Old Guards vs Young Turks in Congress: Where will the buck stop?
Within a span of just four months, Congress has lost some of its most vibrant, energetic and dynamic young bastions who were hope for optimism to regain the contours of lost political command.
The battle between the old guards and the young Turks has brought the fault lines in the Congress to fore since the beginning of BJP’s second innings in 2019. The unfolding of the political drama in Rajasthan has emerged out of the deep entrenched existential crisis within the party.
Within a span of just four months, Congress has lost some of its most vibrant, energetic and dynamic young leaders who were the hope to regain the lost political command. The loss cannot be solely attributed to the rising ambition and aspiration of young leaders like Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot to eventually fall for the dual paradise of power and wealth.
The grand old party is suffering from a double whammy in terms of the lost political control since the rise of BJP in 2014, and the inertia which has gripped the party from within because of the absence of a strong and robust leadership. In the past two general elections, the Congress’s seat share has only increased marginally, from 44 seats in 2014 to 52 in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Notwithstanding the dismal performance of the Congress in the general elections, the party’s grip in the states has further shrunk from 13 states in 2014 to five states — Punjab, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Maharashtra — and the Union Territory of Puducherry. The party lost control of Madhya Pradesh in March 2020 because of the sudden swing of Jyotiraditya Scindia to BJP; Scindia, who happened to be a close aide to Rahul Gandhi. The situation within the party only seems to be broiling with the unprecedented turn of events in Rajasthan. The political situation in Maharashtra and Jharkhand also appears to be gloomy, since they are hanging on a delicate edge that can fall apart any time.
After the sobering defeat in the 2019 general elections, the then Congress President Rahul Gandhi took the responsibility of the loss. He resigned from the post of the party’s president saying that “accountability is critical for the future growth of the party”. He also acknowledged that in order to put a strong voice against the ruling party and reclaim and resuscitate our institutions, it is vital to reignite and radically transform the party from within. This was thundered as a paradigm shift in the internal functioning of the Congress to find a new face who could revive the contours of the lost political control. But the fate to introspect and revive appeared to be ephemeral as the All India Congress Committee (AICC) soon reposed their faith in Sonia Gandhi and elected her as the interim president. Almost a year has passed, and the party has still not been able to find someone who could revive and strengthen it.
The entry and exit and “Aaya Ram Gaya Ram” politics have always been associated with the political culture of our country. It was Indira Gandhi who outweighed the powerful coterie of syndicates that comprised the then Congress President K Kamraj, Atulya Ghosh, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, SK Patil, Biju Patnaik and S Nijalingappa. She was expelled from her own party but responded vigorously by breaking away from the old guards and forming her own Congress (I). Her charisma, magnetism and popularity were unmatched and she emerged as the strongest and the most dynamic leader in the political history of India till then.
The conundrum faced between the old guards and the young Turks should not be simply relegated to the rising aspirations or the muscle power of the ruling party to manoeuvre young commanders for political gains. This has a profound manifestation due to the rising democratic deficit unravelling within the Congress. If it remains unchecked, this can lead to unparalleled ramifications.
The leadership which controls the party lines appears to be Delhi-centric, with no space for grassroots decentralisation for effective decision making. In fact, the unwinding of political drama only nourishes and bolsters the political embellishments of the ruling party and further weakens the plausibility of the Congress to bounce back. The high command and leadership which controls the party from 10, Janpath, is far from realising that these deep fault lines will keep on accelerating if timely decisions are not taken to democratise and decentralise decision-making.
It is therefore important to vitalise the descending reign of the Congress, which can only be done by making it democratically functional through strong leadership. The fortress enjoyed by the old guards of the party in Congress should make space for grassroots functionaries who serve as an important vanguard to strengthen the ideals of the party which it stood for. Through a robust redressal mechanism system and decentralised decision-making, the battle for the lost political control can be easily overcome.