Congress urgently needs to reconstruct as it is the soul of India. INC soaked in the shades of unity in diversity, plurality, rooted in secularism with balancing harmony. No country in the world has so many differences, yet held together peacefully without guns! Hard dictatorships have struck bullets and guns to control the masses but not India. When the Constitution was drafted it wonderfully stated “We the people of India solemnly secure justice, liberty, equality to all citizens and promote fraternity to maintain unity and integrity of the nation.”
Like a river flowing into the ocean with unhindered freedom which ensures dignity and equality to all, the Constitution of India maintains that humans were born free and should remain so. The aim of the Constitution is to bring the multitudes of India to flow forward into oceans of greatness and development.
Starting from the ruins that the British Raj left India in, a rural nation under the Congress became an industrial nation of manufacture and trade, fast-growing tech center, pharmaceutical power which enabled medicines to be made locally and also exported globally, grew leaps and bounds in science, NASA, the fourth largest army in the world and the list goes on. All this achieved within sixty years.
Today, India could export vaccines abroad and other medicines abroad because the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry is so strong and drugs in India are far cheaper and affordable than even in America.
But the noxious propaganda by BJP-RSS snaking in the masses through literature, social media, and WhatsApp agents slowly planted seeds of doubts in millions of Indians to question, “What did Congress do in 70 years?” leading them to chant, “Congress did nothing in 70 years.”
The vicious hashtags and slogans Congress Mukt Bharat are strange because no political party openly calls for the death of another, not only is it undemocratic but it is also wicked. Tell us, why would any political party ask for the death of another? This is never done in politics; one always needs an opposition to run a healthy government.
The truth is the secret literature circulated by the RSS is so poisonous and fabricated with lies that it has filled those millions with hatred, not only to the Congress but to the Gandhis. It is stunning that the educated elite believe it all!
Parties rise and fall and this is part of ruling nations, so it is clear that the BJP-RSS is working viciously to “destroy” Congress because their ultimate aim is to wipe out the rich secular tapestry of India and rewrite history-making India a purely one-nation Hindu country. Perhaps they feel it works for Saudi and Nepal, but they forget that the demography and structures of those nations are very different from India.
The Congress has been out of power for 10 years now and probably thinks they will be back in 2024, as has been in the past with the Vajpayee government, and when people are anxious that the Congress is losing grip, the grand old party kind of laughs and says merrily,
“One day we are up, one day we are down
Parties come and parties go
But we will once again be in the show!”
But there is one thing the Congress must know; the Vajpayee BJP is very different from the present Modi BJP. The BJP/RSS wants Congress Mukt Bharat because on reiterating again they want a “pure Hindu nation.” and for this reason have worked on big institutes, and silenced the opposition never listening to their suggestions. They have passed laws in Parliament without the approval of the Opposition as required by law even with a weaker Opposition.
Subramanian Swamy, economist, BJP Rajya Sabha member had once stated on Twitter that it was important for BJP to support Mr. Modi because it is through him only that the “Gandhis can be removed” and the RSS can achieve its ideals through Modi. While it is not clear how they plan to do it, it was an open call by Swami who swerves, sometimes criticizes Narendra Modi, and sometimes urges others to support him
The present BJP government has collected big money through the PM Cares amassed over 2 billion US dollars in 2020, but India never had enough money for COVID-19, big NGOs and rich Indians and people abroad donated and gave their own money.
In fact, during the COVID crisis in 2020, it was the NGOs who were helping the most and there was little to minimal governmental help, the BJP gathered huge money from the electoral bonds, demonetization, hiked up petrol and diesel and all that money has not been rolled back for development but it appears to most citizens that the government is using it to “buy institutions” which is why most of them let the largest ruling party get away without following constitutional protocol.
The revocation of Kashmir’s article 370 abolishment and the Farmers Bill did not get their approval and was passed hurriedly and undemocratically. Likewise, the present BJP has divided the nation very openly on religious ground with lynchers getting free and garlanded by top leaders and making very controversial statements that have empowered Hindutva brutality to the minorities.
