He battles in he Congress

Unjab, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and MP, the ty tried different models. It isn’t working

Apolitical party is home to colliding ambitions. For the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the presence of an unchallenged national leader with electoral appeal, a ory where no rebel has succeeded in causing a onal-level split, and the presence of the Rashtriya yamsevak Sangh helps in resolving conflicts. But party where splits have benefited those exiting nk the Trinamool Congress, or YSR Congress ty in terms of parties; or Himanta Biswa Sarma, erms of individuals), the leadership is seen as torally incapable, organisational discipline is k, the ability to dispense patronage is limited, many down the political chain lack confidence he party’s future, factional battles are harder to lve. And that is the story of the Congress. Chhattisgarh, the Congress, after the 2018 tions, came up with a power-sharing formula — pesh Baghel would be chief minister (CM) for -and-a-half years, TS Singh Deo would take over the rest of the term. Rahul Gandhi, reports say, is re that such a promise was made; Mr Singh Deo, o has been loyal and competent, is now staking claim. But Mr Baghel is a rare backward face of party; removing him is hard to justify and may e costs. Or take Rajasthan. Sachin Pilot rreached with his rebellion last year. But the ership assured him of space in the government the party now, and leadership in the future. But Ashok Gehlot has no interest in meeting mises made in Delhi to his rival. In these cases, leadership, faced with strong CMS, is finding it d to enforce its promises.

Punjab, the high command went against the hes of CM Amarinder Singh and imposed a rebel, jot Singh Sidhu, as state president. But this has nsified internal battles, and the Congress is ing across as incapable of running its own party the state. In Madhya Pradesh (MP), the party w in its lot with the then CM Kamal Nath (and CM Digvijaya Singh) and refused to listen to ontent articulated by Jyotiraditya Scindia, ch led to the collapse of the government. All of indicates that the Congress does not have a mula for conflict resolution — backing the umbent (in MP) didn’t work, backing the rebel Punjab) isn’t working, and keeping both the umbent and rebel hanging (in Rajasthan and attisgarh) isn’t productive either. Till the party s a better internal resolution mechanism, it will tinue to struggle politically.