It’s somewhat true to say that the Congress appears to be in a “self-disrupt” mode. Before the defeat of historic proportions in the recent Lok Sabha election, this aspect wasn’t entirely visible, for the party was in power and an epic defeat was not quite on the cards. Nevertheless, as the poll campaign wore on, more and more party adherents and its traditional followers were beginning to wonder about the direction in which their party was headed. This was reflected in the manner in which the campaign itself was being conducted. Its chief characteristic appeared to be bursts of artificial energy, inverter power, not grid electricity.
Since the election setback, the listlessness of the vanquished is all too evident. The evidence of this is not necessarily from the states — such as Maharashtra, Assam and Haryana — where Congress chief ministers are facing a battery of assault from among their own ministers. True, this is unlikely to have been the case if the Congress had either bounced back to power a third time or had returned to the Lok Sabha with healthy numbers. The fear of the high command would have been a restraining factor.
It is indeed this element that seems to be fraying today. Even so, it is unlikely that the challengers in the three states actually expect the top Congress leadership in New Delhi to succumb to their tantrums. For that matter, nor should it. The defiance is basically in the nature of bargaining tactics. If any factions leave, they are unlikely to find anchorage before an election in parties that are expected to do well in the state polls due in only a few months.
There can be little doubt that CM aspirants themselves will also calculate that the Congress is unlikely to be on a winning streak, and that it would take their respective states in the Assembly polls if the reins of leadership were to be handed to them. This is why Narayan Rane has shown signs of retreating in Maharashtra, and Tarun Gogoi has found the nerve to accept the resignation of senior minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in Assam.
So, it’s not the states but the Centre — more specifically the forum of Parliament — where the post-Lok Sabha election blues of the Congress are most evident. The Congress seems short on sympathisers and collaborators. It seems incapable of diplomacy with other parties. Its leadership seems to be without zest. Reinvigoration in the leadership is unlikely to occur in the absence of a collective brainstorming in the form of a full-fledged AICC session, which can throw up fresh ideas in the form of crisp, meaningful messages that address the changing contours of today’s voter profile.
