into pieces.
( [email protected]) |
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