Lucknow: As the old saying -- if there is a defeat in politics, then you lose your pride -- goes, in order to retain and save this pride, political parties want to remain in the hearts of the people through tricks or any other means. It is, however, a different matter that the Indian National Congress, which is the oldest party and has enjoyed power the most in the country, has tasted only defeat in Uttar Pradesh for the last three decades.
In order to restore its relevance in the State and emerge as a force to reckon with, the Congress has done many things, tried several political tools, permutations and combinations, but every effort has proved futile. Has the Congress party, which was led by the Nehru-Gandhi family for ages and once ruled the hearts of the people, lost favour with the people? If one looks at the condition of the Congress, which is losing one after another election, there is little to doubt that India’s grand old party has lost its support base in the State.
Rajiv Gandhi's decisions spoiled Congress' game!
After all, what is responsible for the Congress’ current plight in Uttar Pradesh? It is a serious question. To find out the answer to this question, ETV Bharat team reached out to senior journalist Raj Bahadur Singh, who has looked closely at the politics of UP for years. The answer that was received from him led us to believe a cardinal feature of politics – in politics the dead are never buried. Raj Bahadur Singh says that the decline in the party started in 1986-1987 when former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi took the decision outside the Supreme Court in the case of Shahbano.
Apart from this, the decision to open the doors of the Ram temple in Ayodhya was to woo a community. It was from here that the people started getting disillusioned with the Congress. The people of backward castes voted for the Congress but in a big number. The people of different social sections that used to vote for the Congress also went to the kitty of Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Bharatiya Janata Party. This is when the Congress started losing its support base in India’s largest State.
Of course, whatever the decisions were taken years back by then Congress leadership, their negative impact can be on today’s so-called progressive Indian politics. The period from 1980 to 1985 was the pinnacle of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh. The Congress had all 85 seats in the Lok Sabha from the State.
The Congress used to win 280 to 364 assembly seats. The party used to hold power with a strong majority. The situation is now so abysmal that the Congress has only one MP from Uttar Pradesh and only seven MLAs in the assembly. There are one or two MLAs, who keep rebelling against the party leadership. If the party has to improve its position, then it will have to leave Twitter politics and contact the people physically. It will have to go to the public. People of all classes will have to deal with equality. All this may improve the party’s position in the State and the Congress returns to its old grandeur. At present, the party is not serious about all this.
Only MP from UP in the Lok Sabha
Like the Rajya Sabha MP, the Congress has the only MP from UP in the Lok Sabha. She is none other than Sonia Gandhi, the acting national president of All India Congress. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, only she got the victory. Her son Rahul Gandhi also lost from Amethi but won from a seat in Kerala. Sonia is an MP from Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh and her son and former party president Rahul Gandhi represents Wayanad seat from Kerala in the Lok Sabha.
Congress position in Lok Sabha
The Congress party has seven MLAs in the State Legislative Assembly and only one in the Legislative Council. Out of 403 MLAs in Uttar Pradesh, only seven MLAs are from the Congress. Two MLAs have revolted against the party. There is only one Legislative Council member of the Congress.
Rahul Gandhi's magic is not working in UP
Till the time Sonia Gandhi took charge, the party’s condition in the state was somewhat fine. After the 2002 assembly elections, Rahul Gandhi’s vigorous entry in the Congress gave a fillip to the workers. In the peasant movement of Bhatta Parsaul, people had some expectations from the young Rahul Gandhi who had reached the protest venue midnight on foot, but the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party, which had expanded their presence in the state, blunted Rahul Gandhi’s edge. Since then, the party workers have been waiting for Rahul Gandhi’s miracle to happen.
The decline of the Congress that began in the 2002 Assembly is still continuing. In 2020, the condition of the Congress has become like that of a newly launched fledgling party. For the past two decades, the party conducted various experiments in the State. Many agitations were launched but always lost to the two regional parties standing tall and firmly in front of the Congress -- SP and BSP. There was a time when a major social group used to be with the Congress in tune with the State’s prevailing social and religious equations. However, whey these social groups deserted the Congress, no one new. It happened so surreptitiously.
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Efforts are on to strengthen the party: Brijendra Singh
Congress spokesperson Brijendra Singh has his own pleas on the condition of his party. He said the Congress party has a glorious history but it is a fact that the party is going through its worst phase at this point of time. Once all the seats of the Lok Sabha and majority of Vidhan Sabha used to be with the Congress, but now we have only one MP from Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, one Legislative Council member and seven MLAs in the Legislative Assembly. We believe that now the party has weakened, but efforts have also started to strengthen the party again.
Leaders leaving the party due to lack of focus
There is a rift among the Congress leaders in the State. There are many big leaders like Jagdambika Pal, Sanjay Singh, Amita Singh, Rani Ratna Singh, Rita Bahuguna Joshi and recently Anu Tandon who have left the Congress party. The list of rebels is long. So counting names will be a sheer waste of time and energy.
When we asked Amit Tyagi, who was a diehard Congressman till recently, about the reason for leaving the party, what he told was shocking. He said that he has served the Congress party continuously for the last 20 years. We have fought for the party, but now those who have no faith in the ideology of the Congress are asking us who we are? The leadership has not given any charge to me for the last eight months and no attempt has been made to establish contacts too. Won’t be the party in such a situation then? I have held various party posts. I am an elected member of the AICC. If the state leadership asks who I am, then it only gives an idea of the party’s position. This is the reason for leaving the Congress party.
However, party spokesperson Bijendra Singh says that as far as the leaders of the Congress Party are concerned, I think they should have considered their decisions to quit the party. The party has given them a lot. They should not have deceived the party. Earlier when the Congress Party was in government, there was a lot of development in Uttar Pradesh. Law and order was much better than we have today. The Congress party used to be a government of the people, but now there is a government which works in the name of the parties.
Priyanka Gandhi's strategy also failed
After she entered politics, the Congress had high hopes from Priyanka Gandhi, but in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress also lost the Amethi seat. The Congress barely survived in Rae Bareli from where Sonia Gandhi won the poll. But now even in Rae Bareli, the condition of the Congress looks fragile. Major leaders of the district have now joined the BJP. The influence of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the area is obvious. With the help of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Yogi has built a political fort, which the Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi is not able to demolish.
Congress is getting stronger under Priyanka's leadership: Lallu
However, Congress’ current state unit president Ajay Kumar Lallu is working really hard to take the party forward. He has always taken on the Yogi Government over the issues related to farmers. The party workers hope that under the leadership of Priyanka Gandhi, who is going to visit villages to prepare workers at the booth level will make a difference. However, what will be its political impact, only the time will tell.
The state unit Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu is talking about improving the party’s declining credibility in the coming times. He believes that change takes time. It has to be seen now how much the Congress party can save its shrinking support base and credibility among the people in coming time.
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