The outcome of Congress' "Chintan Shivir"
The hard reality is this dynasty is not ready to be answerable for any of their decisions and not even ready to own the responsibility of the successive electoral debacles.
NewsBharati 16-May-2022 10:52:37 AM
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The reports emanating from Udaipur the City of Lakes in Rajasthan where the oldest political party of the country held its "Chintan Shivir" exposed the sadly pathetic situation the party finds itself in. There are enough indicators that disseminate the message that the party leadership has gone wayward and seriously lacked any scholarship and political acumen to inject a new elixir that would rejuvenate it from the present state of coma.
The way Sonia Gandhi the acting President of the party lashed out at the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi instead of steering the party from its current down slide amply proved that she did not possess any quality worth of a leader to rescue the Congress from the present pathetic state and instll a new confidence in party's rank and file.
The move to give one ticket per family and keep the Gandhi family out of this decision also exposed very badly the loss of confidence and shameless dependence of party leaders on the dynasty. This also shows how strong is the grip of Gandhi family and how they are not willing to lose it even at the cost of the very existence of the Congress party. Why this special consideration for one family? Will the party's future be doomed if the Family is neglected or treated at par with other leaders? Are there no leaders worth the salt to come to the rescue of the party and save it from the impending political suicide?
The hard reality is this dynasty is not ready to be answerable for any of their decisions and not even ready to own the responsibility of the successive electoral debacles. This is evident from the election results of the five states where the Congress party was virtually wiped out and rejected even by the Muslim voters whom the party considered as it's most trusted vote bank!
Thus, it is clear that the Congress party has adopted the ostrich-like attitude and singing the old tunes of criticism of Hindutva ideology and targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Hardly did it show any positive signal that the party is really serious in undertaking introspection exercise.
It is well accepted convention globally that the party leadership is expected to shoulder the responsibility of victory and defeat in a democratic polity. Sonia Gandhi and her family is heading the Congress since 1998 and during this period there has been no change in the party leadership. If at all any change was there it was Rahul Gandhi replacing his mother and Sonia becoming 'Acting President' after Rahil resigned as party president. Another change was a political novice Priyanka Vadra-Gandhi was made the party general secretary maybe because her facial look and hairstyle resembled with that of her grandmother Indira Gandhi. But she too failed miserably to steer the party in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections.
And what was the state of affairs in the BJP? From 1998 till today the party has seen nearly a dozen party presidents who led the party from victory to victory creating new records in the political history of independent India.
There is parallel to the dynastic politics the Congress party is playing. Actually, it was Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister who introduced this style of dynastic politics in independent India. But for two shortlived exceptions of Lal Bahadur Shastri and P. V. Narasimha Rao, it was the Gandhi Family that enjoyed the uninterrupted power in the country from panchayat to parliament. Indira Gandhi further consolidated this dynastic style of governance and Sonia Gandhi gave it a new dimension by appointing "Non-performing" PM. She has made the family as only alternative to the party.
The direction of Congress' Chintan is sure to take it on to path of self destruction rather than ressurection from the present existential crisis. In such a situation the party's political prospects are sure to get doomed. Any doubts?
Virag Pachpore
Former President of International Centre for Cultural Studies Virag Pachpore is a widely acclaimed political analyst, commentator, media trainer, social activist and writer. He has written well-researched books titled “The Indian Church?” (2001), “Jesus, Christianity and Swami Vivekananda” (2013), “Liberation Theology” (2014), and “Indian Muslims and National Perspective” (2006) and Christian Missionary activities in India. He is engaged in Inter-faith dialogue with Muslims and Christian groups in India.