SUNDAY, APRIL 21, 2024
The Congress is a party with absolutely no mettle. Even a casual check tells you that more than 30 leaders across all age groups, across all parts of the country, have left the party. And this is not the list of people who have defected to topple Congress governments. These are both established and younger dynamic leaders who have resigned after being side-lined and out of sheer frustration.
The same feeling of frustration and humiliation is being felt by many senior leaders in Goa. But this is a continuation of a large scale cornering of real loyalists and soldiers and the taking over of unelectable leaders who are now leading the fast disappearing and crumbling Goa Congress to the elections.
This begs the question. How will he lead a party whose very existence as a serious opposition in Goa is in question?
It is led by three times defeated and twice resigned President. After winning 17 seats the party lost each of the seats where its MLAs resigned. Thereafter, the state unit was utterly unable to build itself.
But this is a national ailment. The Congress is not interested in building itself and is unable to find itself. The roll call of resigned leaders gives you a clear picture of the exodus of both senior and younger leaders. What does it tell us? That the senior leaders cannot bear to spend even the few remaining years of their political career, while the younger leaders do not see any hope.
External Affairs Minister in the UPA government, S M Krishna, left in 2018
Veteran Congress leader N D Tiwari left in 2017
Narayan Rane, a former Chief
Minister of Maharashtra, left in 2019
One of the oldest Congressmen from Gujarat and former Chief Minister of the state, Shankersinh Vaghela resigned in 2019.
Former Congress Chief Minister from Uttarakhand, Vijay Bahuguna, former Speaker of the Uttarakhand assembly Yashpal Arya, Haran Singh who served as minister in the Congress government all resigned in 2016.
Former UP State Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who was once a vocal Congress face on television quit in 2017. She followed Jagdambika Pal, yet another Congress president of UP who quit earlier in 2014 and joined the BJP
This year Congress leaders from UP and former Union Minister Jitin Prasada (47) left the party just after Jyotiraditya Scindia (50) who joined BJP last year ahead of by-polls in Madhya Pradesh. In Madhya Pradesh, the younger lot of leaders who have left the Congress include Sumitra Devi Kasdekar (38) and Pradyumna Singh Lodhi (53).
Another very senior leader PC Chacko announced his resignation from the Congress party on March 10. Chacko alleged groupism in the party.
In 2021 children of prominent Gandhi family loyalists started leaving
Prasada and Scindia belong to traditional Congress families. Their fathers Jitendra Prasada and Madhavrao Scindia were the Gandhi family and Congress loyalists to the core. And last month (Aug 2021) Sushmita Deb the daughter of one of Assam’s tallest Congress leaders Santosh Mohan Dev left the Congress and joined the Trinamool Congress.
The party is moving with its eyes wide shut: Kapil Sibal
Sibal was a member of the ‘Group of 23’ leaders who had written to Congress president Sonia Gandhi wanting an organizational restructuring of the party has been demanding that the party be strengthened. After Sushmita Dev left, he urged Sonia Gandhi to strengthen her own party, saying no Opposition unity is possible without it. He tweeted, “Sushmita Dev Resigns from the primary membership of our Party. While young leaders leave we ‘oldies’ are blamed for our efforts to strengthen it. The Party moves on with: Eyes Wide Shut.”
What did Congress do as so much of talent went out of the party? It did nothing. So is the party interested in building or rebuilding? Look at Goa for instance. It is now absolutely clear that the AICC desk in charge of Goa in 2017, Digvijay Singh not only denied but actually came in the way of government formation. What happened after that? That allowed a group of power-seekers, push the man who had led Congress to the doorstep of government formation, to giving up his position as Party president. This group, which even met at the private residence of a continuously party hopping leader, boasted that once Luizinho Faleiro was removed as president, they would form a government in 24 hours. Right now, with the party in the hands of these “24-hour people”, Congress may well be on the road to breaking a record of being out of power for 50 years.
All the leaders who have left have only one word to describe their life in Congress in the later years- Humiliation.
Cong leadership has turned away from reality
It is difficult to understand the political thought process of the state leadership as well as the central leadership which has turned away from reality. When senior leader P Chidambaram was sent to Goa as an election observer and met people, he actually asked those who raised these concerns, “not to speak any further”. When he was specifically asked whether the party would look at further organisational corrections, including changing the present leadership, he said, “No it is all decided.”
For two consecutive days, senior Congressmen are coming out and expressing their pain to the media. On Friday General Secretary Vijai Pai and Secretary Mario Pinto, with decades of service to the party addressed the media. Pai said, “It pains me to see my party sliding down. Pratapsingh Rane, Ravi Naik, Luizinho Faleiro are senior loyal Congressmen. Where are they at the party? Do you even take them into confidence on party matters?”
They said that “unelected people have the biggest posts” and non-Congressmen have been included in various election committees
“The Congress is like a railway platform; everyone just comes and goes”
These were the words spoken by leaders Pinto and Pai commenting on the election season recruitments into the Congress. “These people have come only for tickets not to grow the party,” they said.
The political thought process has no time for real leaders, but only dealers
The manner of ticket distribution, with unknown people joining with senior office bearers having no clue about these joining, new leaders making tall claims and statements, shows the absolute chaos and deal based decision making.
No credible opposition among parties in the fray in Goa
Congress doesn’t have a face and team to take on the BJP. But nor do the current opposition parties either. The Delhi-based party seeking to make inroads still has no leadership face and a local campaign team.
It suits the BJP to have this level of opposition
The Congress has literally shot itself in the foot with a non-existent organisation and weak leadership. With no other credible alternative, Goa needs a revolutionary Tsunami and a credible force with a proven track of uncompromising opposition to the national ruling party across the country.
