Omkar Dattatray
The grand old party -Congress has got a very poor performance in the assembly elections in the Hindi heartland states and the poll results were unexpected as the congress rank and file predicted a good show and performance. But the election results are a great setback to the Congress and the party is faced with many challenges.
The Congress should sit cool and composed and deliberate on its failure in the assembly elections .This is really a moment of self introspection ,self analysis and soul searching and thus finding the causes of the poor performance. The Congress debacle in the polls should be a cause of great and grave concern and the party and its organizational cadre and president should convene a meeting of the congress leaders to find the ways and means to address the challenges posed by the decimal performance. There at present is no existential crisis for the congress because during past few months there was revival of the Congress Party and it has come out of that sad phase. The revival of the Congress has shown that the it cannot be written off from the political landscape of the country. But today the congress leaders and organizational heads should meet and discuss the causes of its poor performance in the assembly polls and find out the ways and means to put a strong fight in near future as the general elections are approaching and the party should see how it can fight the Lok Sabha elections so that it will feel and fair better and satisfactory. But the challenges and task for the Congress is daunting and hard as it has been compounded by the recent debacle of the Congress Party and sweep of the BJP in the assembly polls.
It is a fact that the poll results of the assembly polls will have a great bearing upon the general elections and the Congress should work very hard and take out the party from internal crisis, bickering, factionalism and indiscipline so that the party will fight the future elections with great determination in order to get the satisfactory results. The rank and file of the Congress should not be disheartened by the poll results of the three assembly states but should work with renewed zest and zeal to put a tough challenge to the saffron party. The Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge is an experienced leaders as he is really a tall leader of the party who is also the president of Congress and he should take out the Congress Party out of inertia and prepare the party for meeting all the future challenges so that it will fair good in the future elections.
The 135 year old Congress Party should put its act together and deliberate on the reasons of its decimal performance in the assembly elections and reinvigorate the party to meet the future challenges and prepare the Congress for the future elections particularly for the general elections of 2024.
Congress should shun negative politics and should desist from calling names to PM Modi and base its politics on positivity and the plank of development. Moreover the Congress should shun its hate Hindu character as it has recoiled and it was an important factor responsible for the debacle of the party in the state elections.
Congress should come out of vote bank politics and appeasement of the minorities and base its politics on positivity and this will go a long way to help the party in the future polls. Congress should base its politics on developmental plank and counter the formidable BJP so that the congress will be in a position to give a tough fight to the saffron party. The congress should overhaul its poll strategy and see its weakness so far as the poll results are concerned and try with the renewed zeal to take on the top two stalwarts Narendra Modi and Amit Shah as it is the influence and magic wand of these two leaders which is the real cause of the Congress’s downfall in the recent assembly elections and the Congress should be armed to fight the duo and come victorious at the end. The Congress needs to resurrect itself and make the organization stronger and disciplined to fight the future elections in order to come successful. Congress MP Benny Behanan has said rightly that the Congress needs self-introspection. Reacting to the state assembly results in five states, Congress Lok Sabha MP Benny Behanan said that the party needs self-introspection ,adding that it should learn from the reasons for party’s failure in this election and embody that lesson.
“Congress needs self -introspection .The congress must now learn from the reasons for failure of this election and embody that lesson. The unification of anti-BJP votes in all states is yet to take place in Indian politics. It must have a common platform. It should be led by Congress. The Congress should also be able to provide such leadership ”said Behanan. He further warned that if the party does not prepare itself to act on reality, then it will continue to face more challenges in the future. While taking on the political responsibility of uniting the opposition, Congress must also play a leading role in uniting all within the organization.’
This is not just a general election defeat. Congress had hoped for a slightly better result in these states .I will not criticize any leader. It is time for the Congress to take up the political mission of uniting the secular forces against communalism and prepare for a strong struggle by uniting the entire people organizationally ,”Behanan added.
The poll results came as another jolt to Congress but the party should take lessons from the election results and prepare the party for future general elections.
Rahul Gandhi’s failure to rein in old warhorses cost congress dearly. Congress ignored gaps in campaign in MP, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan due to favorable feedback. Rahul failed to prevail upon veterans on candidate selections and poll feedback.BJP faced strong anti-incumbency in MP Kamal Nath did not utilize advantage with intensive local campaign. Three AICC in -charges were changed in MP .Rahul could not rein in Kamal Nath. Rahul also could win argument with CM Ashok Gehlot over candidate selection in Rajasthan. Congress was blindsided by all-round favorable feedback about its prospects in the election -going states and the party ignored visible gaps in its campaign in MP ,Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. All India Forward Bloc General Secretary G. Devarajan has urged the congress to self-introspect on its policies and electoral strategy in the wake of poll drubbing it suffered in MP ,Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The election results have shown that the congress cannot defeat BJP alone and needs more allies .Unnecessary obstinacy of local leaders and infighting have contributed to the defeat of the Congress and deactivating the INDIA alliance during the elections backfired. In brief the Congress should do self-introspection and soul searching and prepare the party for meeting future challenges and also to fight the Lok Sabha election of 2024.
The Congress leaders should not be disheartened and instead be guided by the Urdu proverb-Girte Hain Shahsawar Hi Maidan-e Jung Mein, Voh tifl Kya Gira jo Gutno ke bal Chale and should be victorious at the end.
(The author is a columnist, social and KP activist)
