Who cares what the doctor ordered...
Pundits are scrambling over one another to tell Congress how it can regain its health.
The patient, though, isn’t listening, says ALKA GURHA
Advice, they say, is one commodity in the market where supply always exceeds demand. After the Congress’ debacle in Maharashtra and Haryana, political analysts and editors are offering advices on how the Congress party should fight a resurgent BJP. But in the absence of a leader who can match Modi, how exactly should the party re-invent and resurrect itself when it carries such heavy historical baggage?
Prior to the assembly elections, on October 16, 2014, Rajdeep Sardesai wrote in the Hindustan Times, “Only a united Opposition and a credible local leadership (like a Naveen Patnaik in Odisha) have any chance of stopping the Modi-Shah juggernaut. As was the case with Indira Gandhi in the 1970s, state elections too could now begin to reflect a new reality: Modi versus the rest.”
The premise that the opposition parties should join hands to stop the BJP seems a bit flawed and opportunistic. Regardless, a merger of the Janata Pariwar was imminent when Lalu Prasad Yadav, Nitish Kumar, Deve Gowda and Mulayam Singh met recently. In the absence of any ideology or agenda, a shared bed can increase the vote share and the number of seats but a credible opposition will continue to elude the nation.
With a reputation for compromising national interests and thriving in the era of coalition politics, such a ‘khichdi’ doesn’t seem appetizing. Perhaps a clear picture will emerge after the Bihar assembly elections where Nitish Kumar has joined hands with Lalu Prasad Yadav to stop Modi.
Relevance of dynasty
After the muscular rise of the BJP, the Congress is being advised to sideline the Gandhi family and bring in fresh faces. On 30th October, 2014, Amulya Ganguly, wrote in the Millennium Post, “From a disconnect with an India which wants ‘growth’ to dalliance with corruption, the dynasty has let the Congress down in every way possible, as is apparent from the election results. It is time for it to go.”
Some voices, such as former Union Minister Subodh Kant Sahai, want Sonia Gandhi at the helm of affairs whereas others, notably party general secretary Digvijaya Singh are calling upon the “youthful” Rahul Gandhi to take over the reins of the party. Reacting to this, Neerja Chowdhury wrote in the Economic Times, “Today, there is hardly any leader in the party who is convinced that the Congress’ salvation lies in Rahul Gandhi, no matter what their public utterances. They all know that it is beyond Rahul to revive the party.”
Columnist Swaminathan Aiyar struck a dissenting note on the dynasty in the Times of India: “Some intellectuals have suggested that the Congress should sack the Gandhi family, or at least Rahul Gandhi. Sorry, but the party is a bunch of opportunists held together only by the Gandhi family. Without the family, it will split into irrelevancy. And the party retains one trump card. Even if it slips to No 3 in state after state, it is easily No 2 at the national level. Regional parties may hammer it in state elections, but no single regional party can beat it at the national level. So, when anti-incumbency duly hits the BJP after one, two or even three terms, the Congress can still hope to replace it at the head of a diverse coalition.”
Aiyar is right in thinking that the party is likely to disintegrate in the absence of the family glue. However, by the time anti-incumbency hits the BJP after two or three terms, the dynasty concept will be totally redundant. Even if the traditionalists and the sycophants make way, Rahul and Sonia are so distant from the ground reality that they are unlikely to match the personality cult of politics that has caught the imagination of the country.
According to Sardesai in the Hindustan Times, “….Rahul has no option but to either summon up the ideas, energy and courage to look Modi in the eye or else be prepared to fade away into the sunset….Contemporary politics has no place for item numbers. The days of Rahul flitting in and out of politics are at an end. Either he stays the course, or finds a political CEO willing to do the business for him.”
Unless the CEO is truly empowered, any kind of dual leadership is not what India wants. Not again. Because the dual power centre was the basic flaw leading to policy paralysis during UPA2. Also, veteran political aspirants and opportunists within the partyare unlikely to allow a young CEO to be truly empowered. And a weak CEO brings us back to square one. Whatever, the party finally decides internally, decentralization of power is a must.
Speak More
Manoj Joshi in the Mail Today wrote, “…Chidambaram’s advice that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi “Speak more” and put in action a timetable so that the party could play the role of a “true opposition” is fairly sensible. But it is unlikely to achieve much.”
As Joshi elucidates, simply speaking more without any connect or credibility is unlikely to impress anyone. While most political analysts have talked about engaging with the people, no one has mentioned the damage caused by the party’s arrogant and dismissive spokespersons, who played a big role in creating a conceited image of the Congress.
When you stifle sensible voices like Rajesh Pilot and Jyotiraditya Scindia and continue to repose faith in the likes of Sanjay Jha and Americai Narayanan as spokespersons, the task of re-inventing appears hopeless.
Regardless of the advice and suggestions pouring in, the Congress continues to misread the expectations of the country. The first step is to understand what people want and to accept mistakes. Joining hands with the corrupt and the inept is not the answer. Neither is appointing an interim CEO. Quick-fix solutions seldom work in the long run.
The party, of course, is not looking to the media for advice and even if it were, the advice is not guaranteed to work. Nonetheless, political punditry keeps commentators in business so the Congress’ disarray is helping the media rather than the other way around.
Alka Gurha is an award winning blogger (http://www.alkagurha.com/) and a contributing writer for a weekly newspaper, Friday Gurgaon.
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