Flag of the Indian National Congress.
(Image for representational purposes)
Credit: PTI File Photo
Even as the Congress is riding high at the national level after winning 99 seats in the general elections, it is facing growing discontent in its state units. If this is not checked, the unrest could percolate to the cadre level and create widespread disaffection as the party prepares for multiple Assembly elections later this year and in 2025.
In Andhra Pradesh, the infighting between state Congress president Y S Sharmila and the two working presidents has led to the dissolution of party committees and the locking of rooms in the party office at Vijayawada.
In neighbouring Telangana, where the Congress is in power, it is accused of poaching leaders from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). ‘Operation Akarsh’, as it is known, is doing to the BRS what the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Operation Lotus did to the Opposition in many states. Reports suggest that some senior party leaders are not in favour of this poaching.
In Karnataka, there is a revival of the demand within the party that more Cabinet ministers be made deputy chief ministers. In Maharashtra, 16 senior leaders have demanded that the chief of the Mumbai unit be replaced.
An effective and strong Congress leadership has always derived its authority from the strength of powerful regional satraps who have held state units together.
These problems in the state units must not be brushed aside as pinpricks, and Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress president, and K C Venugopal, general secretary, would do well to remember that a stitch in time saves nine. That said, the duo has managed to douse recent fires in the Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh state units.
Also, the news that the party is set to hold strategy meetings in poll-bound states is a positive sign. With the Parliament session on in New Delhi, Kharge and the party leadership will be focused on how the Congress performs in the House and responds to the government’s attempts to bypass the Opposition on important matters, but this disquiet has the potential to weaken the party at the national level.
Stability in the Congress is important for the political relevance of a united Opposition against the BJP-led NDA government. The past decade has shown us why India must have a strong Opposition in Parliament. It brings in checks and balances, protects India’s social fabric, and ensures that more sections have their voices heard.
A Congress bogged down by intra-party feuds and an Opposition in disarray will undermine the trust and responsibility India’s electorate has placed in them by voting them in greater numbers than in 2019.