Same old drift

India’s main Opposition party, which has been without a full-time chief since May 2019 — when Rahul Gandhi quit the post after the Lok Sabha election debacle — still requires another year or so to elect its new president. With five states going to the polls in early 2022, including Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, the Congress was expected to show a sense of urgency for ending the interim arrangement at the top. However, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting held on Saturday largely reinforced the impression that the party is not doing enough to revive its fortunes and regain credibility among the people. Though Sonia Gandhi stated that she was a ‘full-time and hands-on president’, her words lacked the conviction and assertiveness needed to quell infighting and bring all dissenting leaders on board.

The Congress has only itself to blame for its diminishing national footprint. The gradual erosion of the party’s mass base in the past seven years has coincided with the BJP’s rampant ascendancy. The party has also failed to consolidate its gains in the states, allowing things to spin out of control before getting into the firefighting mode. In Punjab, the drift continued for far too long, and remedial action was taken barely five months before the Assembly elections. There are rumblings of discontent in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan as well, even as the party has helplessly watched power slip out of its grasp in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh in recent years.

It’s noteworthy that the Congress has decided to undertake regular training programmes for its leaders and workers, besides holding a fresh membership drive. The CWC’s decision to conduct elections for every post — at the block, district, state and national levels — will pose a slew of challenges. Merely criticising the BJP-led Centre won’t take the grand old party very far. Reconnecting with the grassroots and strengthening the organisational setup in the states should be top priorities. There is no denying that the Congress’ turnaround is vital to build a strong Opposition which can offer a healthy contest in the 2024 General Election.