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9 state poll debacles later, Cong plans to get in a huddle ‘soon’
While the Congress is still grappling with how to take on the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), it has ceded space to AAP in states such as Punjab
New Delhi: The Congress has ended up on the losing side in nine of the 10 assembly elections held over the past two years — the only exception being Tamil Nadu where it was a junior partner of the DMK-led alliance that won.
It has lost at least five key young leaders in the recent past and has been reduced to ruling just two states on its own. Its inability to win elections has stoked defiance and dissent within the party hierarchy. The latest drubbing in the state elections comes just months before the Congress is set to elect a new president.
The party now faces two imminent dangers, said four leaders. “Its leadership space in the opposition quarters will come under stiff challenge from a parallel formation led by the TMC (Trinamool Congress) or the AAP (Aam Aadmi Party) and within the party, the G23 ( the leaders who wrote a letter to Sonia Gandhi in 2019 seeking an overhaul), will grow stronger,” said one, asking not to be named.
While the Congress is still grappling with how to take on the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), it has ceded space to AAP in states such as Punjab. Former president Rahul Gandhi said the Congress “humbly accepts the people’s verdict” and added that it “will learn from this and keep working for the interests of the people of India”. The party also announced that a meeting of its working committee will be called soon to analyse the results.
This is not the first time the Congress failed to win a state in a series of assembly polls. Last year it lost in four of the five states where elections were held, but joined the ruling dispensation in Tamil Nadu as an ally of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).
Congress’s chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala indicated foul play within party ranks. “All party leaders must seriously introspect and see if fight over positions, difference of opinion was so strong that it is cutting the tree (Congress) itself.”
He also blamed the anti-incumbency of four and a half years (Amarinder Singh’s tenure in Punjab) and said: “We offered the people of Punjab an alternative in the form of Charanjit Singh Channi, but could not overcome the four-and-a-half-year anti-incumbency sentiment.”
While it won in just two constituencies in the 403-seat strong UP assembly, the Congress claimed it was able to “revive the Congress at the grassroots” although Surjewala admitted that “it’s a fact that the determined fight did not get converted into seats.”
The Punjab result has sent shockwaves through the party, but some people in the party say they saw it coming.
According to a senior leader, one of the four cited above, a functionary told Gandhi two weeks ago that the manner in which Amarinder Singh was removed in Punjab was “worse than the decision to remove him just three months ahead of the elections”. Gandhi was also told that the decision to hold an internal survey to elect incumbent Charanjit Singh Channi as the chief ministerial face was “hare-brained”.
“The election results show that more than ever, the party needs a complete overhaul in the organization and a president who can get votes. Remember, the Congress is not a party accustomed to sitting in the opposition,” said a thirdleader.
A fourth leader pointed out that the pressure is now on Rahul Gandhi to make deep changes, as the party’s vote-catching abilities are under serious challenge. “He needs to take a call. The upcoming reshuffle should be substantial,” said the leader. “Otherwise, there’s little chance of a Congress revival.”
