Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s stern message to party leaders emphasising the importance of accountability and commitment to the party’s ideology could not have been timelier. He has spoken out at a time when the grand old party is going through the thick of an existential crisis after the rout in the Delhi elections where the Congress scored a ‘triple bagel’ in drawing a blank for the third successive time.
Why the party has been facing this big slide after the somewhat invigorating verdict of the Lok Sabha polls in 2024 when it nearly doubled its tally to come close to the 100-seats mark and seemed to justify its leadership role in the INDI alliance has never been properly introspected.
In a party where the directions invariably come from the top down, regional leaders have faced the problem of communicating to the high command what they are picking up from the grassroots level. The chasm between the top and state leaders must close if the party is to recapture the days when it was open to the freedom of expression of views.
A recent event in Kerala where even a leader of the stature of Shashi Tharoor was struggling to get the ear of the party top brass — who invariably, and perhaps inevitably, are from the Nehru-Gandhi family — and only on writing an article in praise of the LDF government was he invited to meet Rahul Gandhi is illustrative of a total lack of communication within the party.
What should make an impact from among Mr Kharge’s warnings is the one regarding office-bearers who he said will from now on be held accountable for poll results. Accountability was never a priority in the party’s functioning as the positions of top leaders were impermeable to poll results. That might not change given the party’s top-heavy structure, but those below may have to take up their tasks far more seriously.
Up against a ruling BJP with an impressive track record of winning polls by working diligently upwards from the booth level, the Congress got a wake-up call from its president not to give up on mobilising people’s support and to fight for people’s issues for years to come. There is much ground to cover if the party is to regain its stature of old, get in touch again with the people and act at least as a more effective Opposition sorely needed in a functioning democracy.
