The new Congress: Aggressive on statecraft, dismal on votecraft
Congress’ decision to move the Supreme Court on Wednesday night, challenging the Karnataka governor’s invitation to the BJP to form the next state government, is part of the new aggression the party has displayed in recent weeks under its president Rahul Gandhi. But when it comes to striking a chord with voters, the Congress trails way behind its political rival.
First, the aggression, although it didn’t pay dividends in the Supreme Court, which declined to stay the swearing-in of the BJP government in Karnataka.
The grand old party has vociferously targeted the government for cancelling a 126-aircraft deal with Dassault Aviation of France that envisaged local manufacturing of Rafale fighter planes and opting to buy 36 planes instead in a fly-away condition. It has raised allegations of corruption against senior BJP leaders and the suspected scam at Punjab National Bank involving diamantaire Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, both of whom have fled the country.
The Congress has also raised the issues of an increase in attacks on Dalits and women and the alleged assault on institutions including the Supreme Court and high courts, and a perceived attempt to fill these institutions with people who follow the ideology of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the BJP’s own ideological fount.
Even as several leaders cautioned against it, the Congress decided to go ahead and initiate a move to remove Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra. Rajya Sabha chairperson M Venkaiah Naidu rejected the notice for Misra’s removal, prompting two Congress MPs to move the apex court. They later withdrew the petition.
In Karnataka, governor Vajubhai Vala invited the BJP, which emerged as the largest party in the state assembly but without sufficient numbers, to form the government, ignoring a claim by an alliance of the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular), or JD (S), that had a majority.
“Both our decision to ally with Janata Dal (Secular) within hours of results coming in and the decision to challenge the Governor’s invitation show that Congress president Rahul Gandhi is politically and ideologically clear. He is willing to fight hard,” a Congress leader said on condition of anonymity.
But for the Congress, the real worry remains electoral outcomes. The party has lost or performed badly in 20 states since 2014. It lost power in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana (the Congress ruled united Andhra Pradesh for 10 years from 2004 till its bifurcation in 2014), Maharashtra, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Kerala, Assam, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and now Karnataka. Among the states where the Congress fared badly are Odisha, Delhi, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Nagaland and Tripura. In Goa, the party could not form the government despite emerging as the single largest party.
The country’s oldest party was able to form government only in Punjab and Puducherry and improve its tally in Gujarat after nearly two decades. It is also in power in Mizoram, which goes to the polls later this year.
The results of the last Lok Sabha polls showed that the Congress had failed to open its account in 13 states and could not cross the double-digit mark in any state. The annihilation in states has further shrunk its political space and the Congress can no longer claim to be a dominant political force.
Political analysts attribute the defeats to its failure to put in place state-specific strategies and its inability to reconnect with the masses. “It has miserable failed in campaign strategy and votecatching. It has also not been able to strategise differently for different states. The failure to communicate its achievements for example in Karnataka and absence of focused planning are the other reasons for its continued electoral debacles,” said Delhi-based political analyst N Bhaskara Rao.
But the situation is not new to the Congress; its leaders point to a similar turbulent phase in 1998 when the party ruled just four states - Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Mizoram and Nagaland.
That was the time when Sonia Gandhi took over its reins. Under her leadership, the Congress rose to govern 17 states -- either alone or in alliance -- in 2004.
Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan will go to the polls in November-December this year and in all these states, the Congress is in a direct fight with the BJP. It is important for the grand old party to win some of these states for its comeback at the national level. Elections in three more states – Andhra Pradesh, Telanagana and Odisha – will be held simultaneously with the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
NEW DELHI: