Going through the history from 1985 to 1970 Congress was a cadre based party valuing its workers and leaders. But the situation changed rapidly after the 1969 split when Indira Gandhi was ousted from the Congress Party by S. Nijalingappa. Then Congress (I) became a dominant party , emerged victorious thereafter and Indira Gandhi leadership turned into a “personality cult” in the span between Bangladesh Liberation war and emergency. The Congress turned deeply towards dynastic politics when Rajiv Gandhi was made PM.
Old Guards Vs Young Turks :
If we will look towards Congress Party history we get that whenever there is a leadership crisis in the Congress, the party looks towards the Gandhi family and this is what happened in the 2019 CWC meeting when Sonia Gandhi was made interim president . Weren’t there other leaders from the Congress other than the Gandhis to lead the party? Yes there were leaders like Bhupesh Baghel (now Chhattisgarh CM), Captain Amarinder Singh, Shashi Tharoor, etc,. But no one from the party dared to speak against the “choice”.
Rahul Gandhi and Factionalism :
The failure of Rahul Gandhi is out in the open. People are no longer impressed by the part time twitter politics of him as well as Priyanka Gandhi. The party image has turned into a family run one Boss company from once a worker - cadre best political party . The consequences are fatal. INC is hardly getting 50-55 MP’s elected and it is getting more difficult for them to safeguard the state governments where Congress is in power . Rajasthan is a fine example.
The problem within the Congress is that whenever people look at it as an alternative to BJP, they disappoint the people with their actions. The open factionalism between the family loyalists and Congress loyalists is visible all over in this internet era. The INC should accept that they lost the complete Northeast due to the resignation of dynamic Hemant Biswa Sharma when the “Pidi dog” incident happened and also due to Rahul Gandhi’s ignorance in solving the local leaders issues. Another setback to congress was when Jyotiraditya Sindhiya left the Party and BJP included him . PM himself met him personally and the people were watching this live. But on the other hand it is widely known that Rahul Gandhi delays the meeting frequently with the top leaders . Rahul Gandhi failed again to settle the issue in Madhya Pradesh. The result is known to everyone. The INC government fell and BJP took over.
Upward Mobility:
It's common sense that anyone wants upward mobility in career whether it be corporate or political and BJP offers that upward mobility. The best example of this is PM Modi himself. He started his political career as a “RSS worker” and then came into mainstream politics.The party gave him what he deserved. He became the Prime Ministerial candidate of the BJP and gave them a huge historic majority win in elections. Whenever the old Turks and party loyalists speak of reform in the party suddenly the family loyalists counter them openly . The country needs a strong visible opposition leader who can strongly build up the organisation structure, understands the sentiments and the political mindset of the people and most important work to keep the factionalism and internal strife at bay . The party should not be ignorant about people's opposition to Rahul Gandhi as well as Sonia Gandhi’s leadership .
People still consider Sonia Gandhi as a foreigner and Rahul Gandhi as an undeserving candidate. There are reasons for that . Partly due to BJP propaganda against him as “pappu” and largely due to his failure in state and Loksabha elections. People are looking for a “face”. A “face” that could be a potential challenge to the BJP leadership in 2022 and 2024.
Way Ahead :
Choosing an “non-gandhi” leader as full-time president is the need of the time but it is also needed to ensure that the president should not be a “puppet” of the Gandhi family . The party needs an urgent ‘Kamraj’ type plan for revival . If Congress is not ready to change, the Aam Aadmi Party is already there to fill the vacuum in 2024. Now it’s the decision of Sonia Gandhi to elect a full time “non-gandhi” president of INC before UP elections and make the “ supreme sacrifice” for the party’s future .
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