THE PARTY IN ITS LABYRINTH

The Udaipur conclave helped highlight the Congress’s many challenges, but it failed to resolve key questions

- SONI MISHRA

Bang in the middle of an offseason, touristy Udaipur witnessed an unusual burst of activity in the sweltering summer heat. Congress leaders from across the country descended on the city on May 13 for the three-day Nav Sankalp Shivir, to brainstorm on how to revive the party.

The route to the conclave’s venue was lined with party flags and posters of leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. Rivalling them in number were saffron flags—symbolic of the Congress’s challenge of redefining its ideology and taking a clear stand on the BJP’s Hindu majoritarian narrative. It also indicated the high probability of the Congress losing Rajasthan, one of only two states it rules, to the saffron party in the assembly polls due next year. The posters, for their part, emphasised the leadership question.

Around 450 Congress leaders went into a huddle at the Taj Aravali on the outskirts of Udaipur. Their phones were taken away from them, as they confronted the three most important questions facing the party—how to tackle the hindutva challenge, the leadership issue, and how to end the electoral drought.