Congress: A party going nowhere

Only six months ago, the BJP looked a hopelessly fractured political entity, with soaring individual ambitions of its many satraps. Narendra Modi was yet to take off from the starting block and many predicted that his running shoes carried so much Gujarati slush that he would never acquire a national momentum. The principal Opposition party did not appear to be an outfit ready to provide a convincing, alternative government even as the Congress slowly disappeared under a mounting pile of unbearably malodorous scams.

It has simply taken a candid expression of confusion from Rahul Gandhi to expose the mess within the Congress.  Till now, it was safely assumed that the Gandhi family would be the repository of all power in the party hierarchy. Theirs would be the last word, the gospel truth. In Congress ideology, power does not flow from the barrel of the gun; it flows from the delegation of authority by the Gandhis. With the prince reluctant and his ailing mother somewhat dispirited and not showing enough eagerness to take significant initiatives, the Congress was suddenly a party that was going nowhere.

There was speculation whether Rahul would play his mother’s renunciation card and keep himself wrapped in the comforting shadows of 24 Akbar Road. There was also speculation whether AK Antony or P Chidambaram would emerge as frontrunners to head the UPA 3 while Rahul held on to the dangerously loosening reins of the party. It was on board a return flight from Durban that prime minister Manmohan Singh enlightened everybody about the possibility of his retaining the crown. In a typical ambiguous response to a pointed question, he did not rule himself out of the prime ministerial race.  The result: Born on September 26, 1932, a nearly eighty-two-old Manmohan Singh will offer himself once more as a candidate for the coveted executive job in 2014.

What is the future of the party forced to rely on an unnervingly soft-spoken (some would say too silent in an age of extroverts) octogenarian when it had elaborately planned the coronation of its prince? Manmohan Singh’s career has been forever propelled by the TINA (‘there is no alternative’) factor. In 1991, the hunt for a World Bank-centric, economically-liberal economist inevitably led PV Narasimha Rao to his doorstep.

In 2004, Sonia Gandhi’s sacrifice opened the possibility of the “least unacceptable” leader to step in and Manmohan Singh was the obvious choice. In 2009, even when it was apparent that the idea of the dual power centre was riddled with inherent flaws, Mrs Gandhi chose Manmohan Singh again. And now, when Singh stands trial for the scandals which had occurred under his watch, he has again emerged as the first among equals.

Is Manmohan Singh’s renewed projection the perfect solution, a troubled Congress is fervently praying for? After nine years in power, the blue turbaned economist does not inspire the kind of confidence he did at the beginning of his prime ministerial career. Even then — sold to liberalisation that he is — he had felt hemmed in by the Common Minimum Programme which had been forced upon him by the Left. Even then, Sonia Gandhi’s National Advisory Council unsettled him as it tried to push him away from his love affair with growth and growth figures alone. Interestingly, every scam that made the headlines after 2010 had its genesis in the days of UPA-1’s glorious innocence.

There is proof that the discredited A Raja had the audacity to keep him informed of his diabolical 2G spectrum plans but the prime minister failed to prevail upon him. It was that same lust for unbridled growth which prevented the prime minister from opting for the auction route in coal block allocation.

And even if the Congress is preparing to bank on the same, somewhat frayed Manmohan-Sonia combine to lead them into another election, the party realises that Singh cannot be a permanent settlement. This is where the Gandhi family and the senior Congress leadership need to take a step back and assess the present situation.

Several questions need to be answered. Can the Gandhi family be the forever-glue that will hold the party together? Does Rahul’s inability to come to grips with either the party or the government mean the gradual fading away of the 10 Janpath influence on the party? Should the Gandhi family not begin to trust faces which may not necessarily be the least unacceptable? Should merit and leadership be the criteria for judging leaders when they are considered for promotion? Why should the likes of Chidambaram never aspire for the top job because the Gandhis are uncomfortable with their efficiency and arrogance?

These are important questions. The Congress has a lot of introspection to do. First, the party needs to acknowledge that it is best to plan a much-needed retirement for Manmohan Singh instead of pushing him back into the thick of political action.

Diptosh Majumdar is national affairs editor of dna.