Time for resurgence of Congress party

Congress Party has fared quite poorly in assembly elections and has lost power in Kerala and Assam. It has been reduced to a new low in terms of lowest number of seats in parliament and also losing power in all important states except Karnataka.

Congress party has glorious history . It gave rise to galaxy of leaders during independence movement. In the leadership of  Gandhiji, Nehru and Patel,it reached every village of India . By taking up issues of  distress of farmers- Gandhiji in Champaran (Bihar), Sardar Patel in Bardoli ( Gujrat) and Jawahar lal Nehru in Awadh ( UP), the Congress party got transformed into rural mass based political party. The party gave political consciousness to India's masses , long suppressed and subdued. The strength of congress party came because it opposed prevailing feudalism which sapped energy of average Indian. The strength of congress came in promoting social change in terms of upholding the rights of Dalits, Tribals and minorities and women,while focusing on stability of  India. The strength of congress came as it spoke about building a new India of modern industries , steel plants, river irrigation projects , educational and health institutions  and independent institutions like Election Commission, Judiciary and free press defining the emerging and democratic India. The strength of congress came from highly active district and state congress committees where decisions were taken through debates and discussion and the internal election was the norm. The strength of congress party came in becoming an umbrella organization where all castes, communities could find representation .

The congress was opposed by  the Muslim league on the basis of purely sectarian agenda, leading to creation of Pakistan and large number of killings in ensuing riots due to transfer of population on the basis of religion. But  the  congress party stood for all India ,secular and democratic nation and also for the economic interests of farmers , small business and the poor people. The poor , particularly identified with, the Congress party for its welfare schemes. The congress party was opposed to caste and community and region based parties. In all sense it stood for everyone and for India and its unity in diversity.

From that glorious history, the congress leadership has become cynical and has become expert in real politic. There is no coherent response to the big issues facing country. Sonia Gandhi  has tried very hard to revive but she is constrained by her advisors (To name a few , Ahmad Patel, Oscar Fernandis and Jnaradan Dwiedwi ) who have got  absolutely no connect at grass root level. Rahul Gandhi , in truly dynastic  style, again being surrounded by non entities. The think tank of the party is dominated by rootless Delhi based leaders , a few lawyers who try to win argument in public space and some state level dynastic leaders . All these three sets have done incalculable damage to congress party. The blame always get shifted to Gandhis. And they must  also take blame of getting surrounded by these parasites  who have got no standing except their proximity to the family.  Till the power of congress shifts to District level, the revival is not going to happen. To borrow Mao's words, in order to revive , bomb the headquarters both at the state and the central level. Seven hundred elected district presidents should run the party  directly reporting to  the congress president. .

In last twenty five years, four important political , economic and social phenomena have defined and changed India- Mandal, Mandir and Economic reforms and Access to TV and Mobile phones. These changes have broken lot of old structures and have also created lot of unrest in society. Because of Mandal, castes like Jats and Patels, Reddys and the poor of the so called upper castes  are feeling left out in the process of getting regular, secured government jobs. Because of Mandir movement, Muslims are getting isolated and  marginalized from the mainstream .  In turn, Muslims are being exploited by unscrupulous leaders in the name providing them safety and security.   Economic reforms have widened the gap between the rich and the poor , the educated  and the uneducated, between the cities and villages, between the relatively rich southern and western part of India and the relatively poorer eastern part.

One important phenomenon which is eating away the vitals of society is spread of corruption. Common people are reeling under this. The way Manmohan Singh government mishandled Anna Hazare movement and Mr. VinodRai's revelations by bringing Kapil Sibal and Manish Tiwari in media to argue like lawyers, the party lost its political capital each day. The long term damage has been done

The top leadership has to be brutal on the issue of corruption by supporting strong legislation and  asking top leaders to leave party if their names appear in any corruption scandal. The congress should ideologically stand  against parties which in the name of social justice actually play out caste based politics. The congress has to stand against BJP which is playing out soft communal politics in the name of nationalism. While opposing BJP it should also not to be seen appeasing  Muslims, the way it did in Shahbano's case long back. Supporting  reactionary Muslim leadership on social and political issues has harmed congress more and has given a handle to BJP. Banning  the book  of Salman Rushdie , not supporting  Taslima  Nasreen , doubting the genuine encounter at Batla House have  all given bad name for congress. Congress  needs to be hard on all types of communalism while reaching  out to Muslims on their safety and security  issue.

One has to agree with the fact  that Congress Party embodies India's concept of unity in diversity and it stands for all. But to translate that in new emerging and complex India, it needs grass root leaders . For different reasons, it has lost Mamta Bannerji and Hemant Biswa Sarma and many other strong farmer and labour leaders . For every leader, who is coming from dynastic background, it needs five leaders who can come up on merit. The leaders who are above  the age  of  75 needs to be retired and fresh faces need to come up. The time for revival has come now. The congress party is needed in India to uphold the unity in diversity and a platform which includes all and also to create two party  system  in India.