Congress introspects

Former party president Rahul Gandhi’s admission that the Congress has lost connect with people ought to raise hopes that a brush with reality would trigger a change within and a climbdown from the grandstanding that has come to define the party, be it dealing with non-BJP outfits or its own leaders. Much of the optimism gets dimmed by the statement that regional parties have ‘no ideology’. In the perception game, an exception for the Gandhis and other office-bearers in the ‘one family, one ticket’ norm blunts the various resolutions of the ‘Nav Sankalp Declaration’ at the ‘Chintan Shivir’. The outreach charted by Sonia Gandhi includes a ‘Rozgaar Do’ yatra, followed by a ‘Bharat Jodo’ yatra from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. Any revival plan would require a lot more than having extra feet and noise on the ground.

An ineffective communication system is not the Congress’ problem. What is being communicated is triggering the party’s collapse. No amount of spin can work for systemic failings like the fatigued decision-making, the personalised pick-choose-drop inconsistencies, the trademark last-minute ticket chaos, lack of aggressive, intelligent counter to doubtful government decisions, and the failure to forge a cohesive Opposition strategy. Burning issues such as calling out communal forces and seeking answers on skyrocketing prices require a relentless, united front, not staggered voices that get easily muted. The continuing departure of a string of top leaders, once touted as the rising stars, should prompt serious introspection on the absence of a roadmap for them and not mere derision for their being too ambitious or not being ideologically committed. The efficacy of reserving half the party posts for those under 50 is doubtful.

The appeal to the Congress rank and file to not get disheartened and be prepared for the hard grind had to be spelt out. The BJP juggernaut is built on decades of field work peppered with disappointments, and victory has only energised the karyakartas. The Congress’ decision to set up an election management committee is welcome, but simply criticising the Prime Minister without offering better solutions is unlikely to deliver results.