Every election has a lesson for all political parties. But for congress, it is futile, considering their
unwillingness to learn from a series of their past mistakes. The performance of India's oldest political party in the festival and extravagance of elections is a matter of deep sense of anger, agony and trauma. Every occasion,
congress assured introspection but willy-nilly they did not get time to
contemplate the real reasons. But they should thank Mr. Modi for imposing lock-down which would have given them sufficient time to ponder over their consistent
failures.
The party has
gone through many roller-coasters in elections since independence, certainly
not new for them! However, fortune is taking long time to change unlike earlier.
The ignominious defeat few months back, rather surrender before a nascent
political party in Delhi where congress ruled for 15 years was no less than shameful. In a tug of war
between BJP and Congress, AAP got the walk-over as congress chose to play under AAP
cap .
The party has gone from zenith to
nadir. And in this free-fall, no one seems to be willing to put a net below, as
if hara-kiri is inevitable. The entire
party is in shambles. The sycophants forming the cabal have over-dominating
clout which prevents any free and fare advice to the family that matters.
For any democracy to function with
proper checks and balances, a strong opposition should co-exist. It was the
absence of an opposition as a deterrent which culminated into the “Shah-Bano
Case” which haunts the congress till day. And it will continue to do so as an
epitome of minority appeasement. There are so many occurrences which remain
inexplicable for congress, in fact inexcusable too. Can anyone deny that the
number of constitutional amendments that occurred on the whims, fancies and
adventurism of congress leadership was not on account of their thumping
majority in both the houses and negligible opposition.
Coming back to the results of various
elections, the relevance of Gandhi family is fading in tilting the swing in their
favor. Congress got duck in Delhi poll results which they were sure of, but certainly did not deserve. Despite making so much of brouhaha about
unemployment, Shaheen Bagh, inflation, drop in GDP and lot more if the party
failed miserably, the problem is somewhere else. Probably, it lies in the presentation
and deliberation of their viewpoint. Time and again, they failed to make the
public connect, perhaps because the inner coterie consists of the people without any grassroots level. The party has an army of
spokesperson but not a single with a mass appeal to flash upon. One should not
be an expert in rocket science to judge
the quality of spokespersons’ in the
party. With all the due respect to them, they are highly unprofessional and lack
inter-personal and communication skill to canvass the public opinion to their
fold, one of their primary role.
Congress is also blessed with an army
of ‘Jaichands’ ( the so-called traitor who helped Mohammed Ghori against Prithviraj Chauhan) in the form of Manishanker Ayyars’, Shashi
Tharoors’, and many more. They are the classic examples of Frankenstein
monster who destroyed its own creator. The
party was close to striking distance in Gujarat elections but they played the
perfect spoiler as if were acting on behalf of their political adversary. There
was absolutely no control on such errant and rogue elements
who unleashed a salvo of vicious insinuations and innuendos against the Prime
Minister. The kind of unrelated and sordid language used obviously suggests a theory that there is a lobby in the party which does not want
Mr. Rahul Gandhi or any other member of the Gandhi family to succeed. I
personally feel it to be true without any prejudice to anybody.
What next then? Firstly, they need to think out of
box. Not only that, the box itself needs
to be new and innovative. The strategy needs redefinition on some
issues bereft of any apprehension of loosing votes of a particular community. The
misconception that protesting anything and everything against Mr.Modi would
appease muslims should be allayed. The sooner this
perception abates, the better it is. The election steering should rest on
optimistic plank instead of being individual
centric, see how beautifully and quickly Mr. Kejriwal had learnt which paid too. The leaders who are not even known
by the people outside their mohallas (streets)
were also abusing Mr. Modi personally and publically which did not augur well.
The party should pass on the diktat not to attack Mr. Modi personally. Remember
the TV debates! The kind of statements made by their spokesperson characterized
the manifestation of utter frustration and race to score their numbers before
the Gandhi family. They did not had any locus standi what-so-ever, but were so vocal in derogatory manner which was not liked by the masses.
The more they spoke, the more damage inflicted.
Secondly,
the entire party needs to be run on the corporate model resembling a company
launching a new product afresh with an unmatched USP and best sales force.
Believe it or not, no leader at the national level has either grip of the
public nerve or the courage to advise the high command the situation they are
in. Presently, their is nothing for Rahul
Gandhi to boast upon. Neither has he the charisma nor the much needed oratory skill to
turn the tables. Still, candid feedback by the political advisors could
make the difference.
Finally, there is something called “National Security” which is sacrosanct
and unquestionable. The strike on
Balakot was made mockery of by most of the leaders who do not even understand
the basic difference between internal and external security. Some of them even
tried to suggest that it was against the Muslims'. Nothing could be as
ridiculous and atrocious as this! Had they praised the government without any “ifs &
buts” it would have earned more respect in the society. These are some of the
reasons that all the social engineering and maneuvering getting failed
in every election. Regional political parties are making gains but not the
congress.
To conclude, it is nothing new
which is written that congress pundits do not know or understand. But someone needs to be vocal in the party to fine-tune their strategy. Serious
contemplation would have certainly taken place among them, but even now if they choose not to act then
they are certainly going to spoil the political future of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
too. The real winner is not who sails
with the wind but against it and emerges victorious.
