Congress received its severest political blow in the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections. For the first time the party was below the 100-MP mark in the Lok Sabha. With only 44 Lok Sabha MPs, the morale was at an all-time low.
Former Chhattisgarh chief minister and Congress Working Committee member Ajit Jogi had then said, “Congress lost because it had no ground support and there was absolutely no cadre to work for the party."
Today Jogi may not be very popular in the Congress because of the controversy over a bypoll in his state but his words still hold true. Two years on the Congress is still grappling with the same problems - low morale, uncertainty over what Rahul Gandhi’s plans are and no dedicated cadre to spread the party’s message.
A big factor in Narendra Modi’s 2014 victory was the strong and motivated cadre of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In each constituency the RSS-BJP cadre were in touch with their prospective voter’s right till the voting day.
Congress, unfortunately, doesn’t have such a motivated cadre which is a huge cause for worry ahead of 2017 Punjab and Uttar Pradesh elections. No matter how well the top leaders may speak a party can never win an election if it doesn’t have enthusiastic grass-root workers.
The Congress has every reason to be worried. Even though party leaders try and shrug off these five state election results as ‘expected’, the fact is the BJP is succeeding in creating the perception about a Congress Mukt Bharat.
Congress General Secretary Digivijaya Singh’s recent tweet calling for ‘major surgery’ within his party only reflects the frustration of a large section of party leaders. For the last two years there has been a talk of a complete overhaul in the All India Congress Committee but not much has happened.
A senior leader told this correspondent recently that top politicians in the Congress neither have the ground support nor confidence to win elections anymore. Talking informally he said, “It’s easy for all big leaders to join Sonia and Rahul Gandhi for protest marches at Jantar Mantar but winning elections is another thing."
Congress General Secretary and UP in-charge Madhusudan Mistry feels that top leaders should now start spending at least a month in states like UP and Punjab to get feedback and keep the workers motivated. Weekly tours and meetings will not work.
"The party must identify promising young leaders and support them," he told CNN-News18.
These days Sonia, Rahul and other top leaders are busy working on their plan for UP. In the second week of June Rahul is likely to address a meeting of 25,000 workers in Lucknow. Many more such meetings will follow but Congress should think of new ideas.
There has been resistance to Prashant Kishor’s recommendation to make Ghulam Nabi Azad, Sheila Dikshit and Kamal Nath a part of Congress’ Mission UP plan but it might not be so bad. Congress doesn’t have a big regional leader in the state like Mulayam Singh Yadav or Mayawati.
The presence of these veterans may boost the party’s chances. Lastly, while Rahul Gandhi in all probability will take over as AICC president this year, bringing in Priyanka Gandhi too may further help the party’s cause.
Rahul has always been the obvious successor to Sonia but Priyanka is admired by many within the Congress as well. Many of the elders or those among the old guard would find Priyanka more acceptable.
Even after the Lok Sabha debacle many senior leaders including KV Thomas and Mani Shankar Aiyar had said that both Rahul and Priyanka can together lift the party.
It may not be a bad idea after all considering the party is facing its worst times politically. Why not have all hands on deck when there is a crisis?
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