Procrastination hampers Congress at critical moments

After days of speculation, Rahul Gandhi was nominated the Congress candidate for Raebareli on May 3, while Priyanka Gandhi Vadra stayed out of the election fray. It wasn’t exactly the way party cadre had wanted events to pan out, but the person they have as their Amethi candidate is K L Sharma.

A lot of noise, usually meaningless, is generated in the Opposition camp when a Gandhi either opts for a constituency, or opts out of the race. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP)’s jejune, voluble, and often vulgar, commentary can safely be ignored. But it is true that the manner in which the candidates were chosen for these two seats does point to some of the Congress’ long-standing failings.

Let’s begin with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. She has never contested an election and has no inclination to do so. Her most active involvement in the political sphere has been as a party general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh, a job for which she has not shown any great aptitude. Her other involvement has been as a roving campaigner —  for family members and others. This seems to be a role for which she is suited, and has conducted herself commendably.

So, why does the party allow her name to be bandied about every general election? Take this one. For the past few days, party cadre assembled in the general area of the three adjacent constituencies associated with the Gandhi family — Amethi, Raebareli, and Sultanpur — voicing the desire to see the Gandhi siblings contest from Amethi and Raebareli. Rumour was rife that they would conduct roadshows before filing their nominations.

As we have seen, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra opted out, which is unobjectionable. What is problematic is the manner in which the entire operation was handled by the party leadership. Given her track record, the realities of the situation and a dash of hindsight, it was clear that she wouldn’t have contested. So, why wasn’t that announced early on to dampen expectations, instead of allowing a lack of communication to help a false expectation to grow, only for it to be subsequently squashed? What it did was to suddenly deflate the cadre.

Look at it this way. In this general election, there’s a two-sided alliance between the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress in Uttar Pradesh, contesting 63 and 17 constituencies respectively. So, not only is the Congress contesting a sizeable number of seats, it has a responsibility out of proportion with the numbers to maximise the strength of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance.

It doesn’t need saying that Uttar Pradesh is the most important quantity in the electoral arithmetic. In 2019, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 62 of the 80 seats there, with an ally winning two. The Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) occupied second place with 10, while the SP won five, and the Congress won one.

The BSP isn’t the force it was. It’s going solo this time, having won just one seat in the 2022 Assembly elections.

There are also signs from the ground that the BJP may not be able to steamroll the state this time on account of several reasons, mostly to do with the shifting sands of caste equations.

But more than electoral prospects in a state in which the Congress has become a bit player, what the Priyanka Gandhi Vadra story calls attention to is a persistent problem in the way in which the Congress functions: at its core is procrastination. Whether this is caused by lassitude or ill-defined lines of communication or both is not the point. It seriously hampers its ability to function as the ‘main opposition party’: the only one with a nationwide presence to match the BJP’s.

It is understandable that Rahul Gandhi waited till after the vote in Wayanad to declare his second candidature. What is not is why he chose Raebareli instead of Amethi, because it gives the legitimate impression that he is shying from a difficult contest. Since not everything really hinged on it, contesting from Amethi would have given the cadre working in the 16 other constituencies where the Congress is in action, and, of course, fraternally in the 63 SP constituencies, a big fillip.

Rahul Gandhi’s tendency to go missing when the chips are down is well documented — the best example being his unilateral relinquishment of the party presidency after the electoral loss in 2019. It’s not that he does not have any good ideas; the best is his insistence that the Congress sticks to the real issues even as the Opposition raises the pitch of primordial passions, but as the real leader of the party he has to start meeting challenges head-on.

(Suhit K Sen is author of ‘The Paradox of Populism: The Indira Gandhi Years, 1966-1977’.)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.