Months ago, Jyotiraditya Scindia had hinted that he was not happy with the Congress. It was clear that the Madhya Pradesh Congress leader was leaning towards the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). So when he did quit the party, which he had been tied to for several decades, and which his father had been with earlier, it came as no surprise. Like his father before him, Scindia was thought of as one of the future claimants to any top position in the party or in the government. He is young, charismatic, articulate and had the capability to lead. But he was not given the opportunity. In the Congress scheme of things, young and ambitious leaders are not promoted, they are sidelined, as the old guard and the Gandhi family tightly hold the party reins.
That is what happened to Scindia and that is when frustration set in. Congress, at the current juncture, cannot afford to lose Scindia and the State Madhya Pradesh. Yet, it has succeeded in losing both mainly by its inaction and by its reluctance to change. For a party that is the principal opposition in the country, the Congress performance has been mostly insipid, whether in Parliament or outside it. Scindia’s departure is a reflection of the leadership’s inability to keep its flock together. The party should have been making attempts to consolidate its position in the States where it has a government, but its ageing leaders who still want to hold on to power will not allow the party to grow.
Will Scindia’s departure be a lesson for the Congress from which to learn and amend its working style? It has young leaders in other States – Rajasthan, Maharashtra come to mind – who are capable of performing at the national level, but have not been given the opportunity to shine at the all India level. In some of these leaders, their dissatisfaction with the party is visible. What is Congress doing to keep them with the party? Scindia’s departure should not lead to an exodus from the party in other States, but should force Congress to bolt its stable doors and keep horse trading from taking place, whereby it will lose more MLAs.
Congress may now be attempting to take the high moral ground, calling it a conspiracy to topple its government in Madhya Pradesh. Toppling attempts and defections are to be condemned. They go against the verdict of the people, they undermine democratic principles. But, Congress has to accept responsibility for creating the ground that allows defections to take place. Whether it be Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka or Goa, the party was unable to retain its MLAs, who made a beeline to the BJP. After Karnataka and Goa did the party undertake any exercise to list the reasons for the MLAs quitting, and then put in corrective measures? It didn’t, though it had eight months to do so. The result, another crisis in Madhya Pradesh.
What next for Congress that struggles to retain its governments in States across the country? It has a wafer-thin majority in Rajasthan and alliances in other States that are political compulsions rather than built and based on strong ideological commonalities – Maharashtra comes to mind. How are the MLAs, already low on morale going to react to the latest broadside? Scindia is not just a leader from Madhya Pradesh but a former Union Minister and a name quite familiar across the country. His departure will rock the Congress boat more than that of the Karnataka or Goa defections. It is time for the party to take a call on its future and its leadership, if it wants to remain relevant in the country. The colour of holi this year may be saffron, but can Congress change the colours in the months ahead?
