THE CONGRESS - Battling
for survival:
by R.Upadhyay.
A recent opinion poll conducted by India Today
projected that the Congress has gained a 2.5% national swing and an
improvement in Sonia's personal ratings. Although it is a reflection of
non performance or lack of governance of NDA, this may still enthuse the
party cadres of the Congress.
But the way the inner party democracy is
throttled by the coterie under Sonia’s leadership, the outcome of opinion poll may remain a mirage.
The Congress was an umbrella organisation
acceptable to a broad cross section of Indian population, but its
gradual decline and increasing alienation from the people may not be
arrested if the present leadership is not sincere in correcting the
wrongs done in the past. If Sonia Gandhi takes the initiative with the
help of the best 24 leaders in the CWC and guide the party to behave
like a responsible opposition, the Congress may expect to regain the
confidence of the people. The main problem appears to be that the Congress is still unwilling to
learn from past mistakes.
During the freedom movement, the Britishers had branded the Congress as
a Hindu party and Jinnah had even called Mahatma Gandhi a Hindu leader.
In stead of fighting this communal design of the Britishers and Jinnah,
the Congress leaders accepted the partition of the country on communal
lines. Had they given the word "Hindu" a connotation as a
nation in its broader term and made it a national agenda, the political
shape of the country might have been different today. Without
visualising the consequences, Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister
of independent India, imported the western concept of secularism, but
failed to include the Muslims under the common civil code. Successive
governments made the same mistake, the most controversial one being the
Shahbano case that overturned the Supreme Court judgement with an
amendment to the Constitution itself.
Exploiting the situation, the BJP carried out its "Rath Yatra"
programme from Somnath to Ayodhya as a political strategy for Hindu
renaissance using the term "Hindu" in its broader sense as a
nation. This also helped the party to counter the Mandal politics of its
adversaries and reach to the centre-stage of Indian politics. Instead of
fighting this strategy of the BJP politically, the Congress joined hands
with anti BJP forces and converted the temple issue into a political one
as clash between two religious communities.
Against the backdrop of Mandal politics, when the BJP played its Hindu
renaissance card, the Congress allowed itself to be trapped by regional, casteist and leftist forces in
the name of secularism. Under the present political scenario, secularism
is no more a selling point in election market against other forces like
caste, sect and region which have gained the upper hand. The NDA, which
is a mixture of "communal" and "secular" brand of
product, attracted the consumers successfully at the cost of the
Congress.
In mid nineties, the Congress briefly tried to change its ideological
course after the party's conclave at Panchmarhi. But in absence of any
charismatic leader, who could have given them the ideological direction,
it became a prisoner in the hands of rootless and dynastic sycophants.
After the unlocking of Ram temple in Ayodhya followed by "Shilanyas"
for the temple and demolition of "Babri Mosque," the Congress
lost its traditional "vote bank" of the Muslims and at this
stage the leadership of the party was taken over by Sonia Gandhi who
till then had no political experience.
In the just concluded winter session, the Congress again brought back
the Ayodhya issue to the centre stage and the Parliamentary proceedings
were disrupted for many days. Whether the VHP will succeed in reviving
the Hindu renaissance movement by announcing the date for construction
of Ram Temple at Ayodhya is not the question here- but the Congress is
again now found trapped in its own web. By raising the Ayodhya issue,
the Congress is not likely to retrieve the confidence of the
intelligentsia. Neither it could create any wedge between the BJP and
its vulnerable allies like TDP, DMK and Trinamool Congress on Ayodhya
issue.
Entry of dynastic politics in Indian National Congress is another
important factor for the decline of the party. Indira Gandhi, the
pioneer of the "dynastic worship culture" in Indian politics
gradually converted it as a family profession. The party cadres also bowed to her
authoritarian style as she could manage to win elections and bring the party to power. Even after her
assassination in 1984, the party came to power with a thumping majority
in parliament. But without taking any lesson from the failure of
inexperienced Rajiv Gandhi in 1989 elections, the party handed over the
leadership to his widow Sonia Gandhi, who never understood the tradition
and culture of the country.
Even after the sliding popularity of the Congress under the leadership
of Sonia Gandhi as reflected in 1998 and 1999 Lok Sabha polls, her clean
sweep in the presidential election of the party shows that the Congress
is haplessly and helplessly battling for its survival. Surrounded by
rootless sycophants and dynastic drum beaters, she was never allowed to become a mass leader. She did not even make any effort to re-establish
the lost relations of the party with the people. After presidential
election, she has emerged as a much stronger president of the party. But
the manner in which she maintained silence against the vandalism by a
section of party-men, when her opponent Jitendra Prasad had filed his
nomination as a rival candidate for presidential election showed that
she also wants to lead the party in an authoritarian style.
No body will deny that almost all the political parties in India are
captives of authoritarianism. But an authoritarian leader without any charismatic personality is compelled
in the long run to write the obituary of the party. After Indira Gandhi, the Congress failed to
produce any nationally acceptable leader. The emergence of Sonia Gandhi as an elected President of the
Congress with a thumping majority was viewed as restoration of inner
democracy in the party. However, when she was authorised by almost all
the state committees to nominate all the 24 members of the CWC, it gave
an indication that the party is yet to recover from its illness of
dynastic politics. As per party's constitution, 12 of this 24-member
highest policymaking body are elected members. Sonia Gandhi has so far
not indicated her mind about implementation of the resolution of the
state units. However, this resolution of the state units, which is
contrary to the spirit of party's constitution is known to have caused
disappointment among the younger cadres, who are looking forward to
exploit the sliding popularity of the BJP and reestablish their old
relation with the people.
Sonia Gandhi is presently facing various problems, which could be summed
up as under:
* Even though media is managed to project her
as a leader imbibed in Indian tradition and culture, she has not yet
succeeded to become a nationally acceptable leader. It is partly
because of her foreign origin and partly due to her failure in
establishing contacts with the grassroot workers of the party.
* Even though, the country has entered into
an era of coalition politics, she has not devised any strategy to
revive any firm relation with the leftist forces, that used to be the
party's natural allies directly or indirectly even during the regime
of Nehru.
* In her efforts to win the support of the
leftists, she is now trying to maintain a distance from the economic
reform, which was initiated by her husband and pursued by the Congress
Government led by Narsimha Rao from 1991 to 1996.
* She is in a dilemma in managing the support
of the leftists at national level and still fight against them in the
state of West Bengal and Kerala.
* She has lost the confidence of the people
in backtracking from the promises made by the party during elections.
Contesting state assembly election in Bihar, the Congress leaders
solely focused on anti-Laloo campaign but joined hands with him and
became a partner in the Government after election. This created an
adverse impact on the credibility of the party.
* It is a well-known fact that the company of
Sonia Gandhi with Laloo will continue so long she is not in a position
to revive the party's fortune in this state.
* She may pack the CWC with her loyalists,
but how far they will help the party to win state assembly
elections this year is a big question.
* Being surrounded by Special Protection
Group for her physical security, she has distanced her from the party
cadres and is therefore, known as a prisoner in the hands of coterie
for her political security.
Despite the India Today poll, the Congress in
the face of multi dimensional problems has to go a long way in regaining
the confidence of the people.
8.1.2001
