Some interesting happenings in the country in the last few days
1 Congress party’s future 1s in jeopardy, while top brass of the Congress is still in dilemma about Rahul Gandhi’s resignation from the post of Congress President and they do not know how to react and move forward. In the mean time at the lower level there is too much discomfort & disarray among the cadre, The Pradesh Congress Committees are in mess. In Telengana major chunk of legislature party has defected to the ruling TRS.
In Punjab Navjot Singh Siddhu is in open confrontation with CM Capt Amarinder Singh, in a much publicised blame game. In Rajasthan, leaders of the Sachin Pilot faction are after CM Ashok Gehlot’s chair over the rout in Lok Sabha elections.. In Madhya Pradesh supporters of Jyotiraditya Scindia want him to replace CM Kamal Nath as Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) President after the debacle in poll. The Presidents of the Maharashtra, Punjab, Odisha, Jharkhand and Assam PCC’s have submitted their resignations. The Congress Working committee have given blanket permission to Rahul Gandhi for overhauling the party’s structure, at every level, in the same meeting where he had submitted his resignation. The biggest irony of the Congress is that they are backing unwilling leader, with the herculean task of revamping the party, which he was unable to do even in better times of Congress, which was after they won 3 state elections in Dec 2018. Rahul should realise that the task of reviving Congress is beyond his capacity, and therefore he should be firm with his decision of resigning and CWC should choose some worthy successor.
What Rahul should do, he should put in place the structures which can take the Congress forward in decades to come. But the Gandhi family has to cease the link that binds congress party together, then only Congress party can revive. With Sonia’s ill health and Rahul Gandhi’s failure of last 10 years, it has to be someone else who has to lead the Congress for revival. For last so many decades the Congress has turned the organisation elections a joke, but elections and internal democracy can help the party to invigorate at all the levels, identify new leaders and test the strength s of those who believe themselves as party veterans. Due to lack of transparency & internal democracy , Congress has lost so many strong leaders in last 2 decades, leaders like Sharad Pawar Mamta Banerjee, Himanta Biswas Sarma, PA Sangma, Jagan Reddy and many more. All of these leaders were frustrated by Congress’s High Command culture and the importance given to the leaders without any backing from grass root – these stalwarts left the party fold. If Rahul has to act, then he must act very fast otherwise there will be disillusionment once again and will lead to one more exodus. If that is not done, the BJP’s dream of “Congress Mukt Bharat” will soon become reality.
2 The rise of Jagan Reddy, who defeated Naidu’s TDP and became CM of Andhra. Although his father was also CM of Andhra, but after the death of YS Reddy in 2009, Congress did not treat his son Jagan Reddy very well and even sent him into jail in the disproportionate asset case. YS Reddy was Sonia Gandhi’s favourite because he delivered Andhra twice to her. Jagan had assumed that he will succeed his father, but Sonia would not hear of it. She became furious when he went on Padyatra in Andhra state. After that he was denied Andhra’s jurisdiction, his followers than advised him to quit the Congress Party, which he did and launched Yuvajana Sramika Rythu (YSR) Congress Party.
He lost 2014 assembly elections, and later on 20 of his MLA defected to Naidu’s TDP, and was once again defeated in by elections. On the suggestion of his political advisor he did a 3600 Km walkathon like his late father. The hard work paid off in 2019. Jagan never sulked, resigned or shuffled around his office bearers as his peers Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav, Tejasawi Yadav did after losing elections.
Akhilesh and Tejasawi forgot that their fathers were connected to grass root and after every debacle they came back. Akhilesh and Tejasawi took the power for granted. For both of them power came easily. In Akhilesh’s case his father led and won the 2012 UP elections and passed on the rein to his son. Tejasawi was passed down the RJD after his father Laloo Prasad was jailed, but his Laloo like witticism never sounded creditable, because they did not emanate from rustic wisdom and steely experience.
What does it all prove that, even a political leader who comes from political family can become popular and win elections after working hard and being connected to the grass root & public, and not to plan political strategy sitting in AC offices, without knowing the problems at grass root levels. Just passing batons from one generation to other will never work, the classical examples are Rahul Gandhi, Tejasawi Prasad and Akhilesh Yadav.
I read some where that, somebody suggested that Priyanka Gandhi should take a pad yatra like Jagan, and ask the people where Congress went wrong. The problems is that copying some one will rarely work, you will have to be more original and also you have to sweat it out. So power served on a dressed platter vanishes soon, as the above mentioned defeated leaders must know, unless they emulate battle scarred Jagan Reddy.
What you say my friends.
Awaiting your views/feed backs/comments.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
10th Jun 2019.