Hyderabad: Greed for power is so destructive, it destroys everything. There cannot be a better description that fits Indian Congress Party today. From being in power at the centre for 54 years with tall leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, PV Narashima Rao, Manmohan Singh at the helm, the grand old party that once seemed invincible has now been reduced to just few states -- Punjab, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. In Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, the Congress is part of the coalition government with other regional parties.
The decline of the Congress party, if anything it all began post-1997. Some of the mass leaders who quit Congress and formed their own parties are Mamata Banerjee (1997), Sharad Pawar (1997), Ajit Jogi (2016) and Jagan Mohan Reddy (2009). Jyotiraditya Scindia, another promising leader in Congress, left the party in 2020 to join BJP. In less than a year in June 2021, a forward looking young Congress leader Jitin Prasada joined BJP. For a moment, imagine, could the BJP had seized power with the veterans still in Congress!
Firm Grip
The best minds in the country were possibly in the Congress once. No one can deny the role of insiders and caucus since the days of Independence. There was corruption, nepotism, witch hunt, bribery, deception then, surely the day-to-day affairs had a bumpy ride. Also, the fledgling nation had its own share of ups and downs, and no better person than Nehru himself detected the pestered state. In the course of a conversation with British scientist JD Bernel in Beijing in 1954, Nehru said, "Most of my ministers are reactionary and scoundrels, but as long as they are my ministers I can keep some check on them..." Yet, he could do little to stop VK Krishna Menon’s controversial 1948 jeep scam where his confidante had allegedly made the deal of Rs. 80,00,000. The scam came to light in 1955 when Menon was in Nehru's cabinet. The cancer spiraled into dangerous proportions and came to be known as the ‘season of scams’.
All said, Nehru took care of these disturbing elements, snubbed and dismissed whenever necessary. There was a sense of fear in most ministers that they will not be spared if they are caught doing underhand financial deals.
Much of the same can be said about Indira Gandhi. One of the popular anecdotes that were doing rounds those days was most ministers were glued to All India Radio morning news to know if they are still ministers or sacked by Mrs Gandhi. Such was the trepidation instilled in them, that many worked for the nation's progress, albeit they accepted bribes but it was a scale of corruption that was minimal.
Down the years politics under the Congress regime took a serious turn. Power, as the maxim goes, tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Some of the top functionaries of the Congress were directly or otherwise involved in corruption and scandals right under the watchful eyes of Congress high command. Hardly any corrective measures were initiated nor anyone -- except a few -- had put in their papers after reports of misappropriation of office/funds surfaced in the media or on the court's orders. It was during this period the Opposition, specially the BJP, got traction and comfortably made deep inroads to consolidate power.
Public discontent was simmering as the Congress high command failed to rein in against the corrupt and history sheeters. No wonder, the Congress rapidly lost its ground to the extent that it got the worst drubbing in the 2014 general elections. For the first time, the BJP got absolute power with 282 seats (166 seats more than in the previous 15th Lok Sabha); the Congress was reduced to a mere 44 out of the 464 seats the party had contested. The numbers may be startling, but what was even more bewildering is the party failed to introspect and take necessary course correction.
Factionalism, Rebellion
As the top leadership remained nothing more than ceremonial head surrounded by sycophants, Congress functionaries at the second and tertiary rungs and further below became emboldened to take things in their own hands. The party in several states was falling apart as each group and sub groups were attached to a certain caucus at a higher level who was further connected to the adulators at 10 Janpath. Punjab is an apt example: Leaders like Navjot Singh Sidhu's constant rile against Chief Minister Captain Amirender Singh could have been averted had the top brass in Delhi stepped in to nip the bud ab initio. His rebellious stand has further paved the way to form factionalism in the state. Sidhu's personal rapport with the Gandhis has prevented the CM from taking any decisive decision on the former. In these four years factionalism and rebellion in the state have taken a Frankenstein form.
With elections barely eight months away Punjab is riddled with so many factions. Along with Sidhu, MLA Pargat Singh and others formed a pack to oust Amirender Singh. The rebellion group swelled to an unbearable proportions so much so that the Congress high command early this month has issued summons to the CM to appear before a three-member panel to sort out the differences in the party. Pargat said, "Yesterday and today many MLAs have complained about the Captain in front of the panel." Whatever may be the outcome, these measures are unlikely to do any good to the party.
Unfulfilled Promises
Gone are the days when the people's mandate can be taken for granted. Leaders at the ground level are accountable to the electorate, and poll promises can no longer be overlooked merely because the party won the elections. Much of the credit in Congress retaining power in Madhya Pradesh in 2019 goes to Jyotiraditya Scindia. Scindia is an influential mass leader who read the pulse of the people to bring about a change in the state, and worked assiduously towards Congress' victory. Yet when the party won, it was Kamal Nath who became the chief minister.
Inner party rivalry coupled with sycophancy played the trick to relegate Scindia to the extent that he was not even considered for deputy chief minister post. In addition, the tall promises made by no less than Rahul Gandhi that "all farm loans will be waived within 10 days and an unemployment allowance will be given to the youth" took a backseat after the party retained power. In fact, the incumbent CM did little to implement poll promises, allowing Scindia to take a political score against him. Fifteen months down the line, Kamal Nath had to put in his papers as chief minister due to a political crisis. The party that could have completed its full term in power in MP lost control of itself. After serving the party for 18 long years Scindia joined BJP in 2020.
Growing Disconnect
The so-called steel frame of Congress, if at all there was any, was not steel at all rather it was literally an iron frame, and that too of a poor quality. But then the iron frame lasted for almost seventy years leaving it rusted. The present leadership has done nothing to give at least a coat of paint to last for a few more years. Congress' disconnect with the people is one thing, its top leadership has started distancing from its own leaders and cadres. Jitin Prasada, a relatively young leader with a promising political career has quit Congress this month and joined BJP. "I left the Congress," Prasada reasoned, "not due to any individual or for any post. The reason I left the Congress was because there is a rising disconnect between the party and the people. And that is the reason, its vote share is shrinking in Uttar Pradesh and there is no plan to revive the party." Sad, but true.
There's hardly any intent on the part of the Congress high command to put the party back on rails. The BJP's catchphrase Congress mukt Bharat will indeed turn into a sad reality if Sonia (not Rahul) Gandhi fails to make any serious efforts to resuscitate the party which is already in its sunset years.
