Instead of urging the opposition parties to unite, Congress president Sonia Gandhi would have done well if she had delivered a talk to her party colleagues about the importance of unity. It appears that India’s Grand Old Party has now adopted a path of self-destruction by indulging in unprecedented infighting. Infighting amongst the leaders has already drifted the party into oblivion in many states of the country. What is more worrying is that the party is not free from infighting even in states where the party is in power or is still considered a major political force. In Punjab, dissidents led by cricketer-cum-politician Navjot Singh Sindhu have waged a war against two-time Chief Minister and one of the stalwarts of the party Amrinder Singh. The battle between veteran Ashok Gehlot and Young Turk Sachin Pilot for the last five years has considerably damaged the party’s prospects in Rajasthan. The Congress came to power in Chhattisgarh promising peace in the Maoist-infested state. But at present infighting within the ruling party is causing more worries for the people than Maoist activities. Surely, some concrete steps should be taken to save the party without any delay. But the topmost Congress leaders appear to be reluctant to initiate any steps to revitalise the party.
Infighting is not a recent phenomenon in the Congress. It started to weaken the party back in the mid-sixties. Downsizing leaders like K. Kamraj, Biju Patnaik, Atulya Ghosh and former Prime Minister Morarji Desai by swift political maneuvering, Indira Gandhi became the last word within the party, a culture which was absent during her father’s tenure as the Prime Minister of the country. Under Gandhi’s leadership, the party lost in many state Assembly elections in 1967. That particular defeat started the downfall of the Congress. But that did not deter Indira Gandhi from changing her style of functioning. She continued to pick leaders without any grass roots connections and imposed them on the party. She adopted the practice to ensure an unchallenged stint at the top. But things completely changed after the sad demise of Gandhi as since then the Congress did not find a leader with the same charisma. In the present situation, the party desperately needs a leader who can connect instantly with the masses. But as the so called Congress leaders are not willing to look beyond the Gandhis, the party is suffering from a severe leadership crisis.
Recently, a couple of Congress leaders expressed their displeasure over the functioning of the party in a letter to Sonia Gandhi, only to be termed as traitors by the Gandhi family loyalists. The party has become so weak that 18 parties who participated in a meeting with Sonia Gandhi clearly stated that Congress should work as a partner in the opposition alliance rather than thinking of grabbing the leadership as in 2004 and 2009. If the Congress fails to read the writings on the wall even after such a humiliation, its end will come sooner than later.
