No hope of change in Congress

The much-awaited meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) last week kicked the can down the road by promising organisational elections and the installation of a new president for the party in one year from now. Electoral timetables have come before also and passed, and there is no certainty that the present promise will be fulfilled. A week is a long time in politics, but for the Congress, even a year may be too short for anything to happen. In any case, the most important thing that can happen is a decision about the party’s president, and that has already happened, even before the election, with Rahul Gandhi expressing his willingness to consider taking that position again. The CWC has again proved, if proof is needed, that the family will not move and yield an inch of space at the top to anyone else.

That was also clear from Sonia Gandhi’s assertion that she was both a “hands-on’’ and a “full-time’’ president, rebutting the question posed by the so-called G-23 leaders about who took decisions in the party. None of the leaders challenged her statement. She pointed out that the party had highlighted the failures of the Narendra Modi government and tried to coordinate with other opposition parties. She also said the party has seen the emergence or entry of some young leaders. No one challenged her claims or asked her why the party lost its government in Madhya Pradesh and came close to losing it in Rajasthan and was routed in the Assembly elections in Bihar, Assam, West Bengal and Kerala. She was also not asked why the party lost many leaders. There were no questions about the mismanagement in Punjab and the growing emaciation of the party at the national level and in the states. If she is the top leader, why were some others taking crucial decisions?

The G-23 leaders’ letter calling for “sweeping changes’’ is now a dead letter. They have even been warned that there is no need to speak to her through the media. Sonia Gandhi’s combative speech was the only highlight of the meeting, held after 18 months of political distress for the party. There was no honest introspection, and it gave no roadmap for the coming months. There was also no attempt to confront the political, organisational and ideological issues before the party. There are important state elections being held in the next one year, and political opportunities opening up for opposition parties. The Congress does not seem to be in a position to make use of them as the present drift is likely to continue.