CONGRESS PARTY

Congress party's fall is like one from heaven to hade. The party which won 364 seats out of 489 in the Lok Sabha election in 1952 fell to an all time low of 44 in a total strength of 545 in 2014. Maharashtra, a strong hold of the party, has finally fallen to a single seat in the last election. Everything is falling apart, nothing goes well with the party. Many faithful members of Congress have moved to BJP and the flow is going on. Many stalwarts have left the party and joined BJP. Of late, Khushbu from TN left congress and joined BJP. She might not hold a large vote bank but the dent created may last long. It is not an easy task to strengthen the party. If at all someone ventures for it, it is going to take years.

An overhauling is necessary for the party. A restructuring is to be done both in the organisation and in the approaches. A general outlook towards Hindus and focused view towards Dalits and Muslims might have given good returns during the early days. At that time Hindus were not a political power group. Jan Sangh or Shiva Sena could drag only a nominal votes towards them. Since the advent of BJP things have changed. Casts and sub casts have become vote banks. If Congress Party is looking for a return to power they have to take these power groups into confidence. It is not an impossible task in Indian politics. For instance, Marathas in Maharashtra, Jats in Haryana, Gujjars in Rajasthan etc should become alliese of the party. Even the smallest subcasts cannot be ignored. It does not mean that politics should be made a religious entity. India is a country of god's and temples. No god or temple can be left unseen. Everyone needs support and those extend the support shall have more with them.

During the long regime since independence the party have gone through a long range of allegations. These together with monetory corruption in the states could stain the party beyond cleanliness. The opposition parties could easily make them a corrupt party in front of the people. Until the new leadership admit this publicly the party cannot easily make a reentry. Further to all these the party should change the approach towards election. The local and regional leaders going to the people during election time cannot canvas even a single vote. These leaders should interact with the people on a 24×365 basis. For every need they should make themselves available for the people. The number of posters, the long writing on the walls or the tall cutouts of the candidates may no more fetch any votes. It is the person to person relation gets converted into votes. Many senior party functionaries are taking rest in New Delhi. They should go around different states and communicate with the people and interact. If they are waiting for loud speaches when election come, they are the people having not learned from past experience. A hierarchy should be created within the party with defined responsibilities with appropriate auditing. If asked no party functionary can answer what productive contribution they could make during the past two years. Change, change and change the style!

KV George

kvgeorgein@gmail.com