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Congress' Chintan Shivir: Will It Take The Party Forward?

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2022-05-16 23:54:20

About the Author

Sunil Garodia The India Commentary view

For a party that is facing an existential crisis, the Congress had very little of substance to show from the much-touted, three-day nav sankalp shivir held in Udaipur from 13th to 15th May. The party chose to skirt all discussions about the leadership crisis which is the main issue that is holding it back. In fact, it seemed that the 400-plus Congress leaders had congregated in Udaipur with a clear brief - the leadership issue was not to be raised. Without a change at the top, no other change is going to work.

Of the changes proposed by the party, some are designed to perpetuate the hold of the Gandhis and other senior leaders and prevent the younger lot from crashing in. Hence, the one family, one ticket proposal that exempts family members who have been working for the party for the last five years will mean that many family members of all frontline leaders, including the Gandhis, will be exempt. Only the 50 under 50 rule for having 50% members below 50 years of age in all committees at all levels is likely to bring younger leaders to fore, if implemented strictly. Also, one man, one post and the limit for holding a post are also good proposal but again, implementation is the key.

But the Congress must realize that these are changes it should have made years ago. Now is the time for taking stronger steps. It must immediately elect a full-time working president, shake up the state units and appoint grassroots leaders to the PCC. The high command has to learn to earn the respect of grassroots leaders rather than appoint loyalists to important positions. In the Congress, there is no clear chain of command and that leads to situations such as the one in Punjab where the fight between Navjot Sidhu and the rest led to the party’s defeat.

The Congress, or more specifically Rahul Gandhi, accuses the regional parties of not having the ideology to fight the BJP. But with its move towards soft Hindutva, the Congress, too, has made compromises with its secular credentials. At Udaipur, the Congress failed to convey what it stood for, how it was going to move ahead from here and how will it be different from what it had been doing in the last few years. Under the circumstances, padayatras or even Bharat Jodo yatras will not be enough to reconnect with the people. 

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