The 2020 political satire Irresistible, directed by The Daily Show host John Stewart revolved around the possibility of getting those who identified themselves as Republicans to vote for the Democrats in the US. The anti-climax notwithstanding, Irresistible offered a thought-provoking premise – that your voting choices may not always reflect your personal convictions.
In the Indian context, this sheds light on how the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could double its vote share from 18.80% to 37.46% in a decade from 2009 to 2019. Many reasons – including the elevation of Narendra Modi – could be attributed for the dramatic shift; but, for a party that was dubbed a ‘party of banias‘ by Indira Gandhi, the way the BJP has come to replace Indian National Congress as the central pole of Indian polity needs more scrutiny.
Of course, one could argue that the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, the precursor to the BJP, had 93 seats, making up nearly a third of the Janata Party tally in 1977, but even in the mid-eighties, L.K Advani in an interview to the Organiser had pointed out how parties with strong ideological moorings such as the Left parties and the BJP could not cross a certain threshold.
Even as the Ram Janmabhoomi movement helmed by Advani helped the BJP improve its prospects drastically, it still found itself far behind the Congress – until it turned the tide in 2014 under Narendra Modi. Having broad-based the party among the ‘upper’ castes and various other formations, Narendra Modi’s Other Backwards Class status also contributed to the BJP coming to power on its own for the first time in 2014, combined with the ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas (with everyone, development for everyone)’ pitch.
In turn, the Congress, for all its claims of being an umbrella party, fell behind on account of a steady erosion of vote banks, varying from state to state.
Prime Minister Modi in Mathura in 2015. Photo: PTI
Even then it is a paradox as to how the BJP, predominantly an ‘upper’ caste party, with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as its ideological fountainhead, managed to make inroads among various marginalised communities. The fact is that the BJP has managed to convert a significant section of people that otherwise vote for the Congress to switch. As much as it is a reflection of the power of propaganda – hard-selling an aggressive nationalist pitch with Modi as its mascot – it should also be seen as the failure of the Congress to keep its base together.
It is then important to ponder what gives the Congress an electoral edge regardless – or, to ask, why would a young man or woman (the demographic dividend also coming into this equation) vote for such a party today?
The Indian National Congress, for all its weaknesses, is what comes closest to being India’s liberal party. Being a liberal party means identifying with a host of issues affecting today’s youth, but that is only a starting point.
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The bigger question is how to bring the voters who deserted the party in the first place back into its fold.
However, another, more recent, issue stares us in the face with the spate of desertions from the Congress. Rahul Gandhi seems to think that large-scale desertions would make the Congress more coherent, and worse still, he seems hell-bent on easing out as many seniors as possible. Unlike Indira Gandhi, who split the party on her own in 1969 and 1978, Rahul Gandhi is daring the dissidents to break ranks, thus trying to shape the party he inherited to his liking.
For any political party, spreading its message to the widest possible base is a primary goal – even the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Kerala has, since the time of E.M.S Namboothirippad, attempted to cater to hitherto impenetrable groups, trying to shape the political discourse to this end. And then there is Rahul Gandhi, alienating leaders representing various communities forming important blocs of voters into quitting. It’s a no-brainer that one cannot cater to more sections of people by simply letting go of leaders who served decades in the party.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressing an election rally in West Bengal. Photo: Facebook/Gandhi.
There is a somewhat strange hypothesis among certain well-wishers of the Congress that it needs to shed some ‘flab’ – read, leaders who are past their sell-by date. The stage has been set for them to exit in hordes. Talented personnel in the Congress ranks continue to be the envy of its political rivals, even if the grand old party fails to utilise the abilities of these leaders to its advantage. Taking into account the utility that each of them brings to the table, it should only be logical to imagine the loss endured in the process of their exits.
The major reason leading to these desertions – apart from successive electoral setbacks and poor leadership – is an acute lack of consultations within the party. If one were to read some of the political biographies of Congress leaders past and present, it would bring to the fore the kind of day-to-day involvement of Sanjay and Rajiv Gandhi on party affairs. Contrast that with Rahul Gandhi’s aloofness and notorious inaccessibility.
Any democratic political party is supposed to have an apex body comprising its top leaders, which, in the Congress’s past tradition came through after an internal election process. Today, nobody seems to have any clue on how decisions are taken, or who exactly takes them, with an ailing Sonia Gandhi occupying the president’s chair for over three years, after taking charge on an interim basis. If the charges in Ghulam Nabi Azad’s letter are to be taken at face value, the cabal surrounding Rahul Gandhi plays a vital role in decision-making – something that does not bode well for the party.
J&K Congress leaders outside the residence of former party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, after their resignation from the party in New Delhi, Friday, Aug. 26, 2022. Photo: PTI.
Going back to the question of reclaiming its traditional base, it requires leadership and clear messaging. If the opponent is appealing to the baser instincts of voters, it can only be countered by spreading hope and positivity. The Congress needs to introspect what it has to offer to different demographic groups. It needs to convince voters that they are not natural voters of the BJP. The party should ideally offer a perch to the largest possible base although it would have to position itself as the ideological opposite of the saffron party.
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Nothing is achieved by weeding out senior leaders. Ideally, Congress should be appealing to its one-time leaders such as Mamata Banerjee, Sharad Pawar and Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to enter into some kind of arrangement with it to avert friendly contests after its stinging defeat in 2019. It was, in fact, the Congress that torpedoed a coalescing of opposition parties by fielding its leader against a national ally in that election.
A man is supposed to be judged by the company he keeps and, if Rahul Gandhi shuns consultation, it does not cast him in a good light. The Gandhi scion’s positions have also been reminiscent of an ideologue’s than a politician’s, leaving many to wonder if he is actually interested in ever holding a political office. As to the question of ideology, Congress is far too liberal a party to make whoever is eventually left to fall in line with a single strand of thought.
