The Assembly election results may have reduced the despondency in the Congress but many leaders are talking about the party’s inability to exploit the widespread economic and social distress in the country, enabling the BJP to survive.
Although no one is willing to strike a discordant note at a time the results have been disappointing for the BJP, many senior leaders privately wondered if state governments defying such strong discontent was not a reflection of shortcomings in the Congress.
The split in Dalit and Muslim votes caused by parties such as Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi and Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM clearly points to the Congress’s failure, they said.
The Aghadi ensured the defeat of Congress-NCP candidates in at least 25 constituencies in Maharashtra even though it did not have an alliance with the AIMIM this time, unlike the general election. Every Congress leader from Maharashtra and the high command knew this would happen but did not act. Instead, as in the general election, they are citing astronomical figures that changed hands to ensure this split in votes.
While the Aghadi is limited to Maharashtra, the AIMIM has spread its presence across the country — the Congress candidate in the Kishanganj bypoll in Bihar was felled by Owaisi’s man. In Assam, the Congress is grappling with a similar crisis in the form of Badruddin Ajmal’s AUDF. Earlier, the Congress’s Dalit support base had shifted en bloc to the BSP while the upper castes moved to the BJP.
Asked why Dalits and Muslims prefer other smaller outfits to the Congress, a senior leader said on condition of anonymity: “There are two reasons. One, the Congress believes that votes will come to the party by default even if it does not establish credible local networks and constantly give voice to their causes. That’s a false presumption, it has been proven time and again. But the disconnect persists. The second reason is the ability of smaller caste or religion-based outfits to take more strident and explicit positions that the centrist Congress can’t take. The Congress is doomed to be the loser in a polarised atmosphere.”
Another leader said: “Our organisational infirmities are the primary cause of our inability to tap the people’s discontent. While the BJP has created a committed vote-bank with its unabashed Hindutva project and constant feeding of misinformation through social media, the Congress has no such cemented blocks of support. It has to connect, to give voice to the people, to stand with the distressed farmers, to convince the youth that it will deliver on jobs. Our outreach is adequate neither on the field nor on social media.”
The message put out by the party’s official Twitter handle suggests it is happy with the consolation prize: “Election results have shown support of people in our fight to save democracy. People of Maharashtra & Haryana have brought balance back to democracy & voiced their right with profound strength. We will continue to fight for people’s issues! Jai Hind.”
Asked about the party’s inability to exploit the ground realities, senior leader A.K. Antony said: “Don’t be unduly worried about the Congress. The media predicted a washout for the Congress and a BJP sweep. Now they try to create an impression that the better show by the Congress is because of circumstances. If it is bad, you blame the (Nehru-Gandhi) family.”
Most other leaders are happy ridiculing the media for their false projections of a sweep by the BJP in both states.
The Congress on Friday announced a programme on social media called ‘Desh Ki Baat,’ in which they will talk about burning issues. A message on the official Twitter handle said: “The election results have given a clear message that it is time to talk about people’s issues. It is the responsibility of Congress party to raise these issues and do Desh Ki Baat. The social media campaign starting tomorrow will focus on issues like economy, agrarian crisis, unemployment, crime, administrative lapses and wrong policies of the government.”
