No real change from Congress conclave

No new Congress has arisen from the three-day Chintan Shivir of the party at Udaipur, and the decisions taken at the conclave and the announcements made there do not inspire confidence about the party reinventing and reimagining itself to stay relevant. It is operating in a social and political milieu in which the party is reduced to a shadow of its former self. Only regional parties have been able to fight the BJP successfully, but Rahul Gandhi told the conclave that the BJP could not be adequately challenged by regional parties. The Congress has not won an election against the BJP in years, and it has been politically, ideologically and organisationally weakened across the country. Rahul Gandhi cited a lack of connect with the people and poor communication as the reasons for the party’s decline. But he was in charge of the party all these years and he should be responsible for the failures.

The party has promised to give itself a youthful look and tried to counter the charge of family rule by restricting party tickets to one per family. But the caveat that those who have been active in the party for five years will be exempt from the rule will take most existing Congress families, including the Gandhi family, out of the purview of the rule. While the leaders deliberated on many policy and organisational issues, the specific issue of the
Gandhi family’s leadership of the party, highlighted by G-23, was evaded. When it is stated that the leadership question will be decided after the organisational elections, it is an assertion that the Gandhi family’s control will continue.

The party wants to give a cooling-off period to office-bearers and to restrict the terms of Rajya Sabha members. It also plans to set up a committee on social justice and another to hold surveys to generate feedback from the public. It has announced two campaigns — a Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kashmir to Kanyakumari in order to send out a message of unity and a Rozgar Yatra to focus on the need for jobs. It hopes the two yatras will help it connect with the people. It is anybody’s guess whether these traditional means of communication and mobilisation will help a party in severe distress. There is still no clarity on many issues. The Congress has not been able to project itself as an effective Opposition at the national level and in most states. The ideas that came up at Udaipur were cosmetic, and have not addressed the maladies at the party’s core. The Congress that came away from Udaipur is much the same as the one that went there.