There are major challenges and hurdles for the Congress Party to revitalize itself on the ground. There are still chances and options to reinvent and revitalize the party. But unless it acts fast and reboot in the next two years, it will lose even the existing steam.
Many people tend to reduce every problem to its leader. Leadership does matter. However , the problem is that entire system is a like a computer system that is infested with virus. It is trying to upload a new software in a very old hardware- an old 386 machine. The system gets hanged- and if not changed the old hardware, eventually it would crash.
The real problem is the new leader of the Congress has been trying many new software on a very out-dated hardware. Its mother-board is infested with multiple kinds of virus. Hence, without revamping and rebuilding a new hardware, any experiments with new software will not work. The system will eventually crash and become a junk. There is still a last chance to retrieve the system.
Here are few points.
1) Those with huge baggage of UPA II should move out to the margins or simply retire gracefully. The likes of Chidamebaram has a huge baggage and there are so many of them who are used to the power. Many of them are yet to get over the hangover of their addiction to the power in Delhi
Many of them have been very far away from grassroots in their power comforts in Delhi for many decades. They simply lost touch with reality. They fly in and fly out and hardly spent time with real grassroots workers and spent more time with their cronies in the capital cities. There are too many of them in Delhi. Some of them are rootless wonders and real viruses. Some of them have a very honorable past but not a promising future. The best thing they can do it congress is gracefully retire and gave the batten to a new generation of youthful and principled congress leaders.
And some of the Delhi based daddies are multi-millionaires so used to power and still there for the sake of power only. None of them come through organic politics or from the ground and never worked at the district or state level( Kapil Sibal to the rest) Most of them are in their seventies and enjoyed power for four decades. And they should give way to a new generation. Many of them came at the time of Rajiv Gandhi and they enjoyed power from 1985 to 2014 and even now as RS members. And how many young people from Congress ( less than forty) in the Rajya Sabha?
2) All those who are more than seventy should move out of the Congress working Committee. They are simply dated and over the hill. They are the product of 1970s and 1980s. They are completely out of date and up the hill and real risk for the Congress Party, particularly those who are comfortable in their big bungalows in Delhi and spent more time in Delhi and less time on the ground.
3) Then there are so many ex- bjp, shiva sena types in Congress. Many of them were taken for 'quick- win' and for opportunistic reasons rather than based on any principles. There are also many closet sanghies. How can congress ever have credibility when it has many of closet sanghies and soft hindutva type inside. People may prefer original sanghies rather than turn-coats.. For example, Sanjay Nirumpam. What is his political DNA? Shivsena. He is the is charge of Mumbai Congress. What is the credibility of Congress when it is lead by the likes of Sanjay Nirupam and Rane? And what is the background of Vagela( who is supposed to be CM candidate in Gujarat)? He was the RSS leader who brought Modi in to Sangh and he was Modi's early mentor. In different states, there are too many Sanghies infiltrated in to Congress. In fact, Prashant Kishor himself is an example. He closely worked with Sangh and now he is supposed to be the congress strategist. So the chances are that even before the Congress make the strategy, it could very well go to the other side.
4) The party should move beyond the politics of opportunism, opportunists, and quick win apprach to give incentives for younger people to work at the grassroots level.
And shift the focus of the party to the state level and district level , rather than wasting time in Delhi Durbar.
It is only the new generation ready to work on the ground can revive the party. An year long work across 600 districts with 6000 thousand grassroots leaders can make a big shift. Instead of those who spend more time as soothsayers, it is important to get back to the ground and rebuild and revitalize the system at the district and sub-district levels.
5) It needs to reinvent the ideology and move in to politics of principles and apply the ideology and principles in real action, beyond empty rhetoric.. It has to move beyond the politics of compromise, co-option and corruption.
Without a clear ideological foundation and clear new vision, the congress party simply can't convince the new generation. It does not help saying it is the old party. The new generation of people are not enchanted by the old establishment.
6) It needs to learn to raise money from the people,rather than from corporates.It needs to attract people who are honest, genuine and willing to work with people, rather than being the cronies of out-dated daddies.
7) It needs to have leaders who come up through real organisational elections.
8) It should learn to shed the semi-feudal culture of patronage It should learn to work beyond factional network to genuine grassroots work.
9) It should learn to bring back those who who moved out for various reasons.
It should also learn to work with opposition parties on the basis of some core principles rather than simply opposing Modi. It should learn to be pro-active rather than reactive.
10) It should strengthen the work of Seva Dal to work with people and genuinely do social work rather than simply career politicians in search of power for the sake of power.
There is no short-cut. Politics is a marathon. The only way to go back to the basics and grassroots .
Only a new generation of leaders can revive congress. Those who now in their twenties to forties and not used to power can make a difference on the ground and in the leadership.
Many people will be dismissive. Many may say that Congress is now beyond repair. Many will say the issue is with leadership.
The issue is with the entire party machine. It is infested with multiple virus of closet sanghies, opportunism, factionalism and big daddies who are outdated.
There is no short-cut or quick win in politics. Tradition does not work with a generation born after 1990. They don't care about old icons. The likes of Digvijay Sing and those of his generation served congress well enough in the 1990s and later. But now they should give way to a new generation of leaders.
The problem is that once the congress networks dissipate and disappear, there is nothing to replace such a national level network now. Congress with all its problems still has a presence in most of the states in India. However, once congress dissipates, the kind of reactive politics that come to its place may create problems for the future of Indian polity and may also lead to new forms crisis.
When one kind of identity politics dominate in an overwhelming manner, there will be number of reactive forms of identity politics. And such reactive identity politics may not follow the basics of democracy or peaceful way of addressing the issues.
And it is time for all social democratic forces, including left to work together, rather than undermining each other
The more the opposition parties undermine each other, the more they become redundant. Unless they see the big picture and bigger crisis the country is facing, they will move in to the dust bin of history.
If they don't see the writings on the wall, they will simply lose the steam in the coming decade. Until they move out of their comfort zone and pet theories and their never ending appetite for power at an cost, they will become redundant.
Old political equations and configurations will not work in the new era.
Once a new hegemony of the neo-conservative forces is established with the support of media, market and middle class, it will be too difficult for the Congress or Left parties to survive India.
And the anti-dote to a oppressive hegemonic politics will be new forms of identity politics that will create problem for the the very integrity and future of India.
Hence, there is a need to reflect, review, renew and revitalize. This is important for the Left Parties, Congress party and all other social democratic forces. Otherwise both the Left Parties and Congress will disappear from the scene within the next ten to fifteen years.
