NEW DELHI: Sleeper cells are still active in the Congress party. These sleeper cells have started fuelling factionalism and in-fighting by targeting winnable states. This first happened in Rajasthan. The Congress high command is now trying to control the situation, but it seems unlikely that things will improve. The central leadership is largely responsible for this situation because it is unable to identify who is right or wrong. Matters are brought before Rahul Gandhi only when the situation spirals out of control. The situation is similar with issues. Over the past six months, the Congress party has been constantly changing its agenda. Not a single issue has proven effective. Issues like caste politics, EVMs, SIRs, and vote theft have come and gone. Every issue is backfiring on the party. Now, the party has identified an issue called MNREGA, which will enable it to move forward. There is apprehension, Congress is hoping that like the agricultural bill, MNREGA will take a widespread form. But nothing like this seems to be happening right now. Actually, there is no consensus within the party on the MNREGA issue.
There was no consensus on any of the issues raised by Congress in the recent past. Be it caste politics or direct attack on the PM. It is being said that two factions have been formed within the party, due to which the situation is worsening. The events that unfolded in Rajasthan politics were interesting and conspiratorial. Sleeper cells were active, which is why the party suffered losses. The Gandhi family, i.e., Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, asked then-Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to become the national president. Gehlot agreed. There was no talk of Gehlot resigning from the CM post. Sources indicate that it was agreed that Gehlot would first become president, then present the state’s election budget, and then resign. Then the party would accept whoever he chose as CM. But suddenly a decision of Congress came to light which was beyond comprehension. The idea of making Sachin Pilot the Chief Minister came up, and Gehlot was asked to resign. Sachin had already betrayed the Congress by attempting to topple the government. It was a surprising decision. The MLAs who had remained loyal to the Gandhi family and prevented the government from falling did not support Sachin’s decision. The BJP benefited the most from this entire sequence of events. Through internal conflicts and the central leadership’s wrong decisions, the BJP not only won the Rajasthan elections but also prevented a strong face from emerging in the Congress.
The politics of infighting continues in the Congress even today because the Congress high command is still unable to identify the people within the party who are working to worsen the situation. Because in the states where the Congress has hopes, conflicts have already begun. Punjab, Kerala, and Assam are three states where the Congress is in direct contest. But factions have already started to spoil the situation.
