The Congress could be on a comeback trail

The party could well win Punjab, become part of a postpoll government in Uttar Pradesh and retain Uttarakhand

The SP-Congress alliance in Uttar Pradesh has suddenly made things look up for India’s grand old party. Everyone knows that UP is a high-stake election for Narendra Modi. Now, suddenly, it has also become a high-stake election for the Congress, which was, till the other day, seen as a non-player in the country’s largest state, known for setting the political tempo nationally.

It is not as if the party is about to regain its lost glory. But if it wins Punjab, become part of a post-poll Akhilesh Yadav led government in UP, and retain Uttarakhand, it will be in business again.

The 132 year old party is being criticised for clutching onto the coat-tails of regional outfits. It was the junior partner in Bihar in 2015 as also in UP 2017.

1989, the Indian National Congress has Alliances have been the conventional route taken by weak parties to gain strength, and the BJP deployed this strategy again and again throughout its political journey. When the BJP got two seats in the 1984 elections, many were prepared to write off the party. But within five years, it had become a player, having aligned with the Janata Dal to create a national alternative against the Congress—rather like the Congress is piggybacking on regional parties today.

In any case, the regional parties were formed at the expense of the Congress, and the reverse movement is always poss

Congressmen and women have tended not to accept each other in the leadership role, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has not stepped into the breach as yet. The UP polls are critical for the Congress, also for this reason. If Priyanka plays a “larger” role in the campaign, as is being projected, how will she click with the people?

And yet, at the end of the day, such is the unpredictability of Indian politics that you cannot write off anyone, or any group, so easily. More so the Indian National Congress, despite its state of disrepair, because it still has a pan-Indian character, and in its best form it represented India’s inclusive tradition, which still has a large following in the country.

Who would have thought that PV Narasimha Rao, having packed his bags to go home in 1991, would be installed as the Prime Minister of India? Or that VP Singh would go on to replace Rajiv Gandhi as Prime Minister, whittling down his 415member majority, creating a national alternative to the Congress in 1989, all within two-and-a-half years?

It all depends on the mistakes the incumbent government makes and the citizens’ response to it.

Yes, the Indian National Congress is down, but it would be a mistake to conclude that it is out.