CONGRESS READIES TO PIVOT

The party’s moves to jettison allies and rebuild its own poll machinery expose the competing dynamics in the INDIA bloc, blunting the Opposition challenge and the Congress’s place within it

- KAUSHIK DEKA

While the world was busy celebrating Christmas on December 25, Congress treasurer Ajay Maken was holding a press conference in New Delhi. A former Union minister known for his proximity to the Gandhi family, Maken launched into a scathing critique of Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal. Calling the former Delhi chief minister "anti-national", he blamed him for the worsening political and administrative situation in the national capital. "If there's one word for Kejriwal," Maken declared, "it's Farziwal (fraud)."

What was left unsaid, and has long been a grouse with local Congressmen, is that AAP's rise came at their expense in Delhi. Maken's criticism extended to the dynamics within INDIA or the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, the broader Opposition bloc. Calling the alliance with AAP a "mistake", he said it had tarnished the Grand Old Party's credibility.

This public denunciation, along with the decision to release a white paper detailing AAP's administrative failures, signal a big shift in the party's strategy-a pivot away from depending on coalitions to rebuilding its own electoral machinery. Two weeks later, Maken's offensive received public endorsement from the Congress high command, with leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi holding Kejriwal responsible for the "rising corruption and pollution" in Delhi, and even drawing a parallel between the AAP leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing both of making false promises.

Mamata's push for the leadership of the INDIA bloc has found backing from allies like Sharad Pawar, Lalu Prasad, which has irked the Congress