The Hunt for Scapegoats
Once the Assembly results poured in, the hunt for scapegoats started within the Congress. The central leadership blamed the state satraps—from the Kamal Nath and Digvijiya Singh duo, to Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel—for they were given a free hand to manage the campaign. However, there is a section of the party that is holding the leadership—including both party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi—accountable.
In fact, more than Rahul himself it is the team that was chosen by him (via Kharge) to handle the states that is being questioned. Apart from D.K. Shivakumar (who has proved himself over and again), the others were mostly rootless leaders, known more for their proximity to either Rahul or Sonia rather than any great election savvy. Tongues are also wagging about their role in candidate selection. Since the state in-charges are appointed last minute, should they be allowed to have any say in candidate selection? What kind of insights do they bring to the table, and what are the factors that govern their decisions?
The worry amongst the ranks is not so much the coming general elections but the state elections after that. Team Rahul is clearly going to be Mallikarjun Kharge’s biggest hurdle—especially those entrenched at the party headquarters. Will the Congress president be able to bring in his own team when he finally undertakes the organisational reshuffle?
The Amit Shah Way
While the Prime Minister was the chief campaigner for the recent round of Assembly elections, it was the Home Minister and his chosen team that worked the backend. In fact, Amit Shah himself addressed a large number of rallies, both in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. Speaking informally with reporters during the campaign, when asked about Kamal Nath’s and Baghel’s very vocal commitment to Hindutva, he had pointed out that the voters would not believe the neo converts from the Congress, as much as they would never believe it if someone from the BJP, such as himself, would suddenly start attacking Hinduism. And as the results showed, in the battle for competitive Hindutva, it was clearly the BJP that had the last word.
Can I.N.D.I.A bloc regroup?
Post the election results, the Congress is on the backfoot within the Opposition. The Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, for one, has pointed out that the Big Brother attitude of the party when it refused to share seats with the SP would now be reciprocated in Uttar Pradesh. Omar Abdullah, the National Conference leader too told the media that the NC would go it alone in the next general elections. Mamata Banerjee always had her apprehensions regarding the Congress-Left equation and is hardly likely to cede any seats to the party.
And so while there is talk of making Lok Sabha 2024 a seat by seat contest, it is clear that the allies will expect the Congress to forgo seats in favour of them, and not the other way around. Does that suit the Congress—to weaken its own base in the larger interest of defeating the BJP? Well that’s a question the Congress will have to answer, very soon.