Congress trapped in secularism vs soft Hindutva dilemma

Facing a rising BJP with Hindutva plank on one side and erosion of its minority vote-bank by regional parties—most recently by Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM, which won 17 seats in three municipalities even in Gujarat, the secularism dilemma of Congress has been growing constantly.

Be it its dispirited defence of alliance with Abbas Siddiqui-led Indian Secular Front (ISF) in West Bengal, or about the tie-up with Shiv Sena in Maharashtra last year, Congress has betrayed the discomfiture with the political compulsion to move from one extreme to another.

The leadership vacuum at the Congress central level has given rise to a section of leaders publicly voicing their opinions against the leadership. Congress leader Anand Sharma publicly disapproved of the party's alliance with ISF.

Calling the alliance with ISF unfortunate, Sharma said the Congress cannot be selective in fighting the communal forces, and the alliance with parties like ISF is against the core ideology of the party -- Gandhian and Nehruvian secularism.

Also read: Why Left-Congress combine is focusing on the Muslim vote in Bengal

With this, the BJP now has a stick to beat the Opposition party, and spares no opportunity to do so as election campaigning picks up for West Bengal. BJP leader Sambit Patra jumped in to flag the "insult" to Ghulam Nabi Azad after some youth Congress leaders close to Rahul Gandhi objected to Azad's comments on Modi.

As Congress grapples with its secularism dilemma, the party has often been speaking in multiple voices, often contradictory to each other.

This contradiction has always been present in Congress, according to experts. Being a centrist party, it cannot be over-inclined towards one section. However, many leaders have been batting for a clear stand by the party on secularism.

The A K Antony panel appointed to look into the 2014 defeat of Congress flagged 'Muslim appeasement' as a major reason for the defeat. The Congress then started projecting Rahul Gandhi as a 'janeudhaari brahmin' and 'Shivbhakt' and repeated distancing of the party from "Hindu terror" and "saffron terror" remarks made by some of its senior leaders.

Political analyst Rasheed Kidwai says: "The Congress has to take care of its long term interests as well as win elections now. So somewhere a balance has to be there. It is down in the dumps and hence will have to make pragmatic alliances to win polls to stay relevant."

The emergence of Akrabuddin Owaisi-led AIMIM and ISF is yet another challenge for the party which now needs to do a tightrope walk.

However, Kidwai feels that the politics of competitive communalism will not yield any gains to Congress as it cannot go to the extent of hardline Hindutva politics like BJP. "Congress can come back on issues like employment and forging state-level alliances and it has to take decisions boldly and upfront," he says.