Janarajkarana Column: A few steps forward, many steps back

The Congress party is facing many challenges , both politically and organizationally. Whenever the party seems to be taking a decisive step forward, it gets caught up in the indecision, internal squabbles and unnecessary bragging. The party’s being out of power at the Centre for over a decade and it’s failure to remain power in the states further complicates the party’s situation.

The BJP, which is in power at the Centre, is turning challenging situations into opportunities, which is making the Congress's complex situation even worse. BJP leaders are using every opportunity to launch continuous attacks on the Congress. But the Congress leadership responds to these attacks in most cases half-heartedly and inadequately.

The Congress party has lost three consecutive Lok Sabha elections. The BJP also performed poorly in the Lok Sabha in 2024. However, it has successfully changed the narrative that the party will win more than 400 seats to a clear majority for the NDA alliance.

The Congress's efforts to change the narrative were meager. The BJP, which reviewed its steps in Haryana, quickly changed course. But the Congress, which displayed excessive confidence, did nothing to end the internal strife. As a result, the party had to face defeat. In Maharashtra, the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance had no leader. But the BJP, which had decided what the Mahayuti alliance's agenda should be, contested most of the seats. The Congress raised the issue of omissions in the voter list after the results were out. This shows the weakness of the Congress party's organisation in raising such omissions before the polls.

It would be good for the Congress to focus on its organisational issues and its inability to turn political events in its favour. The organisational problems facing the Congress party are glaring. The party's massive defeat in 2014 and the small recovery it saw in 2019 were signs that the party was not moving in a clear direction. The fact that the Congress could not secure a triple-digit seat in 2024, even if the BJP won fewer seats, shows that the organisation at the grassroots level is not effective.

Even after Sonia Gandhi handed over the post of party president at the national level to Rahul Gandhi, the organization did not gain much strength. Rahul resigned from the post of president after the 2019 defeat. Then there was an attempt to review the reform of the party organization. But after unnecessary delays and in some cases, without taking any decisions, the party elected a leader from outside the Gandhi family as the president.

There was some political drama in the appointment of Mallikarjun Kharge as the party president. Initially, Kharge seemed to be implementing the consensus method while taking decisions. The presence of Gandhi family members during the decision-making process led to heated discussions. There was a lack of clarity about what Rahul's role would be in the party. While the success of the 'Bharat Jodo' Yatra and the 'Nya Yatra' increased Rahul's political capital, questions remained about his continued involvement in party affairs.

After the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, with Rahul Gandhi becoming the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and his sister Priyanka winning the Wayanad constituency that he had vacated, the Gandhi family has clearly returned to the political centre of the party. Despite being in the opposition for more than a decade, it has not done much to invigorate the party organisation. It has become natural for rebellion to be openly expressed against the decisions taken by the party. The Himanta Biswa Sarma case, the departure of Jyotiraditya Scindia and Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Ashok Gehlot rebellion, and the recent stand taken by Shashi Tharoor, show this.

On the other hand, internal infighting has become common in the party's state units. Even in states where the party is in power, it is finding it difficult to maintain unity among the leaders. Every now and then, the party takes some important steps, but then it falls silent. The BJP sits at the centre of the discussion. The sending of parliamentary delegations abroad to provide information on India's stand on 'Operation Sindhur' and the developments related to the caste census are the most recent examples of this.

The failure to build on the momentum created by the 'India' alliance during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections is yet another example of the Congress' inability to lead the alliance and decide what the agenda of the opposition parties should be. The question of how relevant the 'India' alliance is is a reflection of the situation, not only among the alliance partners but also among some Congress leaders. This has made it easier for the BJP to continue its efforts to isolate the Congress among the opposition parties and to continuously attack the party.

There is no clarity in the Congress about what to do next.
The opposition BJP is taking advantage of the Congress party's organizational weakness. The Congress party is quickly giving up its role as the main opposition party to other parties. If the Congress leadership wants to send a strong message that it should be the main opposition party, then it needs to bring the party out of its disorientation.