For a Congress revival, a two-fold approach

New Delhi : Even amidst the despair of defeat, it’s understandable if politicians can see signs of their party’s revival. That could happen at the next election or after several. But does it, therefore, follow that after two consecutive shattering defeats it’s “a ridiculous idea” to say Congress could be finished? Surely not.

You don’t need to look at Britain’s once glorious Liberals to accept parties can fade away. It’s happened to several closer at home – Swatantra, Janata and, possibly, the Communist Party of India. In Congress’s own case, after electoral decimation in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, it hasn’t returned to power.

Yet if Rahul Gandhi’s boast that it’s ridiculous to say Congress is “gone” is to be proven correct, it won’t happen by simply waiting and hoping for better. As Prof. Suhas Palshikar points out, Congress’s challenge “to remain competitive in a multi-party federal polity” is nearly thirty five years old. It started when the party lost power in 1989. Although it’s been in government since, it’s never won a majority again. Soon this challenge could become “insurmountable”.

If that’s not to happen, Palshikar believes Congress must act on two fronts, organizationally and in terms of its political mobilization. Even if the party is unwilling to heed his advice, it’s revealing for the rest of us who want a vibrant opposition and believe the resurrection of Congress offers the best hope.

Palshikar makes two points about organization. The most important is “the democratization of the functioning of the party”. However, by not holding elections for the Working Committee it’s failed to do this. Palshikar says this was important because “the churn” an election creates would breathe “life” into the party. Nominations would allow dormancy to continue.

The second organizational requirement is to fulfill the commitment to one-family-one-post. This doesn’t simply apply to the Gandhis. It has “more to do with the entrenched interests of many families that control local party units …. this is more about the way local politics is conducted.” At this level the hold of dominant families needs to be prized open to permit “young activists into competitive politics”.

Palshikar also makes two points about mobilization. “Beyond big speeches … and pious hopes”, Congress needs to devise “the right formula for coalition-making in the face of a ruthless competitor”. His advice is simple but pointed: “the party should be prepared to be more modest”. In other words, don’t insist Congress will lead.

The second point about mobilization is more challenging. It concerns Congress’s ideological message. “How is the party going to awaken the masses on questions of crony capitalism and communalism?” These are abstract concepts that mean little to ordinary people unless effectively translated into terms that matter in their daily lives. At the moment, they’re lost in translation.

Palshikar is particularly explicit when he talks about the charge of communalism against the BJP. As he puts it, “making sure that the average hindu is convinced that being anti-muslim is not necessary for being a good hindu or a good nationalist is a difficult task.” The answer is not to flaunt its own hindu credentials but for Congress to speak about Hinduism, and what it stands for as well as what it requires of its adherents, in a very different way. But that’s easier said than done.

That’s why translating its message into easily understood terms that matter to voters, overcoming all the differences of caste, creed, culture and culinary preference, is daunting.

Which brings me back to where I began. If Congress can’t surmount Palshikar’s challenge is it really ridiculous to say the party’s future could be in doubt? The results from the North East suggest otherwise. If Congress fails to retain Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and win Karnataka, it will be clearer still. And then there’s 2024.

But, but, but … the Tories lost three consecutive elections before bouncing back under Cameron. Labour lost four before Blair changed its fortunes. The question is can Rahul Gandhi do that for Congress?

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