Congress needs to reform, BJP must perform

What Cong Can Do

- The party must encourage regional level leaders to come up by delegating powers

- Intra-party democracy that Rahul Gandhi has been talking about must be implemented now, like never before

- The Congress which is in power in Rajasthan and Jharkhand and a junior partner in Maharashtra must buck up and put up a brave show.

- Modi aims a Congress-mukt Bharat, but the party has turned out to be Congress-yukt outfit as many in the BJP are those who deserted the Gandhi-Nehru party

There can be no guarantee about 2024. Voter behaviour can change any time as the Punjab results have proved. Voter mood changed in just one year and two years is long enough time for any party to buck up

ANOTHER election result and yet another Congress rout, State after State. The 0/5 score has obviously broken the confidence of the already confused rank and file of the Grand Old Party (GOP) while it has further emboldened the BJP. Having won in Goa, BJP leader and former CM Devendra Fadnavis has already given the headline statement: Maharashtra Next! Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said media analysts would say the results of 2024 general elections are sealed (in favour of BJP). His confidence at the Khel Mahakumbh rally at Sardar Patel at Gandhinagar on Friday evening was worth noticing. Not that Modi ever lacked it, but this rally was something else. His body language made many exclaim – OMG! He is successful in playing mind games, so far.

During the 2014 elections, a communication veteran asked me what was Modi's biggest asset, giving me KBC Show type of options – Confidence, Performance, Poor Opposition or Strong Party network. I said none of these. Rahul Gandhi is the biggest asset of Modi. He didn't believe me. After eight years, he called me to say I was proved right, again!

Nothing seems to have changed in the badly battered Congress as the party working committee, at its post-results meeting, reposed confidence in its president Sonia Gandhi. So, the family will continue to rule.

It is beyond doubt that Modi gets a new 'josh' when he sees Rahul at the Congress party's helm or leading the Opposition's so-called onslaught against the BJP Government. Apart from the much-beaten track of 70 years of non-performance, the PM blasts the Congress on corruption, dictatorial and dynastic rule. There cannot be much defense for Rahul as he himself makes incoherent, confusing statements.

Thus, even some staunch supporters of Congress are forced to dismiss Rahul's comedy. Before the recent 5-State elections, Mamata Banerjee and KCR had initiated efforts to launch an alternative front against the BJP. NCP strongman Sharad Pawar told them it was not possible to discuss the front idea without the Congress. Post the poll results, even Pawar is bound to have second thoughts about inclusion of the Congress in the alliance with the non-performing asset called Rahul Gandhi (though he remains an asset for Modi!).

The Congress rule during the 90s launched economic reforms in the country the fruits of which are being reaped by the BJP government today. Now it is high time that the Congress opted for reforms for the party itself, drastically. But the CWC meeting does not give any such indications despite leaders such as Shashi Tharoor calling for reforms with the message that the party as it "remains by far the most credible of the national opposition parties". "It's also why it's worth reforming & reviving,'' he said in his tweet pointing out that the party has the largest number of legislators 753 after the BJP's 1,443 across the States.

Faced with oft-repeated criticism of being a family party, the Gandhis should stop 'acting' as the heads of the party and allow a non-family party person to the new president. A caucus of four people had ruined the Indira Gandhi government (as was exposed during the Shah Commission hearings after the Emergency rule) and it is the group of certain vested interests which are not allowing others to come up in the party.

Simply put, the old order must give way for the new. Learn it from the BJP. The old might sulk for some time, but they can be kept busy in advisory roles – only advisory with no executive powers! The old must realise that it is time for change and they should give for the younger generation. The all-powerful CWC (Congress Working Committee) should be allowed to work powerfully with least interference from the 'family'. Democracy begins at the grassroots.

Congress must reset itself with democracy at Panchayat level and follow it up to Parliament level. I may sound as if I am aping Amit Shah's formula, but that is the reality and need of the day. Intra-party democracy that Rahul Gandhi has been talking about must be implemented now, like never before. This is bound to rejuvenate the party and help in building new leaders at all levels which the Congress desperately needs now.

I was chatting with Santosh Shetty, a grassroot worker of Congress in Navi Mumbai, on the 5-State election results. His analysis was clear. The party must encourage regional level leaders to come up by delegating powers. For instance, for the UP elections quite a few Hindi speaking leaders from Maharashtra should have been sent instead of relying so heavily on Priyanka Gandhi. He rightly asked: Has the party leadership ever asked any of the Congress Ministers on their performance in Maharashtra? Is there any guidance on the common minimum programme and its implementation? There is no dearth of leaders in the Congress or for that matter in India. Modi aims a Congress-mukt Bharat, but the party has turned out to be Congress-yukt outfit as many in the BJP are those who deserted the Gandhi-Nehru party.

Now, let us look at the remarkable performance of the Aam Aadmi Party. Nobody would have imagined that a former income tax officer, Arvind Kejriwal who was part of the anti-corruption agitation launched by Anna Hazare would be so successful as to rule two major States and emerge as a force to reckon with at the national level. As I said leaders would emerge as the society creates them. A mobile repair shop worker and son of a sweeper defeated the sitting Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi as AAP found a huge gap in the political spectrum and filled it. Some call it political marketing for, after all, marketing is all about finding a gap and filing it. Modi did it successfully in 2014 exploiting the anti-Congress wave created by the CAG findings on 2G and Coalgate corruption. There was enough opposition to the BJP in the wake of the farmers' agitation but the Congress indulged in a hara-kiri by removing Capt Amrinder Singh and then fanning the Navjot Singh Siddhu-Channi controversy. So, Punjab voters decided to give an opportunity to AAP which also promised freebies. How long and how will the Delhi model work in Punjab is a big question as the State's revenues are down in the dumps. The nation will be observing AAP's performance in Punjab even as the party attempts to repeat its performance in the next phase of Assembly elections in States such as Rajasthan, Haryana and MP. Congress should be wary of this if it wants to strike back.

Voters have reposed tremendous confidence in the BJP and more importantly in Modi's leadership in general and Yogi particularly in UP. Far from the temporary Covid freebies, the party will have to address the ground realities of providing jobs and enabling the economic recovery. The infrastructure projects that have been launched must be completed in time and lead to employment generation. As we discussed in the last column, the imminent oil price hike is bound to have a cascading effect on the prices of essentials as transport costs will shoot up. The market sentiment continues to be low due to the Ukraine situation. Investors will take a back seat for the time-being at least.

Meanwhile, the investments done so far have to result in tangible benefits for the people. It is this performance that will be put to test in the next phase of the Assembly elections, and of course in the general elections of 2024. BJP is bound to take advantage of the prevailing wave. The Congress which is in power in Rajasthan and Jharkhand and a junior partner in Maharashtra must buck up and put up a brave show. This is a great opportunity and there isn't much time for the Congress to restore its credibility and transparency.

For the BJP, the voter has not only reposed confidence, but entrusted it a huge responsibility to perform. Indian voters are very clever and shrewd. Nobody should forget this. Only a year ago, the Congress was looking confident to retain Punjab and win Goa and Uttarakhand, but the voter mood has changed in a span of just one year. Irrespective of the ruling parties painting their progress cards rosy, the voter decides based on ground realities and what affects him. We shall keep a close watch as 2024 is not very far away.

(The author is a Mumbai-based media veteran known for his thought-provoking messaging)