Words of wisdom for the Congress’s ‘last Mughals’

On the eve of India’s seventy fifth 12 months of Independence, we the individuals of India are groaning below the poison of Hindutva and a rudderless Opposition. Collectively, these two elements are overseeing the destruction of India’s political liberalism. There may be little hope for constitutional values comparable to sarva dharma sama bhava (equal respect for all religions below the regulation), and the identical remedy for all residents. Fairly tragically, we’re in a state of affairs the place India might morph right into a Hindu Pakistan, as was willed by the assassins of Mohandas Gandhi.

Political growth

India’s foundational figures had understood the significance of spiritual range. Swami Vivekananda, the patron saint of the Indian youth, had argued for the need of spiritual range. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s Indian Nationwide Military had persistently labored with all of the faiths to defeat the British. Bose’s closest associates have been Muslims. The expertise of the battle for freedom was enshrined within the constitutional thought of India, that was created by Maulana Azad, Jawaharlal Nehru, B.R. Ambedkar, Sardar Patel, amongst quite a few different stalwarts.

The legacy of the liberty battle was the elemental purpose India shocked the world by turning right into a resilient democracy with considerable poverty, the place civilian management over the navy was established. The Congress Celebration, led by Sonia Gandhi, largely constructed on these foundations. It not solely engendered a quickly rising and globalising India however even consolidated citizenship rights and welfare. India’s progress even surpassed China’s in the course of the first decade of the brand new millennium, whereas historic monetary and human investments have been made to redistribute that wealth. These outstanding achievements are forgotten immediately.

India’s Congress drawback

At present, we discover solely paper champions defending that concept of India. The as soon as mighty Congress Celebration, the bulwark of the Indian nationalist motion, is in a state of such disarray that even Opposition events take into account it to be a legal responsibility. How is it {that a} occasion that ruled India for practically 60 years has been decreased to a sideshow? To understand this predicament and evolve, the Celebration should self-reflect critically on 4 salient elements.

First, the Congress Celebration has a management drawback. It has a lot to do with those that management the reins of the occasion within the title of the Gandhis. Sonia Gandhi’s managers comparable to Ahmed Patel, Motilal Vora, Janardan Dwivedi, Oscar Fernandes and Ambika Soni have been politically grounded, and effectively versed with realpolitik.

Rahul Gandhi, however, needed to imagine the position of a democratiser inside the occasion by experimenting with the occasion’s youth and scholar wings. But, he has paradoxically replicated the very excessive command mannequin of his mom and grandmother, with the distinction that his group is politically inept and rudderless. Ok.C. Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, Ajay Maken and Randeep Surjewala don’t possess the political acumen of a Digvijay Singh or an Ashok Gehlot. None of those and different advisers have honed the artwork of successful elections.

Unsurprisingly subsequently, a report recommending radical reforms chaired by the previous Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan was summarily assigned to the dustbin of historical past by loyalists. The latest suggestions made on the Chintan Shivir (Reflection Conclave) held in Udaipur earlier this 12 months (Might 13-15, 2022) might even see the same destiny. Former Delhi Chief Minister, the late Sheila Dikshit’s son, Sandeep Dikshit, was not even invited to the conclave, amongst vital others. That the Congress Celebration would refuse to introspect after the catastrophic political losses is thoughts boggling.

Second, whereas experimentation with political techniques is wholesome, ideological confusion isn’t. At present’s Congress excessive command swings between the acute proper (flirting with delicate Hindutva) and the acute left (flirting with radical anti-establishment concepts). The fitting-wing management matches Hindutva by visiting temples, flaunting the sacred thread, and, delicate peddling on points such because the Citizenship (Modification) Act, the dilution of Article 370, and quite a few assaults on minorities. Such a disposition of the three Gandhis would have saddened Jawaharlal Nehru.

Alternatively, the Congress’s left faction needs to create an anti-corporate and ideologically pure Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) sort cadre, with out hankering for political energy (until 2029 and even 2034). It’s this faction that has persuaded the management to mistrust supposedly power-hungry Congress leaders, and exchange them as an alternative with outsiders comparable to Kanhaiya Kumar, Jignesh Mewani, Alpesh Thakore, Hardik Patel, Nana Patole, Revanth Reddy, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Siddharamaiah, and so forth.

A transparent political narrative will want a brand new Congress chief who can create a consensus out of this maze. Such a pacesetter would want the mental sophistication to weave a pro-poor, secular and liberal outlook with. On condition that India has a youthful inhabitants, this chief would must be younger and energetic as effectively.

Third, profitable political management calls for a mix of charisma and astute political administration. The charismatic chief can draw the crowds whereas the political supervisor strategises elections, makes the equipment of presidency work, and ensures adherence to the occasion’s ideological agenda.

Nehru had a Sardar Patel to work with. Whereas Nehru articulated the thought of India, Patel ran the occasion. This mannequin was replicated below the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) authorities, which Dr. Manmohan Singh ran, whereas Ahmed Patel managed the occasion. The identical could be mentioned concerning the political success of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah.

Although Rahul Gandhi has declined the throne of the Congress President since 2019, his group calls the photographs, supposedly at his behest. Therefore, within the public eye, he and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have run the occasion to the bottom. The occasion was absent from nearly all the most important protests, on points such because the Citizenship (Modification) Act, the Nationwide Register of Residents, farmer’s remonstrations, or the Agnipath scheme for the armed forces. In distinction, the Congress selected to protest Rahul Gandhi’s interrogation by the Enforcement Directorate within the alleged Nationwide Herald rip-off.

And, lastly, the Congress’s enviable connections inside the state and society have collapsed. The occasion as soon as commanded an infinite community inside the administration, media, civil society, and even with overseas governments. It might elevate substantial funds. This infrastructure was a useful resource that the occasion might leverage to assist much less well-endowed events in a coalition. If it can not ship on all these, why ought to Opposition events work with the Congress? But, the group led by Rahul Gandhi has failed in strengthening outdated bonds and creating new ties. For this reason the Congress’s sphere of affect is shrinking quickly.

The long run

The million-dollar query is: the place will the Congress go? Will the occasion gerrymander its inner polls due in September 2022 until a Gandhi is reanointed as president? Or, will it as soon as once more delay the election hoping that Rahul Gandhi adjustments his thoughts after the Bharat Jodo Yatra (now from September)? In that case, the Gandhis, like Bahadur Shah Zafar and his sons, would possibly effectively be the Congress’s final Mughals. Nonetheless, they nonetheless have the time to spend money on the proper individuals, in order that the Congress Celebration can transfer ahead. That is the most effective service that the Gandhis can carry out for the occasion, and for preserving a lot that’s valuable in India’s civilisational journey.

Rahul Mukherji is Professor and Chair, Trendy Politics of South Asia, South Asia Institute, Heidelberg College, Germany