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The Udaipur conclave, an admission of the crisis in the party, saw the invited crowd of senior leaders, parliamentarians and legislators deliberating on organisational and policy issues, but decidedly steering clear of questions concerning leadership.The three-day Chintan Shivir of the Congress in Udaipur didn’t offer any surprises. It plotted a path to give a youthful makeover to the party and promises have been made that tickets will be restricted to one person in a family, with exceptions, of course, that help most existing families. These proposed structural changes in the organisation are necessary for the Congress, which has been in a free fall since the 2014 general election. Successive electoral defeats have turned many leaders restive. The emergence of the G-23, an informal group of dissidents, has put the spotlight on the leadership record of the Gandhi family. The Udaipur conclave, an admission of the crisis in the party, saw the invited crowd of senior leaders, parliamentarians and legislators deliberating on organisational and policy issues, but decidedly steering clear of questions concerning leadership. A clear takeaway from the conclave is that the Gandhis continue to exercise total control over the party. The G-23 fell silent.
Rahul Gandhi spoke at length in Udaipur and admitted that the party has lost its connect with the masses. This plain truth, self-evident to most people, has manifested repeatedly in the party’s inability to win elections but seems to have eluded the Gandhis all this while. Rahul Gandhi blamed a poor communication strategy for the disconnect and promised a revamp. However, the loss of touch with the masses may not necessarily be the outcome of strategy. The problem also lies with the message and the messenger. Despite being out of office at the Centre for over eight years, the Congress is yet to reinvent itself as a party of the Opposition. Its politics has been more reactive than a proactive one of setting the agenda or building its own narrative. The incapacity to articulate in a coherent manner what the party stands for is curious since there is no dearth of articulate leaders in that party. While the party’s message is incoherent and often contradictory, the messenger has been a failure in amplifying it or bringing clarity to the message. Rahul Gandhi, the party face for some years, will need to shoulder more than a little blame for this. The party has now announced two campaigns — a Bharat Jodo Yatra and Rozgar Do Yatra — to rebuild its ties with the people. The institutional arrangements proposed – a Social Justice Advisory Council to update the party chief on issues pertinent to the backward classes and disadvantaged social groups, a Public Insight Committee to conduct surveys on various issues and generate feedback from the public, a National Training Institute for ideological training, and an Election Management Committee — will be tested on the ground.
However, at a time when elections have also become about leaders and their image as much as their message, a party’s prospects will be shaped more by the commitment and vision of its leadership than bullet points from its committees. Ideological clarity would help, but a leadership that can work 24X7 and remain accessible is necessary to inspire workers and revive the Congress. The Udaipur conclave kicked this crucial can down the party’s bumpy, lonely road.
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