After success in Bihar as a member of the grand alliance, party has its task cut out in the next round of polls
Anuja
Political analysts say the Congress is in transition and will have to recalibrate its priorities to suit the immediate agenda. Photo: AP
New Delhi: The surprise win for the Congress in Bihar has undoubtedly rallied the party cadre for now. It is cold comfort; the party managed to win 27 seats in the state only as a junior partner in the grand alliance dominated by the Janata Dal (United) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal.
After suffering a humiliating defeat in the 2014 general election, when it was reduced to 44 seats in the Lok Sabha, the Congress has suffered back-to-back defeats in all the assembly elections, with its worst performance in Delhi—a state it ruled for three consecutive terms—where the party drew a blank.
Replaced by the BJP as the principal pole of Indian politics, Congress, for the time being at least, is willing to compromise and accept a lesser role in any alliance based on a common cause: fighting the BJP challenge.
While this strategy worked in Bihar, it won’t be easy to emulate in the next round of assembly elections—West Bengal, Kerala, Assam, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu—in 2016 where the BJP is not the principal force.
Also, it will have to deal with contradictions; for example, if it aligns with the Left in West Bengal, it will face a piquant situation in Kerala, where the Left is the principal rival of the party.
These are questions the grand old party has never had to address previously. The dramatic shrinking of its electoral footprint is forcing the Congress to undertake a reality check as it prepares a blueprint for its revival. Even as recently as the 1980s, it was in power in 17 out of 25 states; in contrast, even if we include Bihar, it is only in power in 10 of the 29 states.
“It is true that changed electoral situations have called for revisiting our political strategies, but as a key political party, we need to take such chances. Congress has to fight for its revival, whether it comes from contesting elections alone or going in for alliances. It is true that at the state level, we may be piggybacking, but at the national level, we are leading the opposition,” said a senior party leader who did not wish to be named.
The party’s top leadership is aware of the risks underlying the strategy of being a junior partner in a political alliance. It will have to reconcile itself to a lesser role. For instance, in Bihar, it had to make do with only 41 of the 243 seats, leaving several reg-ions out of its electoral reach.
“Building the party is one thing and contesting elections is another; one does not hamper the other. We will look at forming alliances wherever necessary given that it does not contradict our ideological positions. It is not like we are riding on someone else’s glory. Let’s not forget that even in Bihar elections, the alliance would not have been possible without the Congress,” a second party leader said, requesting anonymity.
The dip in fortune and being seen as a smaller player has forced it to change its strategies—being open to forming alliances rather than contest alone and lose, as happened in Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Jammu & Kashmir over the past one year.
But the choice, as party leaders admit, is not going to be that simple. “Both TMC (Trinamool Congress) and CPM (Communist Party of India-Marxist) are an option and both are equally problematic. West Bengal elections will happen around the same time as Kerala. We cannot oppose the CPM in Kerala and come back and ask for votes together in Bengal. With the TMC, we will be reduced to a very few seats to contest as it is an incumbent party which is pretty confident of returning back to power. We will wait and watch,” a Congress leader said, also speaking on condition of anonymity.
Political analysts say the Congress is in transition and will have to recalibrate its priorities to suit the immediate agenda.
“What is important now for the Congress is not to see what is a larger picture. Instead, what is of utmost importance right now is simple survival, even if it means teaming up with a regional political party by getting just a couple of seats in its share,” said Jai Mrug, a Mumbai-based political analyst. “It is no longer impossible for the Congress party to accept the fact that it plays a second fiddle. It was reconciled to that soon after the general elections last year.”
Anuja
Political analysts say the Congress is in transition and will have to recalibrate its priorities to suit the immediate agenda. Photo: AP
New Delhi: The surprise win for the Congress in Bihar has undoubtedly rallied the party cadre for now. It is cold comfort; the party managed to win 27 seats in the state only as a junior partner in the grand alliance dominated by the Janata Dal (United) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal.
After suffering a humiliating defeat in the 2014 general election, when it was reduced to 44 seats in the Lok Sabha, the Congress has suffered back-to-back defeats in all the assembly elections, with its worst performance in Delhi—a state it ruled for three consecutive terms—where the party drew a blank.
Replaced by the BJP as the principal pole of Indian politics, Congress, for the time being at least, is willing to compromise and accept a lesser role in any alliance based on a common cause: fighting the BJP challenge.
While this strategy worked in Bihar, it won’t be easy to emulate in the next round of assembly elections—West Bengal, Kerala, Assam, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu—in 2016 where the BJP is not the principal force.
Also, it will have to deal with contradictions; for example, if it aligns with the Left in West Bengal, it will face a piquant situation in Kerala, where the Left is the principal rival of the party.
These are questions the grand old party has never had to address previously. The dramatic shrinking of its electoral footprint is forcing the Congress to undertake a reality check as it prepares a blueprint for its revival. Even as recently as the 1980s, it was in power in 17 out of 25 states; in contrast, even if we include Bihar, it is only in power in 10 of the 29 states.
“It is true that changed electoral situations have called for revisiting our political strategies, but as a key political party, we need to take such chances. Congress has to fight for its revival, whether it comes from contesting elections alone or going in for alliances. It is true that at the state level, we may be piggybacking, but at the national level, we are leading the opposition,” said a senior party leader who did not wish to be named.
The party’s top leadership is aware of the risks underlying the strategy of being a junior partner in a political alliance. It will have to reconcile itself to a lesser role. For instance, in Bihar, it had to make do with only 41 of the 243 seats, leaving several reg-ions out of its electoral reach.
“Building the party is one thing and contesting elections is another; one does not hamper the other. We will look at forming alliances wherever necessary given that it does not contradict our ideological positions. It is not like we are riding on someone else’s glory. Let’s not forget that even in Bihar elections, the alliance would not have been possible without the Congress,” a second party leader said, requesting anonymity.
The dip in fortune and being seen as a smaller player has forced it to change its strategies—being open to forming alliances rather than contest alone and lose, as happened in Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Jammu & Kashmir over the past one year.
But the choice, as party leaders admit, is not going to be that simple. “Both TMC (Trinamool Congress) and CPM (Communist Party of India-Marxist) are an option and both are equally problematic. West Bengal elections will happen around the same time as Kerala. We cannot oppose the CPM in Kerala and come back and ask for votes together in Bengal. With the TMC, we will be reduced to a very few seats to contest as it is an incumbent party which is pretty confident of returning back to power. We will wait and watch,” a Congress leader said, also speaking on condition of anonymity.
Political analysts say the Congress is in transition and will have to recalibrate its priorities to suit the immediate agenda.
“What is important now for the Congress is not to see what is a larger picture. Instead, what is of utmost importance right now is simple survival, even if it means teaming up with a regional political party by getting just a couple of seats in its share,” said Jai Mrug, a Mumbai-based political analyst. “It is no longer impossible for the Congress party to accept the fact that it plays a second fiddle. It was reconciled to that soon after the general elections last year.”
