Assembly Elections 2017: Why Gandhi dynasty may force Congress into oblivion

If you are a Congress supporter, frustrated after being beaten in elections after elections, both in state and at the Centre, Saturday’s result would have come as a mixed bag. Obviously the party failed to show any spine in the Uttar Pradesh fight, where it got reduced to single digit, getting less seats than a sub-regional party like Apna Dal. It was a massive indictment of Rahul Gandhi’s leadership, who had dedicated the last six months to the UP cause. However, Congress steered by an able Captain, overcame a buoyant AAP in Punjab to regain power after 10 years. It got an unexpected boost in Goa where it was largely written off, emerging as the single largest party of the state. Even in the hilly state of Manipur, long serving Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh managed to hold his ground against a resurgent BJP and finished within touching distance of the halfway mark.  

That he might still lose out is a separate fact, but overall, the party didn’t do as badly as many would have hoped or feared. It is certainly a pale shadow of its glorious past and is in a tailspin thanks to a jaded organisation and insipid leadership. Yet, the party has some solace and, hopefully, some lessons to learn from their trend-defying victory in Punjab where many predicted an AAP sweep. The party got its second best-ever tally in Punjab despite a marginal fall in vote-share from last year. Finally, it wasn’t about splitting anti-Akali votes between AAP and Congress. The grand old party held its own and emerged as the dominant pole.

But the credit for this win goes to Amarinder Singh, who was given a free hand by Congress leadership around a year back. Amarinder led a mini-coup by ousting his rival Pratap Bajwa from the post of Punjab Congress chief and started the campaign. Even though he was formally announced as the CM candidate only late in the campaign, the captain was its de-facto head for the longest time. From not giving much importance to poll manager Prashant Kishor to finally letting Sidhu in Congress without any pre-conditions, Amarinder acted tough. Sensing that AAP is a party which gains oxygen from social media, Captain attacked Kejriwal head on there, often getting involved in bitter jousts. Kejriwal tried to ignore him by implying that the Delhi CM had a higher stature than him, but this didn’t wash with the voters.

Away from social media, Amarinder gave much importance to ground organisation, carefully choosing candidates who can give wings to aspiration of young voters of Punjab. The result is for everyone to see. While many expected AAP to sweep Malwa, it came a cropper, getting confined to a cluster of seats. With the Akalis not exactly wiped off in Punjab, the state will witness some interesting match-ups in the coming years. But can Congress give such a free hand to other state presidents like they did in Punjab? Not everyone has the clout or gravitas of the prince of Patiala, who can command authority. The Congress of the yore, when it ruled pan India, had strong Chief Ministers who ruled with authority. They weren’t subservient to the all-conquering High Command.

The likes of Bidhan Chandra Roy, Siddhartha Shankar Roy in Bengal, Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy and PV Narasimha Rao in Andhra, the legendary Kamraj in Tamil Nadu, Jagannath Mishra and Krishna Singh in Bihar, ND Tiwari, Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna in Uttar Pradesh, to name a few Congress stalwart CMs of the past, all had a distinct independent voice. This does not mean that they were not respectful of the Congress central leadership but that they provided a voice of rationale and resistance from time to time. Once, the Congress party became dynastic in nature, with a much more obtuse power structure, the party became less welcoming to leaders who did not kowtow to the High command. In that sense, YSR from Andhra Pradesh was the last of the old gharana of Congress Chief Ministers.

If the party is to truly revive itself, Congress needs to do a clean-up at both the state and centre levels. Free and fair elections for both state and central leadership can be a starting point. Let the talented people come to the forefront, not merely lackeys. Why are the likes of Jyotiraditya Scindia and Shashi Tharoor, who clearly understand the pulse of people, not given more senior leadership? Congress can take a leaf out of BJP’s book in this regard. The saffron outfit nurtured regional satraps in each state, and from them emerged Narendra Modi as the first among equals, re-writing the political history of the country. But that probably is the threat the Gandhi family wants to avoid. What if someone actually deserving poses a credible threat to their iron shackles in leadership? The Gandhis have a choice of seeing Congress going into oblivion or risk their luck by empowering a new batch of leaders. Time is running out for them.