A well defined and clear pattern seems to have emerged from the results of both the byelections held in various parts of the country, as well as the municipal polls. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) evidently is well placed in contests that have been against the Congress, but has faltered where it or its alliance partners have to face the regional parties. In political terms, the BJP, despite the loss of popularity following the controversial demonetisation decision, continues to enjoy the advantage over its main rival primarily because the Congress has not done enough to redeem its overall image amongst the common people. The hard reality is that the Congress and the BJP are directly pitted against one another throughout the country in over 200 Lok Sabha seats. If this trend of trouncing the grand old party by the saffron brigade continues, the outcome would be heavily tilted in 2019 in favour of the ruling dispensation.
The supreme irony is that in many states, people have given sufficient indications of bringing the Congress back to power for its ability to govern better. However, the overall hesitation in accepting the leadership of the first family—Sonia Gandhi and her son and daughter Rahul and Priyanka respectively is what could prevent the Congress from making a political comeback in the immediate future. Unfortunately, the party’s high command has yet to sort out several issues that were flagged in the wake of the worst drubbing handed out to it in the 2014 elections in its nearly 130-year-old existence.
The Congress leadership is unable to make substantial forays into BJP strongholds due to major credibility issues. For unelaborated reasons, the top leaders continue to treat the workers and party activists in the same manner in which they did when they were in power. This alienation of the rank and file has come at a heavy price and has consequently weakened the party’s capacity to fight back. Instead of giving more muscle to its regional leaders, every effort is made to dilute their influence and capability.
The latest instance of this high handed approach was visible earlier in the week when Navjot Kaur Sidhu, the politician wife of former cricket and TV icon Navjot Singh Sidhu joined the Congress amidst much fanfare. Captain Amarinder Singh, former Chief Minister and the party’s most formidable face in Punjab was denied his due and the new entrant thanked Priyanka Gandhi for facilitating her admission to the party. In subsequent interviews, Navjot Kaur made it clear that since she had joined the Congress, her husband would not be a part of any other outfit since they were “two bodies and one soul”. She gave enough hints regarding the campaign role which her husband may take up during the run-up to the Assembly polls in the state.
If what transpired on the political stage has to be interpreted from the Congress view point in relation to the Sidhus, who were once tipped to tilt the scales heavily in favour of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the message is in black and white. The Sidhus, due to their build up in the media, were initially reluctant to join the Congress, but had done so at the instance of Priyanka Gandhi, who is perceived as the party’s future star and pivot, and thus the current state leadership had nothing to do with this significant development. Secondly, by declaring that Navjot Singh Sidhu would perhaps participate in the campaign, a strong signal was being sent to Captain Amarinder Singh that he was not going to singularly receive the sole credit in case the party tastes victory in Punjab.
Therefore, the induction of Navjot Kaur Sidhu should have been handled deftly and care should have been taken to ensure that Amarinder Singh or his supporters were not deprived of the extensive work they have put in to bring the Congress into the fight in Punjab, where a triangular contest would determine the winner early 2017. Anyone with even the slightest political acumen would know that it was not the Congress that was pitted against the Akali-BJP combine and the AAP, but the Captain, whose political stature has helped in bringing hope to the otherwise demoralised cadres of the Congress in the rest of the country.
The Captain is to the Congress what Virbhadra Singh was to the party in the 2012 Assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh. If Virbhadra singlehandedly against all odds brought the Congress to power in the hill state, it is the erstwhile Maharaja of Patiala who can replicate this feat in Punjab. The two are amongst the negligible number of Congress leaders who still can hold on to their own even during a strong anti Congress wave that has ceased to recede. Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the former Haryana Chief Minister and leaders like Kamal Nath are also, in their own manner, combating the growing influence of the BJP.
The Congress has got to straighten its act to convey to its rank and file that leaders of standing would not be affected by the petty factionalism that has been part of the Congress culture and recently has been fanned by rootless and manipulative leaders more interested in protecting themselves, rather than helping the party overcome its gravest crisis in history. Since Rahul Gandhi is the de-facto president, he must ensure that due respect is given to leaders who matter.