The Congress’s many critics have long reviled the ‘dynasty’. Many supporters, too, have expressed their discomfort with the dominant role played by the Nehru-Gandhi family in the party. Now, after the Congress’s debacle in the general election again, the party faithful have begun to question the advisability of Rahul Gandhi staying on as president.
Mr. Gandhi, on his part, has asked the Congress Working Committee (CWC) to select someone who is not from the ‘family’ as his successor. He has not withdrawn his resignation after members of the apex body, expectedly, asked him to take it back. But the frontal organisations have not mobilised any show of support for him, nor have party veterans nudged them to do so. Belatedly, some Congress functionaries resigned after Mr. Gandhi apparently expressed surprise that no one else was willing to take responsibility.
Contrast this with the situation in 1999, when Sonia Gandhi withdrew her resignation after party workers organised hunger strikes and wrote letters to her in blood.
However, despite the lack of enthusiasm for Mr. Gandhi, there has been no movement towards selecting a successor even as State elections in Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Haryana loom large. Over the last few days, Mr. Gandhi has met leaders of these States, and Chief Ministers of Congress-led States amid the continuing suspense over the presidency. Though this is a historic opportunity to change the party’s dynast profile, there is no queue of contenders for the top job or behind-the-scenes efforts to place an alternative leader. The party appears paralysed.
Fear of retribution
The lack of democracy in the party’s functioning has meant that no Congress member has the courage to propose a name, lest he or she be later singled out for retribution. The example of Jitendra Prasada, who had once contested against Sonia Gandhi for the presidency, is being cited in this context. If a president is to be named from outside the family, that person must have the family’s blessings. The fact is that the Congress has been so hollowed out, ideologically and organisationally, that the family has become the party, and the party the family. Worse, today, the family cannot decide on a common course of action. There is also a sense in the CWC that poor leadership is the overwhelming reason why the Congress is in such a sorry state — and that it is up to the family to clean up the mess.
Ms. Gandhi, of course, continues as chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party; and five-time West Bengal MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who is unlikely to challenge the family’s authority, has been made the party’s leader in the Lok Sabha. Given the belief in the Congress that the family is the glue that holds it together, many party seniors feel that Ms. Gandhi should once again take over the reins. She may have run out of ideas, but still enjoys wide respect within the party. But can she transform a family enterprise into a democratic modern party?
In 2014, the Congress was reduced to an all-time low of 44 Lok Sabha seats. Since then, there has been little visible effort to revamp the party organisation, give it a direction or marshal its forces for the serious, sustained ideological battle it clearly needed to embark on. Senior leader A.K. Antony’s report in August 2014 had blamed the media for the party’s defeat. However, a series of structured discussions in end-2014 led neither to a blueprint for revival nor a reorganisation of the Congress.
In end-2017, a reluctant Mr. Gandhi finally took charge of the party. Under him, the Congress reduced the BJP to less than 100 seats in Gujarat and regained Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, but failed to build on those victories. In the election this year, the party suffered a wipe-out even in these four States.
No analysis this time
This time, even the mandatory ‘Antony Committee’ has not been constituted. Instead, there has been in-house name calling. Mr. Gandhi has faced criticism for relying on data crunchers rather than on political professionals. There has been no analysis of why the party fared so poorly, on whether the Congress is out of sync with the ‘New India’ that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is building, on trying to understand why there has been a rightward shift among voters, or why a young leader like Mr. Gandhi cannot attract the 18-40 years demographic.
Regardless of who eventually heads the Congress, the next leader’s first task must be to let all the voices in the party be heard. The ‘Grand Old Party’ deserves more than a stick of glue — it needs a transformational leader who has the confidence to hear all the bad news, and then find a way forward — if it does not want to wither away.
Smita Gupta is Senior Fellow, The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy