Political Diary

New Delhi, 24 December 2010

Razzmatazz Congress Tamasha

HOT SPEECHES, BLAND KHICHRI

Poonam I Kaushish

It was billed as the greatest political extravaganza. A feel good show amidst palpable all-round despondency and gloom. Intended to instill new vigour and vitality in the Grand Old Party. A lesson in political ABC --- aggression, bounce and confidence. Alas, all plans went phut. If the motive was to celebrate its 2009 electoral triumph, it failed miserably. Pricked by scams galore, debilitating corruption cases, rising prices, poll debacle in Bihar, a general sense of drift in the Government and an ‘aborted’ Parliament session over a JPC on the telecom scam. Which popped up like the proverbial bad penny, leaving the Party more deflated than ever.

How else should one describe the 83rd two-day Congress plenary held at Burari on the outskirts of Delhi on l9-20 December last? Promises were a plenty. So also the pledges. There was a khichri of Nehruvian socialism (reform with a human face) and Manmohanic liberalization. There was lots about fighting corruption, without any clue about how to go about it. Many sops for the minorities sans how these could be translated into votes.

A huge typical sycophantic Congress tamasha with one agenda: Promote Rahul Gandhi, project him as a mature leader who will take the next step towards leading the nation, eulogize, in glowing terms, the sacrifices made by the Nehru-Gandhi family, in particular Sonia and bash the BJP-led Opposition.

Importantly, the session failed to find answers to the dilemmas facing the Party.  Congress’s numero uno Sonia Gandhi's opening and closing speech exposed the political confusion, organisational demoralization, dichotomy within, with no new ideas to revive the moribund organization. . It was clear that instead of talking about Congress's grand and creative plans for the future, she was talking only about how to withstand the allegations of corruption and combat a re-invigorated Opposition. Suddenly, the Congress’s return to power in 2014 no longer looks a near-certainty, as it did only some months ago.

It refused to address the ticklish issues of striking a balance between its stand on alliances and coalitions and the need to expand its organization and social base in the States ruled by its allies or other Opposition parties. What is more, how to check corruption, maintain austerity and build bridges between the Party and the Government. Mum was the word on the US opinion about Sonia, leaked by Wikeleaks: “Mrs. Gandhi never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity to show real leadership.”

Worse, even as Rahul tries to galvanise the party at the grassroots and extol party cadres to go it alone, the recent poll thrashing in Bihar exposes how out of sync it is with the ground reality. The Party got only four seats of the 234 contested. This anger reverberated at the session where partymen not only accused General Secretary in-charge Mukul Wasnik of sale of tickets but also man-handled him. Epitomizing that the Party has a long way to go before its revival in the Hindi heartland.

If Bihar is bad, Andhra is worse. After expelling ‘problem child’ Jaganmohan Reddy from the Party it now has to contend with rebellion within. Already, 20 MLAs have aligned with the ‘rebel’ leader. Raising fresh doubts about the stability of its Government. Chief Minister Kiran Reddy has a wafer thin majority of 156 in a 294 MLAs House.  

Allies too have proved to be a headache. With West Bengal Assembly polls only five months away, the Trinamool chief and Union Railway Minister Mamata has threatened to quit as the Prime Minister had failed to heed to her 20 complaints against the CPM Government misusing security forces to kill her party cadres. She even made plain her intention of going it alone.  

In Tamil Nadu, the DMK blows hot and cold over its alliance as Party patriarch Karunanidhi stands rock solid behind tainted former Telecom Minister Raja.  Its ties with the NCP in Maharashtra are uneasy as neither trusts the other. Also, even as the Congress tom-toms “alliance with respect”, this is tempered with the realization that it cannot declare open war against its coalition partners.

Undoubtedly, both Sonia and Rahul succinctly diagnosed the problem but could not come up with convincing answers to galvanize the comatose units. Crippled as it with rank indiscipline, perennial squabbling among Ministers it continues to lose momentum. Stories abound of the public tu-tu-mein-mein between Union Home Minister Chidambaram and General Secretary Digvijay Singh, HRD and Telecom’s Kapil Sibal and Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh.  A virtual free-for-all.

In the States the situation is worse. Big, small and petty leaders are all pulling in different directions. Shockingly, over 40% States don't have a Pradesh Congress Committee Chief. Said a disgusted neta, “The decision-making process is so slow. If Soniaji continues with her status quo policy then the Party will fall apart.”

Neither Sonia nor the Prime Minister seems willing or capable of stemming the rot. Also, even as Rahul extolled the cadres to connect with the aam aadmi, the razzmatazz session showcased the opposite. Of rich leaders who came in luxurious cars, sat in VVIP enclosures, ate in special pandals, only ‘connected’ with criminalised crony capitalism, corporate czars, land mafia.

The Congress faces a crisis of programmatic identity and political strategy. In 2009, it rightly pitched its electoral campaign on the aam aadmi. But 18 months down the line, the common man is poorer. What with sky-rocketing prices of dal, roti, pyaaz which has reduced the aam janata to tears! The Party has delivered very little on revamping the healthcare system and the promised food security law, which would guarantee rice and wheat at Rs 3 and 2 a kg to the bulk of the poor. The much-touted NREGS reeks of corruption.

Thus, the Party, instead of using the session as an opportunity to look in and set its house in order points fingers at BJP’s Karnataka Government. Does this justify the corruption within the UPA? Is it enough for the Prime Minister to state that he is willing to appear before the Public Accounts Committee? Can he simply evoke Caesar’s wife’s example of being above suspicion to deflect Opposition charge of holding a JPC?   

What next? Clearly the Grand Dame needs to renew its commitment to probity. The Congress will have to convincingly demonstrate its willingness to book all the culprits in numerous recent cases of corruption and other illegalities, or else it will trigger its speedy decline and a severe loss of credibility as people seem to have had enough.  

In sum, even as Sonia offers the moon and the stars to project a Congress rainbow on India’s future political horizon, the reality is different. In fact, harsh. The time has come for the Nehru-Gandhi centric Grand Dame to realize that charisma alone cannot catapult it to victory without honesty, progressive policies, organisational revival, democratization, good and clean governance. This means radically restructuring the Congress to acquire an entirely different political image. A tall order, but not an impossible task.

Can Sonia and her colleagues summon up the will to bring about such a radical transformation? Said an aspiring youth, “In today’s world, politics is indeed rocket science. Only those who practice it know the nuances and science of it.” Mere tongue-lashing and passing resolutions dime a dozen won't be sufficient to pull the Party out of its self-dug grave. Is it capable of turning a new leaf? Or else its epitaph could well read: Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold. ----- INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)