April 18, 2026

Mass Contact Will Help Only When The Party Is Internally Strong

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2022-09-08 03:00:30

About the Author

The India Commentary view

View all posts by this Author

Will Rahul Gandhi’s new initiative - the Bharat Jodo yatra - help in reviving the Congress? There is no doubt that mass contact programmes do have a big effect in attracting voters and at this point of time, the yatra will also help in dispelling the notion that the Congress is a moribund party present only on digital platforms. But the problem is that having lost the perception battle to a more organized BJP, the Congress is bereft of ideas and apart from the issue of BJP's divisive politics, it does not have anything new to tell the people. In the absence of any hard-sell, the yatra is not likely to yield the expected dividends.

The Congress has to first recognize that its organization is in shambles. Whenever the party has tried to hold organizational elections, they are either mired in controversy (like the one for the post of party president now) or reduced to a sham. Hence, before reaching out to the people through yatras, the party should have got its act together by rebuilding the organization and uniting the party. The many defections have dented the party's image and the overpowering control and influence of the Gandhi family is working against the party. Further, the reluctance of Rahul Gandhi to be party president yet trying to lead the party is also not endearing it to the people.

More than mass contact programmes, elections are won or lost on the ground where a solid organization, present and working hard from booth level onwards, is necessary to counter the impressive election machine of the BJP. Apart from a few states, the Congress does not have this strength and optics and sound bites of the kind the yatra wlll generate will not be enough to revive the party. The Congress perhaps knows what it needs to do to become a serious player once more but the Gandhi family fears that ushering in internal reforms will loosen its grip on the party and that is why it is taking circuitous routes like holding yatras. But it is doubtful whether they will yield expected dividends.