It is eminently understandable that the party once held the pole position the race is no more so
The Bihar election results raise some legitimate questions about the positioning of Indian National Congress, the grand old party, in the India’s political landscape in the background of its disastrous showing in the Bihar elections.
It is eminently understandable that the party once held the pole position the race is no more so. What defies logic is that the party does not have a clue about it and, admittedly, refuses to make an effort to regain its position. Worse, it has no strategy to turn the concrete realities around.
A large majority of the Congress leaders continues to believe that it is the natural party of governance and hence it will get back to power in due course of time. This mindset has stopped the party from forming viable coalitions in states and accomplishing its single point agenda to unseat the saffron brigade from the seat of power. It is no wonder the party has turned itself a millstone in the neck of the Opposition coalition in Bihar for a second time. This arrogance was manifest in several state elections, too. Its insistence on getting an undeservingly high number of seats in Bihar and engaging members of the INDIA bloc in “friendly contest” was a suicidal gesture from the beginning. The Lok Sabha election was a different ballgame as the party recognised its political goal and worked as a team.
The party as an organisation has almost rotten from the top to the grassroots level. A set of leaders with their private agendas has got a disproportionate weightage in the running of the organisation. They naturally work at cross purposes, too. And worse, they do so against the BJP, backed by the RSS, which has been working on a 24X7 basis to accomplish its set political goals. Ad-hocism just cannot win against the BJP’s well-oiled machinery with its ears on the ground. The earlier the Congress realised it, the better. The prescription applies to the allies of the Congress, who continue to hold on to its bases, too.
