A revised ideological line combined with an organizational reform could bring the party back into the reckoning.
Judgment of Contemporary Writers of Congress Leader Rahul GandhiThe lead is almost equally harsh and forgiving. It is common to contrast the strength of the formal organization and the leadership of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party With the decline and fall of the (BJP) Congress party, especially with the failure of the central leadership to reverse this decline. The difference between the Congress and the BJP is not in terms of decision-making, which is centralized in both cases, but in terms of overall political management.
The Congress party faces three major challenges – it must choose a leader who will be able to keep the party united, rebuild its organizational structure in the states, and project a clear alternative ideological narrative to the BJP. and promote it. These challenges are more pronounced after the 2019 debacle in the general election and the leadership vacuum following Mr Gandhi’s resignation as president and the party’s blatant failure to elect a president in his place.
signs of change
Nearly 72 days after Navjot Singh Sidhu’s resignation as state Congress chief in Punjab, he was ‘disqualified’ to the post that has exposed the fault line in the party. While the criticism by the media, the BJP and other opposition politicians was on predictable lines, the absence of debate and consultation in the party regarding the change of leadership in Punjab, months before the next assembly elections (early next year), is a matter of widespread concern. .
Even though no direct effort has been made to rebuild the organization and establish a formal leadership at various levels, there is a remarkable attempt to revive the party through ideological changes inspired by Mr. Gandhi. Ideologically he wants to take the Congress from the Center to the Left. Despite his constant criticism of the Prime Minister within and outside the party, Mr. Gandhi has at every turn criticized the Hindu right ideologically. Additionally, he has explicitly attacked cronyism, which according to him favors certain corporate entities. He has also raised the welfare and economic concerns of the poor.
The recent decision to induct Kanhaiya Kumar and Jignesh Mevani, two staunch Hindutva critics, is a sign of this change. The change came after Mr Gandhi’s widely reported statement in July from workers of his party’s social media department (in an online event) said, “There are many people who are not scared, but are outside the Congress. All these people are ours. Bring them in,” he said, “and the scared people within our party should be thrown out. They are RSS people and they should go, let them enjoy. We don’t want them, we don’t need them. We need fearless people. This is our ideology. This is my original message to you.”
left turn
This is not the first time the Congress has turned left. After the 1969 split in the party, Indira Gandhi dramatically appropriated the Left platform through a series of measures, which later included the nationalization of banks, the abolition of the privy purse, and the nationalization of general insurance. The second left turn was under the leadership of Congress President Sonia Gandhi when the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), which formed the government with the support of the Left Front in 2004, implemented the Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and other rights-based laws. The circumstances that made these ideological shifts possible was that the Congress was in power at the Center and in most of the states, which enabled it to implement these policies. Effectively, the party has relied on the state to promote such policies. The third left turn is taking place under Mr. Gandhi when the Congress is in opposition, which makes the task more difficult except in these circumstances.
To retrieve and reconfigure
The current strategic shift indicates that efforts are being made to re-establish the party’s traditional social base and achieve ideological harmony. Historically, as the party of consensus, the Congress has always come to power on a centrist platform, reflecting its diverse social base, which includes, most notably, its support from the lower classes of Indian society. Centralism and the politics of consent, which explained its early success, do not work in a divided politics. A party that once claimed to represent all, seems to have lost the support of most groups in India’s deeply polarizing politics.
The party no longer enjoys Dalit support, competing for its vote with regional parties and the BJP; It has lost the support of the upper castes who like to vote for the BJP; It has no support from Other Backward Classes (OBCs) except in a few states like Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, thanks to state leaders; And the Muslim vote has gone to regional parties or whoever may offer an alternative to the BJP.
The appointment of a Jat Sikh Captain Amarinder Singh, a Dalit, Charanjit Singh Channi as Punjab Chief Minister or backing OBC Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel over his rival TS Singh Deo in Chhattisgarh is an attempt to rebuild its social base. This signals a message to the non-upper castes that they can hope to seize power through the Congress, which has traditionally been dominated by the leadership structure of the upper castes.
This once again demonstrates the power of ideology as a means of political mobilization. But merely hiring people with suitable credentials is not enough. Congress has to explain and describe the ideological change as it is. Furthermore, ideology and organization are intertwined; Both need to be taken along in the overhaul of the party. There is a need to convey the ideological message to the people. In the 2019 campaign for the general election, Mr. Gandhi pushed for the Minimum Income Scheme (NYAY) – a minimum income guarantee scheme – but the party failed to take the scheme to the masses; It was eventually overtaken by the PM Kisan Yojana (or Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, a central scheme to increase the income of small and marginal farmers) and Balakot air strikes on targets in Pakistan (2019).
program vs improvement
In any case, fanaticism is not permanent without institutionalisation. The strategic change must include a restructuring of the party’s institutional structure. But little has been done in the realm of organizational restructuring to broaden the party and revive inter-party democracy. This is partly because party building was not and has not been the focus of the leadership of the Gandhi family. Doubts about the party’s rise in the past have led to a greater reliance on government and welfare programs to garner support than to reform the party to mobilize voters. The leadership’s response to most fundamental issues was generally governmental rather than political. The lack of organizational growth was a serious limitation in the ability of the UPA government to reap the political dividends that the party accrued from the unprecedented welfare spending. Organizational decline has hampered his ability to engage with mass politics. It remains unchanged even when the party is in opposition.
fault lines
Nearly two and a half years after its second consecutive defeat in the parliamentary elections, the party still remains without a full-time president. That is the root of the problem. It does not have a properly constituted Congressional Working Committee (CWC) for institutional deliberation and decision-making. Even the core group formed by Sonia Gandhi in 2004 is invisible as power is concentrated in the Gandhi trio. Rahul Gandhi is calling the shots without taking any formal post. Not surprisingly, many decisions taken today appear to be ad hoc and do not appear to be part of the overall plan going forward. Still, we cannot destroy the Congress which has its roots all over the country. A revised ideological line combined with an organizational reform could bring the Congress back on track.
Zoya Hassan is Professor Emerita at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. The title of his upcoming book is Ideology and Organization in Indian Politics: Growing Polarization and the Decline of the Congress Party (2009–19)
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