Congress
Presidential Election: 01-10-22
In a
new and changing India, Congress needs a fresh face to match the changes
happening around it.
Dr.
Shashi Tharoor and Sri Mallikarjun Kharge are left to compete for the post. The person with maximum support will win and
become Congress President.
Whoever
wins, the revival of the party is possible only if the new person elected holds
the pluralistic idea of India firmly. He should attract youngsters to the party
and its ideals based on the Nehruvian model of development, the four pillars of
Parliamentary democracy, secularism, economic planning, and the policy of
non-alignment. Nehru’s socialistic democracy, as opposed to the Hindu Nation
theory by Sangh Parivar, needs to be the basis for all party policies.
The
grand old party, which is credited with the founding of India and the
Constitution, has more leadership talent across the states with vast experience
and competence in governance than all other combined political parties in
India. This needs to be pooled and utilised in the right direction.
For
democracy in India to survive, the Congress party has to perform as a viable
national opposition party and people should take it as an alternative to the
BJP. The road ahead for the new president and the party is challenging. The
President and his new team have to motivate every worker for their dedication,
determination, and spirit, which is currently not very encouraging.
The
newly elected president’s priority should be to address the organizational
revamp. Some of the areas that need immediate attention, also highlighted by
many well-wishers, are:
1. Governing bodies: Creating governing bodies in
the Central, State, District, and Constituencies A person may only hold one
position; a family may only hold one position/ticket, and all office bearers
and electoral candidates who have lost two consecutive elections must perform
or vacate.
2. Policies: Propagate and promote the
Congress party's legacy, values, and core principles. Continuous membership
campaigns all over India are to be conducted. It should attract youngsters,
women, Dalits, and minorities. Also, care should be taken not to alienate the
majority community. Efforts to create a Congress that will be the political
platform for the masses of India to become their voice and capture their
aspirations should be undertaken.
3. Supporters and voting block: It is reported that
currently, Congress has 20% of India’s entire vote share. Utmost care should be
taken to increase support across the length and breadth of India for the party
and its policies. To double the voter base, continuous developments inside and
outside India have to be studied, analyzed, and policy changes have to be made
from time to time to suit the ground realities. There are changes in voting
patterns, especially among educated unemployed youth and first-time voters.
Unlike traditional voting patterns, the last few elections have shown voters
casting votes across caste or class lines, women coming out in large numbers
and voting on their own, first-time voters coming into the election space
without any pre-commitments, and local issues taking centre stage.
4. Office bearers: Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s caliber
and charisma may be lacking in current leaders, but at least leaders with a
proven track record, good oratorical skills in Hindi and local languages, free
from corruption charges, educated, and without any other family member in party
position should only be considered for party posts. Continuous meetings,
evaluations, discussions, debates, and performance appraisals have to be
conducted by inter-district, interstate, and central committees every six
months.
5. Coalition Politics: Considering the erosion of
workers in certain states, Congress needs to give importance to coalition
politics. However, playing an insignificant role in some states should be
avoided, and it will have to try to fight it alone till considerable strength
is attained.
6. Winning Elections: The new President and his
team have to work overtime to take on the BJP in direct contests in three
states: Manipur, Uttarakhand, and Goa, where elections are being held in the
year 2022, followed by Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat. Here it will be a direct
fight with the BJP. If the Congress manages to make significant gains, it will
strengthen its credentials as a natural leader of the anti-BJP front and open
the door to forming coalitions with regional players.
MVR Menon
Mob: +91
9445333388
Email:mvrmenon@gmail.com
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