Expert Speak India Matters
Published on May 29, 2019
The Congress is confronted with an existential crisis that on the one hand threatens to make the country’s oldest party extinct and on the other propels it to reinvent and make itself relevant in the dramatically changed political landscape.
The Congress Crisis: Existential challenge or battle for relevance?

Faced with one of the worst electoral performance in general elections, the Congress is confronted with an existential crisis that on the one hand threatens to make the country’s oldest party extinct and on the other propels it to reinvent and make itself relevant in the dramatically changed political landscape.

There is a need to take a closer look at the Congress’ decline in the Lok Sabha polls to comprehend the depth and magnitude of its shrinking appeal and acceptability among the masses. The Congress had fielded 421 candidates in the elections and it won only 52-a figure that is factionally better than the tally of 44 in the 2014 general elections. Almost 60 percent of its total strength is from states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Punjab.

The Congress is confronted with an existential crisis that on the one hand threatens to make the country’s oldest party extinct and on the other propels it to reinvent and make itself relevant in the dramatically changed political landscape.

In the Hindi heartland states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Haryana- an area that is used to be Congress's mainstay till the rise of the BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi- it has negligible presence left.

Congress won 52 seats, stood second in 196 seats and ranked third or below ranking in rest of the seats that it contested. The Congress performed well in constituencies that are dominated by non-Hindu voters that is being seen and interpreted as straying away from the majority. In terms of vote percentage, the Congress won more than 50 percent vote share only in Puducherry (56.3 percent). Compared against the BJP, that achieved this feat in 17 states. Barring states of Chhattisgarh, Meghalaya, Goa, Nagaland, Lakshadweep and Andaman Nicobar island where its vote share was above the 40 percent mark, its vote share was abysmally low in other states — like in Uttar Pradesh where it could merely get 6.3 percent votes.

Congress won 52 seats, stood second in 196 seats and ranked third or below in rest of the seats that it contested. The Congress performed well in constituencies that are dominated by non-Hindu voters that is being seen and interpreted as straying away from the majority.

Even states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh where the Congress had won assembly elections in November-December 2018, it could get only 4 seats out of total 65 seats. Biggest setback for the party was the defeat of its president Rahul Gandhi who lost his parliamentary seat of Amethi that had been a family bastion for about four decades.

Biggest setback for the party was the defeat of its president Rahul Gandhi who lost his parliamentary seat of Amethi that had been a family bastion for about four decades.

It is against this background, that the task before the Congress-a party that had been in power for over five decades- is tall and unless an elaborate long-term plan is in place, revival is going to be extremely difficult if not impossible.

While the challenges to the party are both ideological as well as structural, the response cannot be an off-the cuff reaction as it requires serious introspection; to be able to build an effective yet acceptable narrative to counter the growing influence of Hinduatva forces that are determined to slowly undermine and finally dismantle the Gandhian-Nehruvian legacy of the freedom struggle.

The party would have to spread its net wide and beyond. It would need to rope in thinkers and philosophers who have a deep understanding of Sanatan Dharm that has guided India’ destiny for centuries and has shaped the collective memory of the nation.

The Congress is being faulted rather is being accused of being dynastic by not only the ruling RSS-BJP establishment but also by profit-oriented media. Options are limited but not closed for the grand old party (GOP).

On the issue of dynasty, the Congress has the option to find a replacement to Rahul Gandhi who appears to be determined to step down but fact is that there is hardly any leader in the party who has a pan-India image or nation-wide appeal. The party’s leadership can only be trusted with an individual whose ideological credentials are sound and impeccable beyond a shred of doubt.

On the issue of dynasty, the Congress has the option to find a replacement to Rahul Gandhi who appears to be determined to step down but fact is that there is hardly any leader in the party who has a pan-India image or nation-wide appeal.

For the Congress it is more important to crystalize its ideological clarity rather than finding a replacement for Rahul Gandhi. The appeal and traction of Hinduatva is growing, with the RSS-BJP controlling all the levels of governance. Some regional parties which don't even support the saffron ideology  have also been supporting the BJP for a fractional share in power.

Idea of India that the Congress professed and followed since the freedom struggle into seven decades of independence seems to have lost its sheen and is no longer acceptable to a large section of the majority Hindu community. It has come to be replaced by a dream promise that a strong Hindu India can only bring glory and prosperity to all its inhabitants, particularly the Hindus.

It is no great secret that the RSS and its big Hinduatva family has a pathological hatred towards the Gandhis, including Mahatma Gandhi notwithstanding their occasional contrived lip service to the Father of the Nation.  Only hurdle in the path of the RSS’s ultimate goal of capturing India has been the Gandhi family.

Gandhis should avoid walking into this trap and instead should focus on launching an ideological counter-attack while making the way for a presidium of senior and seasoned leaders that may, may not have a member of the Gandhi family to look after the day-to-day affairs of the party. Rahul Gandhi himself should lead the party in the Lok Sabha from the front evolving a common strategy of the entire opposition to take on the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Gandhis should avoid walking into this trap and instead should focus on launching an ideological counter-attack while making the way for a presidium of senior and seasoned leaders.

While concretizing the ideological contours of the path on which the Congress proposes to take the nation forward, it would have to simultaneously evolve organizational structures in the party where aspirations of all sections of society can be reflected.

Gandhis cannot escape from the responsibility of preparing an ideological blue print for the Congress party-that has an all-India appeal, including appeal for the majority community.

In times of crisis, political parties and organisations across the world have risen to challenges rediscovering and reinventing in the process. Time for the GOP is now. The Congress cannot be allowed to die.

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Contributor

Satish Misra

Satish Misra

Satish Misra was Senior Fellow at ORF. He has been a journalist for many years. He has a PhD in International Affairs from Humboldt University ...

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