The King is dead. Long live the King
Post-independence, the Grand Old Party of Indian Political space The Congress in its various avatars has survived this adage for 3 generations. The king is dead, long live the king. However, with the fifth generation of the Nehru Gandhi dynasty at the helm of the party, it seems the death knell has finally been sounded for the flag bearer of Indian polity over years. Nepotism, reluctance, and indecisiveness are the ails that trouble this party. And while the troubles are of the congress the repercussions of the same are felt by the nation as a whole in lieu of the cornerstone role that the party has held over the years in the nation’s birth and evolution.
Nehruji, Indira Gandhi, and even Rajiv Gandhi had been decisive in the direction towards which they wanted to drive the party and nation towards. Rajiv was himself a reluctant entrant into politics, but once he entered he was fully committed to his role. Rahul Gandhi entrusted with the leadership of the party has been indecisive, somewhat reluctant, and wholly immature in the way he has conducted himself as the leader of the party. This contrasting with the aggressive 56″ inch bravado of a skilled orator and political past master in Narendra Modi has made Rahul who might be an affable young man look like an incompetent foolish “Pappu”.
Burdened by the expectations of 4 generations of congress presidents that numbered 5 before him, Rahul Gandhi always had to deliver. However, his uncomfortable grasps of Hindi in a largely Hindi-driven country has been a major hurdle for him as against the connection that his principal opponent has been able to manage in his speeches. Not having worked his way up the hierarchy of the party, he doesn’t have the connect with the grassroots nor does he have the fortitude to navigate the choppy waters of politics. This especially in waters that are infested with sharks of sycophancy and nepotism that have exalted him for no real reason and paralyzed him from learning. Coupled with the constant microscopic examination of every action of his and an overwhelming pressure of delivering on account of his legacy, it has been a very tough act for him to match and live up to.
If we look at the last few years of the UPA2 regime, when Rahul finally made his foray into politics, he was anointed the savior from the moment of his entry. His conduct shrieked activism when he criticized the government-run by his own party, a government whose principal driving force was supposed to be his mother. In this background, he came up against a wily politician who had worked his way up from the RSS to be the chief minister of Gujarat. A consummate orator with appeal and connect with masses, who amplified his humble backgrounds against the privileged one of Rahul, jumping on each mistake and highlighting it to make it appear as blunders of an incompetent silverware laden prince, Modi painted Rahul “Pappu”, till it stuck with him. To be honest Rahul dug his fair share of his own grave with gaffes galore that was fodder for his opposition. To be honest, these could be excused as mistakes of an inexperienced young man thrust on a stage he was not ready for, and ill-advised by a coterie supposedly loyal to him but busy in fuelling their own ambitions through sycophancy. Against this backdrop, he was expected to lead the defense of his party already beleaguered by charges of corruption and the weight of incumbency for two terms. The offense coming from a wily politician who rode the juggernaut of the India Against Corruption movement lead by Anna Hazare against congress to his own advantage. Rahul failed in 2014.
Over the next 5 years, congress was beaten black and blue at the hustings in various state elections. In response, Rahul was alleviated to the congress presidency. The coterie of advisors of the old guard that held supreme in congress ensured that the growth of other younger leaders did not happen. In fact, leaders who seemed apparently close to Rahul were systematically sidelined and their ambitions were snuffed out. Himanta Biswa Sarama in Assam harbored ambitions of being the chief minister and when his ambitions were not properly nurtured he turned coat, not just harming in Assam but engineering the rout of Congress in the entire north east. Today Sarma has fulfilled his ambitions and is the chief minister of Assam. Another example is that of Jyotiraditya Scindia, who having worked hard towards the results of the polls in Madha Pradesh polls saw his long-term loyalty to Gandhis rewarded not by the CM post. When the time came for a Rajya Sabha post he was overlooked for the senior Digvijay Singh, nailing not just his departure from Congress but also the fall of the government in Madhya Pradesh. Mohua Moitra in Bengal is another example of a resource that was not nurtured after having been handpicked by congress. Today, in TMC Mohua is a vocal parliamentarian slowly building up her political capital the hard way but definitely so. Sachin Pilot’s near exit is another such fiasco of the new generation of Congress leaders not being nurtured enough, and their ambitions not being taken care of leading to revolt. The latest example being Jitin Prasada. It is in the backdrop of all this brewing under the waters that Rahul had to lead his charge on the now firmly ensconced Modi. Rahul doesn’t have the appeal of his grandmother nor does he have the acumen of a Narsimha Rao. The result a foregone conclusion. The worst showing of the party in the history of independent India.
To his credit, Rahul resigned from his presidency, but the coterie in its bid to hold on to its influence negated this act of credibility of the prince by reinstating the queen mother albeit as a stop-gap arrangement. Sonia has since been reluctant to allow a change that is beyond the Nehru Gandhi family, In fact between the mother-son duo, the blame lies more at the feet of Sonia and of course the defendants of genes over competence. With Priyanka’s entry into politics in 2019, the aura and mantle of the great savior continue with the Nehru Gandhi family. The basis of such belief though doesn’t pass the test in the ballot boxes. Priyanka and Rahul have extensively campaigned in Kerala and Assam in the just-concluded assembly elections. Congress came up with a cropper in both states thus proving that the brother-sister duo does not have the charisma needed to capture the will of the people on poll day. Bengal was an example of a tactical blunder, where their alignment with the left and a supposedly communal force in the ISF led to their annihilation in such a manner that for the first time in poll history Bengal became congress mukt. It is only in Tamil Nadu where they acceded to a role of a smaller partner did the congress seem to make any gains. Earlier in the Bihar polls, where the alliance with RJD ran the NDA close, it was the Congress who had a poorer strike rate and pulled down the alliance from crossing the finishing line.
As we look down towards 2024, the fortunes of congress are integral to the fortunes of the country. The MoSha duopoly is systematically disintegrating our country whether that be economically or in its social fabric. If a challenge is to be mounted against the well-oiled machinery of the BJP which is muscular as well as deep-pocketed, a credible alternative is a must. Regional satraps like Mamata, Stalin, or Sharad Pawar with their regional bases and focuses might not be able to mount this challenge. They will need a common glue and a figurehead to hold and bind them together in this assault. Compromises and concessions need to be astutely made in this amalgamation of forces in the next few years to come. Mamata, Stalin, and Vijayan have demonstrated that the BJP is fallible. Adityanath seems jittery for the first time in UP. It is for congress now to step up and bring all these aspirations together and gel them into a cohesive force to systematically build up a challenge in 2024. For this sacrifices and compromises must be made within Congress, to begin with. A Non-Gandhi leader needs to surface and take the helms of the GOP. A thought that may be beyond the comprehension of Mrs. Gandhi. But that has been a reality for some time now. The sooner the party accepts it and brings it to fruition the better it will be. The first family need not go into oblivion but must build up its waning charisma by sheer dint of hard work at the ground, setting aside the silverware they have been taught to rely upon over the years. If a Priyanka Gandhi actually works her way up to the general secretary post that she has held from the moment she entered politics, the credibility and charisma will build upon what her genes have anyways given her. There will still be hope. The king might be dead but might yet rise one day.
