It all began in 1885 when some 70 odd delegates of eminence came together in Bombay (now Mumbai) to form a movement by name Indian National Congress (INC) against the British imperialism that the people of the country had been undergoing so badly. It included men from all over india such as Dadhabhai Naoroji, Ramaswami Mudaliar, WC Bonnerji, Badruddin Tyabji, and a former British Civil servant AO Hume. Though history credited the founding to Mr Hume, the underlying ethos were simply Indian who were suffering the British Raj.
In more than 135 plus years of its existence, the Congress, the name it got stuck with (unofficially it never got addressed as INC or National Congress), became the leading political party and the main exponent of country’s freedom struggle. In the 30’s and 40’s of the last century, the party could not prevent the emergence of Muslim League and the partition of the nation. After independence, Congress party ruled the country for close to 6 decades. It wouldn’t be out of place to say that the party really endeavoured to progress the nation which was left plundered by the colonial rulers.
In the 70’s, deep fissures appeared within Congress, in addition to serious opposition build up against it from outside. The declaration of National Emergency in 1975 will remain as a major black mark in the party’s conscience.
Though started as a socialist party, it became the ‘adda’ of feudal lords, erstwhile kings, aspirational businessmen, caste chauvinists and of course, corrupt politicians. Over a period of time, many separate factions came out of it and these splinter party’s started playing lead role in regional and state politics. In effect, the mother congress party was slowly weakening as time progressed. The arrival of Narendra Modi into the national scenario and the hegemony that BJP brought to the national polity disrupted Congress further. In the last National election, the party’s numbers in Loksabha diminished to 53 MPs which didn’t entail it to get even an official ‘leader of opposition’ position.
The first generation in the Congress party was patriots who having suffered slavery for long, wanted to get freedom and take country to a better shape. The next generation were mostly corrupt and feudalist opportunists who’s only interest was WIIIFM. People welfare, thus took back seat. Presently it has so many career politicians, (no other employment for them), their skills only being apple polishing the higher ups and reaching power, only to amass wealth.
The fundamental reason for the party’s present plight is the hereditary politics that it followed. The Nehru clan, controls the party even today and is deemed as the “mai baap” of the party, called as ‘high command’! Sonia Gandhi, by virtue of being the wife of slain Rajiv Gandhi who was the son of Mrs. Indira Gandhi who happened to be the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, (the architect of free India) is at the apex of the party. How much is she connected to reality and how she understands the voter/citizen’s plight are major questions on her. She sits up there in the ivory tower, surrounded by ‘yes’ men who actualise as being tiny part of the high command. To add to her agony is the son, on whom the mantle of leadership was bestowed many times. For several ambivalent reasons, he drifts around, allowing opposition to caricature him as ‘irresponsible’, ‘immature’ etc. Her daughter Priyanka’s husband is embroiled in real estate scams plenty. To add to the agony, related to the sale of the huge assets of the party’s mouthpiece, National Herald, the Enforcement Directorate is troubling the mother, son and daughter.
Some of the party’s top leaders, called Group of 23, rebelled against the leadership for the stalemate that has been continuing for 4/5 years now. Three/four of them are now out of the party and others are simply loitering. Nothing is exciting in the congress party and party-men are not amused either.
It is at his stage that decision to elect Congress President (other than the mother/son) is taken. It is obvious that the ‘high command’ will want to have a stooge of a person as the new party president, a la Manmohan Singh who was PM with Mrs Gandhi as the back seat driver. The Group of 23 finds it as an opportunity to get one of them to contest for the party president post and get elected (The Thiruvananthapuram MP’s name frequently heard as one). But there are many in the kitchen cabinet who are trying to block it.
From 2014, with the formation of Modi government, BJP’s shenanigans not only took it to high acceptance among voters but also decimated the Congress party. Lack of strategic thinking, indecisiveness, nepotism, cronyism, WIIIFM politics and all had resulted in Congress party losing its grip on national politics. A genuine changeover and creation and execution of long term people-centric strategy can revive the party. Within the current geopolitics inside the party, it is not sure whether congress would soon have a requiem or a resurgence.
Let us wait and watch……
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