The Rafale deal is a scam swept under the carpet that not even the courts dare to question even though international bodies are questioning it.
Right now, India is battling for its soul. We have seen violent politics of BJP-RSS over the last 7 years which was why the government was not prepared to combat the COVID storm since mandirs cows, statues, etc. have been their main drives, not hospitals, universities. The BJP may do a little in the North East to win the people, but that too will stop once they have won their trust. The promised free vaccines by the BJP to Bihar did not happen and the people of Bihar are not getting any free vaccines.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated airports, roads, highways, etc. started by the Congress and made it look as if the Congress did nothing. It is a game of perception played by the BJP and the Congress took some time to understand this game because their motives are purer. So the one that Congress is contending with is far craftier and more sly requiring the grand old party to be far shrewder to combat it. However, we see often factions erupting which seems to be weakening the front.
It takes decades for a party to build its base. Even a famous movie star could barely get a few votes in the recent elections, it is not all that easy to build a political base. Congress has a strong base but is sadly still losing election after election over the last decade, They are winning local body polls due to the diligence of local leaders, still holding on to Rajasthan, Punjab, etc., and could come back in some states, but is stitched together mainly by alliances with regional parties but frightening to learn that presently, Congress will not head nationally. Can Congress keep depending on regional parties?
It is clear that while Congress will make small wins, it will not in 2024, unfortunately, the hardest thing to say, it is not going to happen, not at the present way it is going.
While the RSS is working in deep inroads in the nation in every village, town, and city, Congress is building its base as Twitter warriors. BJP has 20 crores workers on the ground. Congress has one crore workers on the ground. They would need to deploy crores of workers on the ground to build strong camps all over India, but it does not appear to be happening, except in some areas.
In order to rebuild also, they need to designate new leaders fast. It presently appears to be in denial mode while state after state is slipping out of their hands. Most leaders are not sensing the urgency of it. Perhaps Congress keeps feeling they will “win again.” The truth is India is changing fast, day by day, minds are grasping things differently and changing and Congress has to move innovatively with the times.
In today’s world, people like definitions. In a company, they want to know who the CEO of the company is, the name of every brand, and assess the worth and power of every leader. Teamwork with a leader moves faster. Like a ship without a captain, it will crash unless Congress elects a president and a new PM candidate, whether the same person or two separate people, let Congress decide, let them even decide whether Rahul Gandhi is the president and the Prime Minister candidate is another person, but let them project the Prime Minister candidate soon.
To project leaders is important. If a party does not, it looks unsure of its agenda and splintered in disunity. Strength comes with clarity and definitions. Congress has to define its leader clearly with election and appointment. It enables people to assess the new leader, and acclimatize their minds to accept this leader. It builds expectation and hope. Congress urgently needs to reconstruct as the People connect to a charismatic personality figure.
Congress can win the 2024 elections but they need to have the captain lead and streamline the party distinctly. Right now, in India, new leaders from different parties are now also being projected as prime ministerial candidates.
Complicating matters for Congress are the heavy layers of poison and lies spread against the Gandhis over decades that will take years to detox. Right now, India does not have time to wait for the detoxification operation to kick it. Congress urgently needs to reconstruct & has to elect a prime ministerial candidate carefully but quickly and also a president, the two may be separate because it appears to work this way better.
Right now, the election procedures are put in a box, and keep getting postponed. In the meantime, volunteers are squabbling and leaving, and people expressing differing opinions are getting the cold shoulder. Somehow, the grand old party is also forgetting to give members the “freedom of expression” and allowing diverse voices to speak so that they can arrive at a consensus.
Congress urgently needs to reconstruct & act fast to thinking of nation beyond the party. This was how the freedom fighters of India thought. Today, we the people of India are fighting to protect the soul of India which “they” are trying to crush, we are fighting to give India its distinct identity and maintain India’s unity in diversity.
The views expressed in this publication are those of the author
Also Read: Congress in a big win sweeps Karnataka local urban body polls with 119 seats; BJP topples