VIEWPOINT
AMITABH SHUKLA
After annihilation in the Lok
Sabha polls with little possibility of even getting the status of Leader of
Opposition, Congress remains in the self destruct mode. It has learnt little
from the humiliation meted out to it by the electorate and continues to live in
the past without realising the new challenges which stare the party in the eye.
The latest strategic folly of the
party was the refusal of Rahul Gandhi to assume the mantle of leader of the
party in Lok Sabha. Failing to learn from his mistakes, Rahul refused to take
any responsibility following the rout of the party. He had consistently refused
to join the Manmohan Singh Cabinet and now when the situation beckoned, he did
not even become the leader of his party in Lok Sabha. This experience could
undoubtedly have given him a great parliamentary experience — initiating
discussion on important issues and targeting the government when needed. He
could have sharpened his skills as an orator and learnt how the Parliament and
government functions from close quarters. But after this fiasco, now the
impression will gain ground that all that Rahul wants to get is the Prime
Minister’s chair and considers all other positions demeaning to him.
Could the Congress politically
explain why it chose Mallikarjun Kharge as the leader of the group in Lok
Sabha? Wasn’t being Dalit the sole criteria for the selection of Kharge, who
has little exposure of central politics, being elevated to the position? Of
course, Congress has no significant leader left after the bloodless massacre on
May 16 but still it had options. Apart from Rahul himself, there was nine-time
MP Kamal Nath who holds a record on behalf of the party for so many victories
amid ruins in Madhya Pradesh. Then, there was the experienced Capt Amarinder
Singh, the aggressive Jat Sikh leader who defeated Arun Jaitley from Amritsar .
Capt Amarinder eventually got the deputy leader’s post and on any given day is
a better choice than Kharge due to his aggressive stand and skills as an
orator. Also, given Rahul’s pet projects of democratisation of the party and
holding of primaries, could anyone explain why elections were not held for the
post and instead nomination route was preferred.
For how long could the Congress
keep playing the Dalit-minority-poverty-deprivation-Rights card despite being
rejected thoroughly on those very grounds in 2014? Wouldn’t the party reinvent
itself to cater to the aspirations of the new millennium? Why is it on a self-destruct
mode and wants to commit political hara-kiri? The country needs Congress more
than Rahul Gandhi needs the party for airing views which is left of the centre
and for the balancing act. But such strategies only strengthen the belief that
there is no introspection on major decisions and action precedes political
thought.
If consistency in strategic
mistakes were not enough, there is internal strife in the party which is
unmatched. To some extent this is expected as the party faces an existential
threat after its humiliation in the elections but the way internal strife is
consuming the party’s energy was largely unexpected.
The loudmouth Mani Shankar Aiyar,
whose chaiwala remark against Narendra Modi created uproar and helped BJP
tremendously in the run up to the polls as it showed Congress in an autocratic
and aristocratic way, is up at it again. He took on Shashi Tharoor unnecessary
in an internal party battle when the Kerala MP praised Modi’s style of
governance after taking over as Prime Minister. While Tharoor looked like
playing the role of a constructive Opposition — criticising when necessary and
praising when the demand arose, Aiyar was bent on playing the old role of
destructive Opposition — criticism just for the sake of it without any reason or
rhyme.
Congress should have chided Aiyar
for his chaiwala remark and restrained him once and for all due to the damage
he inflicted on his party. His political relevance ended 20 years ago and he
should have been bluntly told that. But then, all shades of opinion continue to
come out of the Congress, sending confusing signals all around damaging it
continuously and now leading to paralysis.
Aiyar is a symptom of the ills
plaguing the Congress. In major states which go to polls this year, there is an
internal war being fought out in the open. It is set to consume the party. In
Haryana, where the Congress won only one of the 10 Lok Sabha seats, daggers are
out against Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Former Union Minister and now
a Rajya Sabha MP, Selja is fighting a spirited battle for control of Haryana
Congress. She has perhaps forgotten that elections are merely four months away
and the battle would further damage the already
fragile position of the party.
Hooda may not be in a wining position now but then when you continued with him
for over nine years, you cannot change the horse midstream.
In Maharashtra ,
where the Congress-NCP faced a rout, demand is being raised to fix
accountability for the loss at Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan’s door. Chavan
is referred to as the Manmohan Singh of Maharashtra and
may have contributed the defeat, but the issue could have been tackled
internally without squabbles.
After a spell of President’s
rule, Delhi would also go for
Assembly polls along with Haryana and Maharashtra . Here,
the Congress is facing extinction as Aam Aadmi Party has taken its space
completely. Ajay Maken could be projected as the chief ministerial candidate to
better its prospects but he too faces internal rivalry. The party will have to
first recover the ground lost to AAP before it can make any move on its own. So
far, there is hardly any strategy nor is the party planning anything despite
polls looming in the horizon.
After the loss in the LS polls,
it seems Congress has lost its will to fight the next electoral battle —
Assembly polls. There is no strategy in place for the States, no action plan,
no decisions… It looks as if the party has already conceded defeat and given a
walkover. It was time the party looked beyond defeat and the defeatist
mentality. Democracy would be poorer if Congress conceded its space to some
other party. (June 9, 2014 )
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