A great piece of orchestral music is a confluence of several factors. First, there is the music itself as set down in the notes. Then there is the mutual agreement and coordination among the musicians for without everyone being on the same page, the team risks disharmony. Finally, there is the actual performance. The Congress cannot hide the fact that it is currently a poor orchestra. The proof is there in the music, and we all hear it.

The predicament the Congress finds itself in is one of shrinking political space and the erosion of public faith in the party. The middle/moderate ground it stands for is no longer the preferred refuge of many. The middle space is shrinking for a reason. Right-wing forces have never shied away from adopting polarizing stances. For their political opponents and the people at large, the result resembles firefighting: extreme politics are intense fires. The moderates among the firefighters are losing significance; that’s how the middle space fades. Wrecking the middle space is part of the BJP’s strategy. Right-wing politics, however, strengthens the case for its political opposite — the left-wing. The ruling disposition is aware of this paradox; that is probably why it actively hunts Left sympathizers. The BJP’s strategy has been — shrink the middle space, corner the Left, cultivate a landscape for the Right and its hangers-on. Under such circumstances, you could resign to playing free market with democratic politics. You can argue that the Opposition will sort itself out naturally and, eventually, produce a credible alternative. However there is a danger.

In their extreme avatars, neither the political Right nor the political Left is naturally democratic. The right-wing in India has amply and unapologetically shown its appetite for insensitivity and authoritarianism. Because its footprint in India never matched that of the BJP, the Left parties have isolated incidents of similar weakness being exposed. In states where they enjoyed political power, there have been instances of excess. However, as a marginal Opposition, mainstream Left parties — not the fringe ones — are compelled to be democratic. The Left has not been guilty of an Emergency like the Congress or of polarizing politics and divisive rule like the BJP. If the Right was to continue its current streak and the Left was to get empowered through progressive clearing of the middle space, then there is the danger of reducing our choice to one of two formations inclined to authority and differentiated only by ideology. If our goal is a modern, liberal, inclusive and democratic society, then we need moderates from both sides as prime choice with enough mutual distinction for them.

Although the Congress along with some other Opposition parties has, of late, attempted to compete with the BJP in stridency, its actual value to the Opposition is as a moderating force and a pan-India glue. Additionally, while many corporates love the BJP, when it comes to a similar connect in the Opposition the easiest choice is the Congress. The connect matters because even though democracy and politics are people-based on paper, you need resources to fight elections. Even if you avoid corporate funding for being a corruptive influence on the system, you can’t avoid the GDP brigade. The BJP, once again, has followed a scorched earth policy here. In a bid to secure itself, it has encouraged leading corporates to create a cozy club. From the ranks of the Opposition, it is the Congress that is best placed to counter this; not because it is morally superior but because it knows the club, having been there before. But the question that is clear to the electorate is this: do these values give the Congress the right to dominate the Opposition? Or is the Congress more useful as a functional component within an Opposition fronted by parties capable of fighting and winning elections?

Any move to take on the BJP will have to be two-pronged. The first step should be to fight the elections; do what it takes to evolve a convincing message, communicate it to the people, and encourage them to vote. If they are serious, Opposition parties will have to make great sacrifices in this regard. The Congress, for example, may have to accept that it is a party in rehabilitation, refrain from thirsting for political power and, instead, have its politicians provide their voice to the larger direction agreed to by a combined Opposition. In other words, it has to actively play a supporting role till the middle space and its own link to ground reality are nursed back to a viable scale. The Opposition needs an excellent secretariat, which addresses the bandwidth spanning voters to corporates. This is something the Congress can contribute to provided it shakes off the residual vanity stemming from being India’s grand old party.

The second step is that of government formation should a future election grant these parties such an opportunity. Parties that refrain from making this exercise murky will genuinely gain the respect of the people, especially of those in the electorate wishing for an end to right-wing rule. For the Congress, focus shouldn’t be the next national election that an Opposition manages to win but the polls thereafter. It is a measure of how challenging the path ahead is and how much the Congress needs to restructure. First the musical notes, then the orchestra, and only after that a maestro, if there is one.