Wake Up, Grand Old Party

Regional parties do not add up to a pan-Indian whole. Opposition desperately needs a Congress revamp

- Pavan K Varma

Two myths about the Congress party need to be re-examined. The first is that, given its electoral reversals, it is of little consequence in political calculations.

However, it is sobering to remember that even in its shrunk state, Congress is still the principal opposition in states as far apart as Kerala and Assam. Next to BJP it is the only pan-India party, and even when reduced to just 52 seats in the Lok Sabha in the 2019 parliamentary elections, it garnered 12 crore votes (BJP got 22 crore) and 20% of the electoral vote share.

Secondly, even though the BJP campaign to ridicule Rahul Gandhi has been impactful, the truth is that, personalities apart, the decline of Congress began in 1989, much predating the emergence of both Rahul and Narendra Modi.

Since the government of Rajiv Gandhi, Congress has never been in power at the Centre with an absolute majority. When in power, it has ruled either as a minority party, in the term of Narasimha Rao, or in coalition during the UPA years.

The reasons for this consistent decline are many: The migration of the traditional Congress voter to other parties; the rise of strong regional parties; the renewed emergence of BJP; and the lack of leadership, organisation, planning and strategic vision within the Congress party.