Former Union minister and senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh spoke his mind when he said the party was facing an existential crisis. While his comment does not point to a new development — the party has been in crisis since losing the 2014 Lok Sabha polls to the Bharatiya Janata Party — the important thing is that this bold yet fair statement comes from someone of the stature of Ramesh. He is among the few illustrious ministers in the party, who handled important portfolios like commerce and industries, power and rural development and environment among others.
Ramesh candidly said the BJP of today is vastly different from the one of earlier years because it thinks and acts differently. With strategists such as Narendra Modi and Amit Shah in the BJP, it is a completely different ball game for the Congress to take on the party now.
The Congress has to start from scratch and rebuild itself if it has to compete with the BJP. It has to reach out to the masses and regain their confidence. Even so, the BJP will have an edge over the Congress. At present, the Congress is no match for the BJP. The party has forgotten the habit of thinking deeply about the right things. It is now perform or perish for the Congress.
Srinivasan Umashankar Nagpur
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