Pawar’s take on the Congress is correct

The beleaguered Congress received some unexpected support this week from Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, who told reporters that despite strong regional leaders making a play for power, the Congress was still the only Opposition party with a pan-India footprint. The Maratha strongman — often considered the glue holding together the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance in Maharashtra — said even though the Congress was not in power, workers from the party could still be found in every district and village, making the case for including the Congress in any Opposition plan to challenge the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Mr Pawar is right. In the last two general elections, despite its dismal showing, the Congress retained roughly 19% of the vote when no other Opposition party even crossed double-digits. Despite an atrophying leadership, it remains the principal challenger to the BJP — for example, every state election from now till 2024 will feature a largely bipolar contest between the two biggest national parties — and it will take newer players, such as the Aam Aadmi Party and Trinamool Congress, years to occupy that space. The Congress’s problems are many. Research shows that once it falls below second place, or 20% of the vote share in a state, it never recovers. Its leadership appears listless in front of the BJP’s concerted political machine, and its old-style electoral politics is a misfit in the 24/7 era. But Mr Pawar underlines that the space to build a vibrant national Opposition exists and the Congress can still serve as the core of this exercise. Whether it can correct its course, and live up to this expectation, will be made clear in state polls later this year.