Reviving Congress’ poll machine: A few do’s & don’ts

As one ponders about writing about a piece essaying the Congress revival opportunities and plans, the first point that comes into focus is there is no ready-made script. Politics is dynamic game and hence no old theory can offer panacea — solutions to all problems.

Why the roadmap for Congress revival electorally looks so complex and rough?

One also get a thought that more often Congress planners believe — that the Congress need not snatch victory, the other parties would lose elections. This is called rebirth syndrome without the pain. There has been rebirth in Indian politics and parities, including the Congress has benefited in the past too. Similar opportunities can come again.

The Narendra Modi government is visibly embarrassed with agricultural unrest and it has no convincing defence on its failure in creating jobs. Industrial growth negligible, rising inflation, sky rocketing petrol-diesel prices and visibly no signs of achche din. There is a trend now to blame corporate houses.

But the challenges for the Congress are more complex in recent times, and hence you require a fighting plan to take the battle to the enemy camp. First, the crucial diagnosis. Due to prolonged stay in power, the Congress Party has lost its organisational flexibility and the party became government-driven apparatus. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi honestly indicated this in his much appreciated Berkeley University speech. In several states, the moment power was lost — the Congress Bhavans gave deserted look. Many Congressmen and women have confessed privately and otherwise that often they forget (or forgot) that they existed as “party’s foot soldiers” and not merely a MLA or minister!

Over the past two-three decades often perhaps a section of senior party leaders were given too much importance —— depending on how their equation is in Delhi. This eroded accountability. But in case of Goa, the AICC leadership acted firm and replaced veteran Digvijay Singh as general secretary. There has been overwhelming appreciation to this decision from Congress leadership and needless to add: there is a demand that more and more such actions would follow.

Over the years, often the leadership quality in second rung leaders has been judged on the basis of TV appearance and how people made wanted and unwarranted comments or Twitter postings. This led to a new culture at the cost of innovation and sincere commitment. There was also a reluctance to draw on talent from outside few known families in states. As a result some leaders — who came up the hard way in the Congress without family backing felt disgruntled and moved out of the party fold. This trend needs to be arrested if not reversed. In contrast, look at the BJP, new faces have surfaced rather easily throwing old faces and often the dead wood in the saffron party to oblivion. This could be a gamble, but this has worked more often.

For Congress leadership thus the time is ripe to create a command structure where the likes of Ahmed Patel work with decisiveness and with the “more crystal clear” backing of the Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi duo. This is already happening and that’s a good sign. The swift handling of Gujarat Congress crisis by Mr Patel and firmly stitching party back to fighting mode for very crucial Assembly polls in view of Shankersinh Vaghela leaving the Congress, should be seen as re-emergence of inner strength of the party. The Congress needs such senior capable leaders in action role more than before to halt the neo-expansionist politics of the BJP. This is not hidden at all that in BJP’s expansion plan one of the prime target is to break other parties, specially the Congress.

In terms of media campaign and attack against the Modi government, the Congress plans and preparedness should be foolproof and well thought-of. A few Congress leaders have rather seemed to have convinced themselves that they simply have to attack and antagonise Mr Modi and the BJP. Neither secularism will prevail by such strategies nor communalism can be defeated or the Congress will be ruling merrily.

The changing dynamics of contemporary politics suggest that what seemed to have gone so well for the Opposition in 2015 has turned a self-defeating case in 2017. One is referring to Bihar where Nitish Kumar, once considered a key face of Opposition unity, has today walked out and joined the NDA. The moot point is that more pragmatic strategies need to be evolved.

Perhaps it would have been in fitness of things to again focus on Congress revival in each state and not stay focused with “grand alliance” or so. By that logic, Congress alliances have failed both in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and the price being — the party could not enhance its support base much in these states also. In states like West Bengal, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, the party’s presence is declining and it needs to be urgently addressed by the leadership.

Politics need not be of sentiments always. Indira Gandhi was known for her ruthlessness and that’s something which pays dividends in Indian context. Now, as we try to chart out a future roadmap, we may refer here a small global illustration that during the time of crisis, US President Ronald Reagan was “not unprepared” for the difficulty he faced. The same kind of readiness is vital to face challenges. The heart of politics is people themselves. Therefore, how the common people think about how political organisations are managed is important for good government and good politics.

Next important task and rather ought to be done is revive the efforts to look for a new talent. Every time the Congress revived under Indira Gandhi, she used the roadmap of looking for fresh talents. New faces surfaced across the country and the entire game changed. We have said earlier that politics should not become too much predictable. Enforcement of new faces help in this endeavour. Focus should be on result-oriented leaders. In the Northeast, the Congress lost one or two important faces. Importantly again, we must realise a desperate situation always calls for drastic remedies.

Thus, my emphasis is the Congress has to develop huge army of foot soldiers. The party apparatus should come out of government-driven system. Mass mobilisation has to become a norm. Efforts should be there to win the confidence of middle class. One way can be creating various platforms. The communication network with top leadership should be smooth and there ought to be frequent interactions.

The doors of Sonia-Rahul Gandhi should be opened for Congress workers on almost daily basis for two-three hours to build direct connection with them. This will not only enthuse the party cadre but also give a direct understanding of grassroots issues and challenges to the leadership. In this case, Indira Gandhi has this wonderful mechanism as I was a witness to one such example of 1978, when as a student I was accompanying my father professor G.V. Sudhaker Rao, who was a minister in Andhra Pradesh, reached Delhi at 9 pm and requested Indira Gandhi’s office for an appointment for next day or so, but within few minutes he was told to come at 11 pm the same day. I think this approach is much needed to enthuse political energy among Congress ranks and file.

In terms of planning to get back its hold, the Congress should draw out long-term plans. Locals, including middle class/intellectuals in some states, have cautioned that say — the Congress approach used to be adhocism.

Cadres are hardly seen, forget about elected legislators and those who contest elections. Mr Gandhi has made a good begning by creating new departments like Professional Congress and Fisherman Congress to expand it outreach to such class.

Hence, an important recommendation is the Congress should streamline organisations like Seva Dal at district and block levels and draw out long-term plans — if necessary with three years’, five years’ and seven years’ targets. When the going gets tough, it’s the tough who get going. Success coming easily is no sweet success!

The writer is former chairman, Andhra Pradesh Electronics Development Corporation, and founder Prof. G.V. Sudhaker Rao Foundation