The decay of the Grand Old Party
Congress were repeatedly denied their due. Though the high command’s last remaining loyalists contest this, claiming that they had all achieved positions over the years, the fact remains that they are more popular and capable than others who continue to lord over them in the party.
Of course, the Congress is not the only party that deliberately suppresses its talent for feudal reasons; it just has the longest record of this and has suffered the most damage from it. Several regional parties that emulated its transition to family fiefdoms are now showing signs of the same atrophy. On the other hand, one of the biggest contributors to the BJP’S rise over the decades is its ingrained culture of actively nurturing talent.
There seems to be a feeble attempt within the Congress to rectify some other longstanding blunders, as with the recent commemoration of late PM PV Narasimha Rao’s centenary. But it is simply too little, too late. The downplaying of its non-family former leaders has become part of the party’s DNA since the 1950s. This attempted fix was like applying a band-aid for stage-4 cancer.
I am occasionally confronted by some with the argument, “but a healthy democracy needs a strong opposition”. Some others argue that an overly strong opposition more concerned with power and privilege, rather than development and national security, has far more costs than benefits for the system. Be that as it may, it is hardly reasonable to expect other parties to be apathetic to the self-destruction of a formerly Grand Old Party. It is but natural that political opponents would try to occupy the space thus created.
Neither can it be considered the role of a governing party to set right an opposition one collapsing under the weight of its own contradictions. That role rightly belongs to civil society. But many in civil society actively colluded with the feudalisation of the Congress. Some did it for the power, pelf and patronage they received. Others just condoned and tolerated its decay into irrelevance out of a fear of change.
A principled, robust Opposition is an asset in a democracy. That can, and should be, supported by all stakeholders. But it will not come about by trying to bring back to life something that died a long time ago.