Mumbai: When the Congress sets up a committee to introspect under the venerable A.K. Antony, whose personal reputation for integrity is seen as beyond question even by his worst critics, the party may be certain nothing will come of it.
And perhaps that’s just the idea — to produce something so anodyne that it is of little analytical worth, although for a 125-year-old party it may serve the formal purpose of commissioning a report on a matter as important as the crushing Lok Sabha election defeat.
Mr Antony, a man of vast experience — not just rectitude — was tasked only a few months earlier to go into the causes of the Congress’ defeat in last year’s Assembly polls, and the party doesn’t yet know what his findings are. Clearly, he is the go-to man when there is not much to say in public. This may be just as well as far as causes of the Congress’ defeat in the parliamentary elections go, for it’s all too evident what the principal causes were, even if many agree that analysing the recent election is more complex than thought. After all, the BJP pulled off a majority of its own with a ridiculous 31 per cent voteshare — a first for Indian elections.
But whatever the complexity in making sense of the elections for the 16th Lok Sabha, a few factors are likely to stand out: unchecked rise of prices of essentials over a prolonged 10-year period that badly hurt the poor, subdued growth which was also jobless, the miasma of corruption and inaction in government, and the absence of communication between the ruler and the ruled. A more engaging government and Congress leadership could have succeeded in mitigating the effects of these severe negative factors.
To these considerations may be added a desire among majority community voters to have a fling with soft Hindutva after a decade of lectures on “secularism” from the lectern, and this seemed to go well with the image of Modi as an action man and in erasing his negatives.
The Antony committee is unlikely to commit any of this to writing. It is likely that the hoary chestnut of factional fighting in state Congress units will be paraded as a major explanation for the setback. It will not be credible, but it will suffice for the record books.
On the other hand, if the Congress is serious, it should have a meeting of its extended Working Committee and offer the media detailed briefings. That would be cathartic. It will restore faith in the leadership and it will produce a more determined fighting unit in the Lok Sabha, notwithstanding the depletion.
