A government is in place in Goa. It is perhaps not the government that many expected would take shape after the votes had been counted, but taking support of smaller regional parties it has been formed and later today will be taking a floor test as mandated by the Supreme Court. Unless Congress is able to pull out a rabbit from its hat, the Manohar Parrikar-led government is expected to sail through in the Legislative Assembly. The Supreme Court has been quite clear that Congress should have proved its majority to the Governor, so the party cannot expect to get any further relief from the judiciary.
The question is: Who is responsible for the Congress debacle in Goa, and also Manipur? As the political developments in the two States gets national media coverage, for the first time there is chorus for action from the party’s leadership at the Centre. It has not reached a crescendo and perhaps will not, but that it has begun is a first for the party that otherwise submits to consensus decisions, rarely putting up a fight.
The Congress failure to form a government, after emerging as the single largest party in the Goa Assembly elections, is being seen as a reflection of the lackluster leadership of the AICC Vice-President Rahul Gandhi with even senior Congress leaders finally opening up and speaking of a change. After years in the saddle, and now leading the party’s campaign in the absence of Sonia Gandhi who kept out of the electoral battle due to health issues, Rahul Gandhi has not been able to weave any magic in the party, and the Goa and Manipur fiascos are examples of how the party has been unable to even convert its elections mandates into governments. In both States it emerged as the single largest party quite close to the halfway mark, and in both States it faltered in government formation, making way for a BJP-led coalition.
Congress seniors like MPs Renuka Chowdhary, Kamal Nath and others, who in the past have refrained from criticising the party leadership, have now begun to voice out against their colleagues in the party, with Chowdhury calling the entire episode and suggesting that Digvijay Singh, who is the Congress in- charge in Goa, be sacked as party General Secretary for his failure in installing a Congress government in the State. If more such voices from the Congress follow, it could even lead to a change at the top, which perhaps is what the Congress requires at this stage so as to get its act together.
The Congress miss in Goa is now being seen not so much as a consequence of infighting within the local unit or among its MLAs, but as that of Digvijay Singh not having wrested the initiative and led the party MLAs to the Governor staking claim to form the government. According to senior Congress leaders somebody has to be held accountable for this. Its chief whip in the Rajya Sabha, Satyavrat Chaturvedi, has demanded this. But will Congress do this or will it wait till the issue is forgotten and then close the lid on it without any action?
Congress will have to take some hard decisions before the 2019 Lok Sabha election if it wants to stay in contention in the country. In the next two years it not only needs to pump in more energy into its organisation, but also speed up decision making at crucial moments, so as to not lose the initiative. The Central observers that the party selects should be persons of action who can take quick decisions. In politics 24 hours is a long time and Congress has learnt this to its disadvantage. Change has to come and it has to come from the top.
