Image problem for the grand old party

The party’s recently concluded Chintan Shivir was devised to address this crisis of leadership. But it appears that the party was hesitant to bite the bullet

Politicians switching parties is a phenomenon as old as politics itself. Yet, the steady attrition of leaders from the Congress – the latest being its former Gujarat unit working president Hardik Patel and former Punjab unit chief Sunil Jakhar – cannot be good news for a party still struggling to come up with an attractive poll pitch and a cohesive public message.

A Congress supporter holds the party flag on the concluding day of the party's Nav Sankalp Chintan Shivir, Udaipur, May 15, 2022 (Rahul Singh)

The exit of Mr Patel, months before the Gujarat election, may rankle the party more. Seen as one of the young firebrand leaders who helped the party post its best results in a generation in the 2017 polls, Mr Patel wrote a scathing letter that mirrored some of the charges levelled by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders at the Congress – a disinterested leadership, an anti-Gujarat attitude, and a culture of insulting national icons. Many of these allegations smack of political opportunism – after all, why did Mr Patel spend years in the party if it had an anti-Gujarat attitude – but worryingly for the Congress, they add to a popularly held trope that the party is rudderless and unable to find a cogent ideological line to fight the BJP. The jibe about local politicians being more interested in getting “chicken sandwiches” for central leaders, while silly, is aimed at furthering this perception that the Congress leadership is out of touch with the aam aadmi or common man.

The party’s recently concluded Chintan Shivir was devised to address this crisis of leadership. But it appears that the party was hesitant to bite the bullet. Until that core question is addressed, and the party chooses to respond to losses and defections in a robust and clear manner, it will be very difficult to reverse public perception about an atrophying party, or repeat its commendable performance in Gujarat later this year.