oppn parties Mass Contact Will Help Only When The Party Is Internally Strong

Story Of The Day

Assessee Not Responsible For Ensuring TDS Is Paid To The Government: Delhi HC
OPINIONS : Strongly Expressed

January 22, 2025

People Are Talking About

Rohit Warns Sarfaraz, Police Use It To Warn Two-Wheeler Riders

News Snippets

  • Sikh extremists attacked a cinema hall in London that was playing Kangana Ranaut's controversial film 'Emergency'
  • A Delhi court directed the investigating agencies to senstize officers to collect nail clippings, fingernail scrappings or finger swab in order to get DNA profile as direct evidence of sexual attack is often not present and might result in an offender going scot free
  • Uniform Civil Code rules cleared by state cabinet, likely to be implemented in the next 10 days
  • Supreme Court reiterates that there is no point in arresting the accused after the chargesheet has been filed and the investigation is complete
  • Kolkata court sentences Sanjoy Roy, the sole accused in the R G Kar rape-murder case, to life term. West Bengal government and CBI to appeal in HC for the death penalty
  • Supreme Court stays criminal defamation case against Rahul Gandhi for his remarks against home minister Amit Shah in Jharkhand during the AICC plenary session
  • Government reviews import basket to align it with the policies of the Trump administration
  • NCLT orders liquidation of GoAir airlines
  • Archery - Indian archers bagged 2 silver in Nimes Archery tournament in France
  • Stocks make impressive gain on Monday - Sensex adds 454 points to 77073 and Nifty 141 points to 23344
  • D Gukesh draws with Fabiano Caruana in the Tata Steel chess tournament in the Netherlands
  • Women's U-19 T20 WC - In a stunning game, debutants Nigeria beat New Zealand by 2 runs
  • Rohit Sharma to play under Ajinkye Rahane in Mumbai's Ranji match against J&K
  • Virat Kohli to play in Delhi's last group Ranji trophy match against Saurashtra. This will be his first Ranji match in 12 years
  • The toll in the Rajouri mystery illness case rose to 17 even as the Centre sent a team to study the situation
Calling the case not 'rarest of rare', a court in Kolkata sentenced Sanjay Roy, the only accused in the R G Kar rape-murder case to life in prison until death
oppn parties
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

Sunil Garodia The India Commentary view

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. 

Other Stories You Make Like

Editorials

Turmoil In Mollywood

Turmoil In Mollywood

NDA 3.0: Coalition Dharma

NDA 3.0: Coalition Dharma

In Depth

Supreme Court Gets Strict On Child Pornography

Supreme Court Gets Strict On Child Pornography

Editor's Pick

Budapest Chess Olympiad: India Are World Team Champions

Budapest Chess Olympiad: India Are World Team Champions
© 2014 India Commentary. All rights reserved.