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Congress Mukt Bharat! What India Wants and What India Needs?

With the win in Assam and the results of West Bangal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala giving clear indications that public has more or less lost faith in Congress Party, BJP’s slogan of “Congress Mukt Bharat” is shaping into reality. With every election, the political space of Congress is shrinking and the party which once ruled almost entire India is looking like a regional party. So is it the start of a long period of political insignificance for Congress and if it is so what does it mean for us?

Congress has ruled India for more than 50 years since independence and during that period there was almost no challenge to its power in either Centre or States. Immediately after independence, since it was the only political party connected to the Indian public and because of the presence of leaders like Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and many others, public did not even looked at anyone else.

However, if we look into the history, we would also see that due to an absence of any strong opposition, there many times when decisions went against the interest of the nation. The prime examples are the tackling of Kashmir issue by Pt. Nehru’s government, Indo-China war of 1962, 21 month Emergency period from 1975 to 1977. These are some of the examples when absolute powers without any opposition lead to inefficiency in the decision making. Therefore, it can be stated that the decimation of Congress in India is not exactly a thing to cheer about.

Let us analyze this statement further.  First of all, exit of Congress from the political in a state does not mean a direct gain for BJP; it may lead to a scenario where, small regional players with vested and conflicting interests may poach into the territory vacated by Congress. If that happens, it would be the worst case scenario for India. In case, these regional parties win enough seats where no single party can form a government in the center, it will result in either a collation government like that of United Front government, where the legs of government were being pulled from all the direction which eventually lead to a total collapse of governance. The other scenario would be BJP as the single largest party being forced to form a government with the support of small regional players, which again eventually leads to policy paralysis.

It is a strong possibility that in the absence of any strong fight from Congress, BJP may wrest power with a huge majority, however, in order to keep a check on the functioning of the government, a strong opposition is a must. It is not to doubt the ability or intentions of a BJP government. However, in the interest of the nation it is required that the government is constantly performing under the pressure of the presence of an alternative in the eyes of the public.

According to me two things are important for the effective functioning of a Parliamentary system; One, absolute majority for the party in power so that it can implement all the schemes and programs for the development of the country without any stalling by the opposition. And two, presence of a political alternative. Even though the opposition may not have numbers in the parliament, but it should have a presence through out India. This would keep a pressure on the party in government to perform continuously because of the knowledge that public has a choice for the next elections.

A scenario that we are witnessing today in India, might lead to a divided opposition and give absolute power in the hands of elected government with no pressure to perform.

Therefore, I feel, even though I am a supporter of BJP, in the interest of India, it is required that Congress maintains its presence in India. However, at the same time I would also like to state that an alternative that is inefficient is as good as no alternative at all. Congress with the current leadership deficit is in no position to challenge BJP at the national stage. The Grand Old Party of India has to shed its old feudal image and should groom leaders at grassroots and state levels.  Leaders who can create a positive image of themselves in the eyes of public and are not dependent on Gandhi Family to garner votes from the public.

Like the BJP learned its lesson and projected a local leader, Sarbananda Sonowal as the face of the party in the assembly polls, Congress too should have leaders who can be the face of the party in the states. And by this I do not mean para dropping a leader from Delhi just before elections and project him as party’s face in the elections. The leaders should work in the states and should be able to create a force of ground workers who can work to the benefit of the party at the time of elections, just like the BJP did in the last general elections.

Most importantly, Congress has to let go of reliance on Gandhi family and should change the organizational structure of the party. It should choose a leader who has worked hard all the way up from the grassroot level, and has created a name for himself or herself, and is liked by the public, to be the Party President or the face of party in the elections, instead of always asking votes in the name of Gandhi Family, projecting an incompetent person as the future of India or projecting a puppet head.

Need of the hour is that Congress Party needs to take drastic steps to reinvent itself in order to be again relevant in the political scenario of India.

It would be beneficial for both the party and the country.

Comments

  1. Very well said.
    But I think in India, politics is no longer about India development but more about self development. That is what BJP has changed, so a party which has the same interest can challenge it. Congress has lost that completely.

    ReplyDelete

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