There is no doubt that the Congress’s political imprint has been fading in recent years. Electoral setbacks have been far too common. Even the governments it managed to form on its own or as a coalition partner, such as in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, were lost as a result of defection in its rank and file. The party organisation remains in tatters; it is astounding that India’s principal Opposition party, a claim that is being increasingly contested by regional outfits, continues to function without a full-time president. Adding to the Congress’s woes has been what it alleges to be an unprecedented shrinking of the turf for protest along with the unleashing of vendetta politics. Parliament remains in logjam; the media mostly parrot what the ruling regime says; the Congress’s recent protests against price rise were also met by a harsh show of force by the government. Meanwhile, the Congress’s top leadership has been subjected to interrogation by investigative agencies. Little wonder then that the Congress has complained that it finds itself besieged.

Yet, adversity can be a political opportunity. It is undeniable that his poor political record notwithstanding, Rahul Gandhi remains the only consistent voice against the government’s many failures in policy. That the Congress still has the muscle to raise issues that affect public welfare was borne out by the spirited participation of partymen during the protests against the rise in prices. In fact, it can be argued that the ‘besiegement’ seems to have injected some energy in the moribund cadre, pointing to a case for the party to rediscover strategies of public mobilisation. Among the many causes of the Congress’s political decline, the most fundamental of failures have been its inertia to replenish its connection with the electorate as well as the lack of imagination to tap into the newer templates that facilitate people’s movements. In spite of the changing times, some of the old rules of engagement in politics remain the same. As the farmers’ protest showed, renewing a sense of fraternity with citizens still has some effect in a democracy. The Congress’s political revival, if any, has imperatives beyond the narrow ken of politics. The future of Indian democracy lies in the robustness of an Opposition that is willing to take the battle to the government of the day. At the moment, India is a democracy sans Opposition.