Congress Forces A Reappraisal Of Coalition Dharma

The Delhi polls confirmed that Cong isn't a reliable partner. With INDIA in tatters and regional parties not ready to stay in the Gandhis' shadow, a non-Cong bloc can't be ruled out

- RADHIKA RAMASESHAN

A cry of despair from a Congress sympathiser—who is so passionate about the party's travails that he could be a faceless member in an ocean of sycophants—framed the ills afflicting the Congress far more perceptively than the reams tumbling out of 'informed' analyses following the BJP's comeback in Delhi. But Ranchod Das Chanchad's 'open letter' to Rahul Gandhi on X was likely lost in the pile of emails or old-fashioned epistles reaching Gandhi and his staff. In any case, it's whispered that the Gandhi scion is hostile to even well-intended criticism.

Congress's joyous celebration of AAP's rout—framed as a revenge for Sheila Dikshit's defeat by Arvind Kejriwal in 2015—was intriguing to say the least because the party itself was annihilated in the national capital. Without mincing words, Chanchad posted, "Our obsession with Arvind Kejriwal is misplaced. He didn't destroy Congress in Delhi, our own complacency did."

Among the points Chanchad raised were the "hypocrisy" embedded in Congress's federalism stand that manifested in the party's social media warriors "openly questioning the very existence of regional parties", fixing one's own house before mocking others, and either reinventing the party or fade into oblivion.

In the euphoria over AAP's fade-out, the Congress has not cared to reflect on its own role and conduct in the Delhi polls or even attempt to nail the local leaders who reportedly counselled Gandhi to assail Kejriwal and AAP instead of attacking the BJP.

The Congress's conflicted stand over seeking regional electoral partners has significant implications for the virtually defunct INDIA bloc that beamed a ray of hope in the opposition when it was launched in Bihar in July 2023. It was meant to be a big-tent coalition of 'progressive' federal forces to challenge the BJP-led NDA.