My sincere apologies to Pink Floyd and to all his fans if the title reminds you of ‘We Don’t Need No Education!’ The number is a powerful and iconic protest song that carries a strong anti-establishment message. The song was the slogan for all those who felt alienated by traditional schooling practices! The Congress Party mis-read the purpose of the number and tried to adapt it to its own needs!
We don’t need no education
We don’t need no thoughts at all
No ideas or ideology in the party
People leave us Congressi’s alone…
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Political parties are vital arteries in a healthy democracy, channelling public opinion and shaping policy. However, a party's failure to adapt to societal shifts and maintain a coherent ideology can lead to significant consequences, weakening its influence and potentially destabilizing the political landscape. The birth and growth of the Congress party has for long been of interest to me. The way I see it today, the inevitable death of the party is pretty much a foregone conclusion. I do believe that its tombstone should read ‘Out of Date, Out of Luck”. There is indeed a method to its inherent madness.
Yesterday, I was part of an interesting conversation regarding the Congress and how its lack of ideology and its incessant dependency on a specific family is responsible for its downfall. I do believe that it is not the lack of ideology, but the fact that its existence all along depended on not having one. An organisation that brought together a disparate set of leaders who at one point in time perhaps had a single goal, slowly dissipated to a bunch of folks who came together for the Sunday dinner pretending to be a family of sorts.
The Indian National Congress, once the dominant force in Indian politics, has experienced a significant decline in recent decades. Attributing this decline to a single factor is an oversimplification. It is a combination of various things that went wrong - a mishmash of strategic missteps, leadership issues, and a steady erosion of its supposedly core ideology have all contributed to its waning influence.
It started off with the Congress positioning itself as a centrist, inclusive party carrying the flag of secularism, social justice, and planned economic development. This blurred over a period of time. The rise of identity politics, coupled with inconsistent messaging and a drift away from its traditional base, has consistently created confusion among the voters about what Congress truly stands for. This vacuum has made it difficult for the party to counter the narratives of its political opponents. The gaffes, the silences, and the constant search for words is a classic representation of this vaccum.
Leadership Challenges and Dynastic Politics is the illness that the party needs to treat. The Congress party has been heavily associated with the Nehru-Gandhi family for generations. Critics say that this lineage once provided stability and a unifying force, and that today it has also become a liability. I do believe that it is not an over-reliance on dynastic succession; but the inability of a significant group within the party to stand up for what is right and essential. They have travelled from Giving in to Giving up! And at no point time has anyone stopped to ask – What gives!
Over-reliance on dynastic succession has stifled internal talent, discouraged dissent, and created a sense of entitlement within the party. This has led to accusations of nepotism and a lack of accountability, further damaging its credibility. The accusations are not only from outside the party, but from within too! So, now we see an entire cadre that knows what the problem is and doesn’t take any steps to do anything about it. The fundamental of any democracy is the individuals ability to give voice to his / her thoughts. The absence of this voice is an indication of the absence of democracy.
Inability to Adapt to a Changing India is yet another issue with the party. Our country has undergone significant economic and social transformations in recent decades. The world’s largest economy that has made phenomenal strides in various avenues especially in the digital space. Any specific reason then, that the party continues to keep “addressing poverty” front and centre” Are we still that poor a nation as we were about 50yrs back? Or is it just an inability to find anything else that can also be of importance??
A complete disconnect from the realities of rural India, a failure to effectively address issues of unemployment and inequality, and a slow and meaningless response to the rise of Hindu nationalism have further alienated key segments of the electorate.
The decline of the Congress party is not one bit a complex phenomenon stemming from a confluence of factors. It’s a representation of an organisation that very consciously picks up a gun with the hope to aim at the enemy; fails to acknowledge that it doesn’t know how to shoot. In its attempt to fire, turns the barrel towards itself and pulls the trigger and misses consistently!!!!
Must say it’s an awesome write up ma’am, here are my thoughts might sound naive, I go back to 1997 as a first time voter in Calcutta Municipal Corporation elections, at the centre coalition governments with Devegowda and IK Gujral playing musical chair after 16 days tenure of AB Vajpayee in 1996 as PM, while at state Jyoti Basu completed 20 years as CM who ensured Congress didn’t have the numbers ever after Siddharth Shanakar Ray in the state while their leaders Ajit Panja (brother a famous doctor) Priya Ranjan Das Munshi (Headed Football association) , young leaders like Somen Mitra,Subrata Mukherjee and Mamta Banerjee were happy within their pockets most industries had already left the state due to bandha and trade union issues as a first time voter I felt time to vote for change while the local councillor (Paresh pal)was a hard working congress candidate who woke up and did rounds of the wards on his bicycle everyday at 5 am to check the cleaning of the streets and the local parks were maintained now cut to 1998 Mamta banerjee formed TMC and joined the Vajpayee government as minister same Happed with NCP YSRCP TDP (only non congress
ReplyDeleteParty to win 30) seats in 1984 being formed as regional parties as they understood they cannot survive under the hand symbol any more. Rajiv Gandhi had a massive mandate 404 seats out of 514 however even after 37 years of independence he was speaking abt gareebi hatao all knew its been gareeb hatao and his trade mark - hume dekhna hain, hum dekhenge kinda speeches,. Now cut to 2024 in one of the board room meetings one of the clients was but worked up as he wasn’t getting a concrete action plan to address the issue on hand, he said “dnt give me statements like Rajiv Gandhi that we shall over come, I need a date when this will be resolved!” Imagine the impact on an entire generation of the lethargic leader on the commoners that he was being quoted even 33 after his assassination. I can compare congress to a nawab from India. History - nawab Wahid ali shah of Lucknow who was captured and sent packing however as shown in Satyajit Ray’s classic Shatranj ke khiladi the nawab was busy enjoying a game of chess while the Britishers were knocking at the door - he was far away from reality and when he was annexed he settled in kolkata at matiya burj with the 12 lacs per annum he was getting from the British he lived a life which he though was luxury while the chef in the royal kitchen replaced the meat piece with a big potato in the biryani to manage the quantity , that’s congress today for me
Wow.... ! Amazing analogy and great connects. Thanks for reading and responding.
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