VIEWPOINT
AMITABH SHUKLA
Congress knows the waiting game
like no other party. The problem now is that indecision and procrastination has
taken over like never before even as ground level political realities and
understanding have taken a backseat. No wonder, the base of the party has been
shrinking consistently and the tragedy is that the party bosses simply look the
other way round. It is like closing your eyes to ward off imminent danger.
In Punjab ,
state Congress President Captain Amarinder Singh had offered to resign after
the shock defeat of the party in the March 2012 assembly polls. Central leaders
of the party had officially given him time till the municipal polls. Again, the
party suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Akali Dal-BJP in the local
body polls but the Captain blamed “rigging” for the defeat and absolved himself
of all responsibility. If that were not enough, the party lost by a massive
margin in the Dasuya assembly by-polls. Again the logic of “rigging” was put
forward and the issue of removal of the Captain has been conveniently put under
the carpet.
Many in Punjab Congress believe
that retaining Capt Amarinder as the PCC President is helping the Akalis and
BJP not only consolidate their vote base but also make inroads into the
Congress support base. “The Akali Dal wants the Captain to remain at the helm
of the state Congress till the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. They know for sure
that this will help them make a clean sweep,” a frustrated Congress leader
said. He had made several trips to New Delhi
to convince the high command that political leaders presiding over such defeats
should be made accountable in a bid to motivate the workers and make then
fighting fit again.
Congress leaders sympathetic to
the PCC president believe that the Captain is on the edge now and there is no
motivation for him to work and resurrect the party once again as the high
command has kept him on a notice. They say that if there is a statement from
the central leaders that he would head the party till the Lok Sabha elections,
the uncertainty would end and the party workers would again start their
preparations in right earnest. But that is perhaps too much to expect of the
high command – taking a decision either way. More so, when nondescript leaders
like Gulchain Singh Charak is the AICC in-charge of the state and no one is
bothered about his reports to the headquarters.
Neighbouring Haryana is no
different. No one for sure knows when the PCC President Phool Chand Mulana
resigned from his post. He resigns at the drop of a hat knowing well that the
party won’t take a call on it. Mulana’s term ended long time back and he
formally resigned following the humiliating defeat of the Congress in the high
profile Hissar Lok Sabha by-polls last year. Poor Mulana does not know when will
the high command end his agony and appoint a fresh candidate. For almost a
year, the central leadership has been toying with various names for the post
but is yet to take a call on the successor of Mulana, who had a rather
lackluster tenure so far as the PCC chief in the state.
The party is yet to decide
whether it wants a dalit as the PCC chief or a woman. It is toying with ideas like appointment of a
youth, a leader from the upper caste or a combination of a woman who is also a
dalit. Having failed to arrive at a decision, the high command has simply
decided to pursue “masterly inactivity”.
Even if one considers the logic put forward by some Congress leaders
that there is no need for a strong PCC President in a Congress ruled state
where the chief minister is the only source of power, one fails to understand
why a replacement cannot be found when the person himself is unwilling to do
the job.
In poll bound Himachal Pradesh,
PCC President Kaul Singh Thakur is on the tenterhooks and does not know for sure
what role would he play in the selection of the party candidates for the
assembly election. Five-time chief minister Virbhadra Singh is breathing down
his neck and trying to persuade the high command to appoint a Working President
to have a say in ticket distribution and get party nomination for maximum
number of his supporters. The result is there for all to see. The party is in
complete shambles and pulling in different directions at a time when it could
politically prove suicidal for it.
The three northern states could
simply be the symptoms of the disease which the Congress is face to face. It
simply does not take a decision unless it becomes absolutely necessary. It has
become like a patient who refuses to go to a doctor till his disease becomes
incurable.
Take for instance the issue of
“bigger role” for Rahul Gandhi in Congress. It was announced with much fanfare
over a month ago with Congress leaders falling over each other to welcome the
move. But still, no one knows what the bigger role would be - whether it would
be a membership of the Congress Core Group or Acting President or Vice
President of the party. Since then, the vacancy arising out of the resignation
of Pranab Mukherjee has been filled with the limited talent Manmohan Singh has
in his Cabinet so there is little possibility now of Gandhi moving in the
government. The party bosses and Rahul himself cannot even decide what role the
heir apparent has to play in the party or the government.
The classic case of Congress
procrastination could be Mehboob Ali Kaiser, the PCC President of Bihar
where the Congress does not even have a handful of supporters in most of the
constituencies. Kaiser resigned from the post after the party managed to win
only 4 of the 243 seats, its worst performance ever in the state. The party has
failed to find a replacement of Kaiser even after two years and the way things
are moving it could be another few years before it realizes that it indeed has
to have a new state President. But by then, Congress voters would have moved to
the other parties.
One can understand the party not
taking a decision in Uttar Pradesh where the PCC President Rita Bahuguna Joshi
resigned in March following the assembly election defeat. Here, Rahul Gandhi
practically headed the campaign and took all important decisions. Removing
Bahuguna would have led to fixing responsibility at the doors of Gandhi or the
AICC General Secretary of the state Digvijay Singh himself. So the party has wisely decided to ignore
Bahuguna’s resignation. But there is no such compulsion in other states where
the rank and file is looking up to the high command to revive the grand old
party in their states.(August 20, 2012)
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