The recent interviews of Mallikarjun Kharge, who has won the post of Congress president, have made one thing clear that he has no personal view beyond the Gandhi family. The Congress is certainly missing its last hope of recovery because Kharge will cause more damage. He will not only maintain the status quo within the party but also ensure the unquestioned implementation of Rahul Gandhi’s instruction.
After 22 years, the Congress party held elections and a candidate who is not a Gandhi won. Shashi Tharoor, a Congressman, and veteran Mallikarjun Kharge contested this election. However, it is well known and documented that the fight was never fair. The Gandhi family claimed time and time again to be impartial, but the Pradesh Congress committees’ response to Tharoor’s candidature amply demonstrated their position. It is shameful that the grand old party believes it is improper to even consider options of supporting a person who is not backed by the Gandhi family.
Lost opportunity
The only political party where no one is interested in taking on the responsibility of the party is the Congress party, which up until the most recent election had a vote share of around 20 per cent across India. Sonia Gandhi, the interim president of the Indian National Congress, is ill, but no one has ever seen her at any political rallies across India in recent years. She only spent an hour taking part in the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Rahul Gandhi has been in charge of the party since leaving his position as president of Congress, but he never accepts the responsibility.
The Congress party should have used this election as an opportunity to tell its own leaders that it is time to take accountability for their actions. Although pure neutrality was not anticipated, it was the last working president’s and the family as a whole’s duty to at least give the candidates a fair chance. The Gandhi family did not introduce a contender. But the last-minute events that forced Rajasthan’s chief minister Ashok Gehlot to withdraw and brought Kharge into the race make it clear that the Congress party was not looking for a party president or leader, but rather for someone who would defer to the Gandhi family’s authority.
The allegations of Parivarvad against Congress are not new. There is no denying that Parviarvaad is not a feature exclusive to the Congress party. However, it is the only political party where the Parivarvaad has completely destroyed a 70-year-old tradition’s politics. The difference is that until he passed away this month Mulayam Singh Yadav the patriarch of the Samajwadi Party always took responsibility for the party through his family. The same goes for Lalu Prasad Yadav, Sharad Pawar, KCR, Stalin and so on. They are Parivarvadis, remained the same, felt proud about it, and stood by it.
Kharge’s sycophancy
The majority of the Congress party’s leaders are sycophants, which is its main issue. Mallikarjun Kharge, rather than Shashi Tharoor, has consistently shown the greatest loyalty to the Gandhi family. On social media, there is a discussion about whether Tharoor’s general support was correct or incorrect.
Many people in India believe that there should be a counter-narrative of the BJP. These people believe that India needs strong opposition right now because it is the fundamental spirit of democracy. The support towards Shashi Tharoor from the section of people was for the change that they wanted to see within the Congress.
The problem with Mallikarjun Kharge is that he entered this battle not to lead the party but rather because supporters wanted him to take the stage. This position is to lead the second-largest national party in India, not to compete in any local competitions that parents and other people might ask the applicant to enter. The issue of sycophancy becomes important at this point.
Gandhis over strategy
The strategy of the Congress party is one important thing that the people repeatedly fail to comprehend. For instance, it is puzzling why the Congress party and its leader Rahul Gandhi are touring the South of India as elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh approach. What does this imply about the significance of the Bharat Yodo Yatra? No, it is important. The inability to develop a strategy or policy is the problem. The only way for the Congress Party to survive is through winning states, not just by marching. Because of this, the Congress party ought to have run campaigns for the elections in Gujarat and Himachal before embarking on its Yatra. Or the party should have decided to march in the states based on political importance.
The lack of a plan displayed by Mallikarjun Kharge, the newly elected Congress president, is concerning. He frequently brings up the Udaipur resolution, which was brought about under Sonia Gandhi’s leadership, both in his manifesto and in media interviews. The main opposition party in India cannot run on the premise that it will only implement the decisions made at the Udaipur summit.
“Without Gandhi you cannot operate, you will have to take guidance from them,” Kharge told the Indian Express.
Mallikarjun Kharge, a non-Gandhi president of the Congress party should realise that the Congress cannot thrive with just the blessings of the Gandhi family. The president will have to uphold the idea and philosophy of the party. The president will have to work under the guidance of the people because India deserves constructive opposition. Failing to do these by Kharge can only offer status quo and will cause more damage.
The author is a columnist and pursuing a PhD in Media & Politics. He tweets @sayantan_gh. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.
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