Representative image showing the Congress flag.
Credit: PTI Photo
Finally, the Congress has announced the team which will lead the party in the coming assembly elections and, more importantly, in the 2024 parliamentary elections.
There are hardly any surprises in the list of appointees to the Congress Working Committee (CWC) except there are a few younger faces, like Kamaleshwar Patel and Nasir Hussain, among others, in the main committee. Shashi Tharoor’s name in the CWC is heartening because he is an erudite speaker, and more importantly has the courage to differ with the party high command.
After being in the doldrums for nine years and even raising doubts about its survival, today the Congress appears to be turning a new leaf. With the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on the roll, it was assumed by many including this author that if the Congress did not radically change itself, the crisis could have been existential. Looking at the Congress today it is hard to believe that the party was in power for 56 years.
The Congress has the legacy of spearheading the freedom movement under MK Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, this immensely contributed to creating a democratic polity and society — an ethos which has not led to India being balkanised. The leadership of Nehru and Sardar Patel, along with others, had a grandness of character that despite several differences they were large-hearted to work together to build the nation. Therefore, if the idea of India is robust today, despite serious authoritarian onslaughts, history will remember that it is because of the contribution of the Congress towards it.
The Congress’s recent victories in the assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka have lifted the morale of the party, and it is now considered as a serious contender for assembly elections in five states, and also in the 2024 general elections. Not long ago the same Congress had no heart to fight the Gujarat assembly polls, and was seen as an also-ran during the Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, and Goa assembly elections in 2021.
What changed for the party in the recent past?
Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra (BJY) is the biggest contributor towards this change in perception. The 4,000-odd kilometre yatra busted the myth of Rahul Gandhi being a novice, not fit for politics. His appearance overnight caught the imagination of a large section of the people, and even his harshest critic admired his courage and purpose. The goodwill and sympathy the BJY generated changed the public perception towards him and the party. He was no longer the entitled dynast, rather he was seen as someone committed to fight the biggest election machinery India has seen with its mammoth support from Hindutva organisations, unprecedented media ridicule, unstoppable propaganda, intrusive government apparatus, and unfathomable financial resources by corporate moguls.
People usually tend to support the underdog in a fight, provided the underdog is putting up an earnest fight. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) tried to target the BJY but withdrew once it realised that the attacks were backfiring. Rahul Gandhi’s BJY presented a critique of the Narendra Modi regime and provided the ideological alternative to Hindutva.
For all those who felt hopeless, and marginalised by the Modi-led BJP, the Congress has come as a ray of hope. This has seen the minorities, the Left liberals, members of civil society, and Ambedkarites gravitating towards the Congress, and its support base has dramatically improved. At least two nationwide surveys support this change. The CSDS survey was done in May, before the united Opposition alliance I.N.D.I.A. was formed, captured 29 per cent support for the Congress—this is a huge jump from its 19 per cent vote share in the 2019 general elections.
The ETG Research/Times Now survey captured 27 per cent votes for the Congress, and predicted a close contest between the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and I.N.D.I.A. If the NDA is expected to corner 42.6 per cent vote share, I.N.D.I.A. is close behind at 40.2 per cent. If the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS)’s vote share is added to I.N.D.I.A., it would jump to 41.35 per cent. This means that the difference between the two groups is only 1.25%. Though the NDA is predicted to win more than 300 Lok Sabha seats, the vote share signifies the fact that the fight between the two alliances is close, and the BJP can take the battle lightly at its own peril.
Recently, what has worked very well for the Congress is the role played by party President Mallikarjun Kharge. Kharge has been able to administratively control Congress’s rudderless drift ever since Rahul Gandhi resigned as party President. The regular stock-taking of different state units has helped resolve issues which were pending for a long time. Kharge has used his experience to buy peace and resolve, at least for the time being, among the internal factions in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. His frontal attack on the Modi government has also galvanised the party cadre. Kharge has also played an instrumental role in creating I.N.D.I.A.
The Congress must not forget that the battle has just begun. The BJP under Modi’s leadership is a different party from what it was before 2014. Modi himself is still immensely popular, and his followers are battle-hardened and having tasted power will now leave no stone unturned if they sense even a faint possibility of defeat.
The biggest challenge before the Congress is to not fritter away the goodwill it has earned, and gain the confidence of new social groups. This will be the mammoth task before the newly constituted CWC.
(Ashutosh is Editor, Satyahindi, and author of Hindu Rashtra.)
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.