When sense eludes Congress: Not cosmetic changes, what it needs is a complete overhaul
Even after the drubbing, Sonia stays on top while state Congress chiefs of losing states lose jobs
So, the Congress party has lost in all five states that went to the polls recently. The rout has been much more than what party workers and at least some leaders had anticipated. But then a debacle of this magnitude is something that calls for the right corrective measures.
And when many in the country, and that include many Congress party leaders too, thought that the top leadership would be overhauled for the better, the party leaders close the high command have decided to continue calling Sonia Gandhi their leader.
Though they know, the blind faith in the top leadership which include Sonia, and her kids Rahul and Priyanka, are mainly responsible for the party’s rout in the elections, they have decided to put in more faith in them and crawl along till another election comes up in front of them.
No sensible decision from Congress top brass yet
The group of 23 dissenting Congress leaders had been calling for change, but they are being shut off by the powers close to the Gandhi family. In short, the Congress remains the same. If one looks deeper to see whether the party has taken corrective measures, it would become clear it indeed has. But how!
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who has got the backing of leaders close to her to continue in the post, has directed the chiefs of the five state units to submit their resignations. The local Congress party chiefs include Ajay Kumar Lallu in Uttar Pradesh, Navjot Singh Sidhu in Punjab, Ganesh Godiyal in Uttarakhand, Girish Chodankar in Goa and Nameirakpam Loken Singh in Manipur.
This is how the Congress president aims to bring accountability into the system. Little does she or her cronies realise that the change should come from the top, and not just sacrificing the losing party unit chiefs alone. Funny is the fact that she hasn’t asked the general secretaries and in-charges of these five states to resign. Significantly, her daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is the secretary-in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, where the Congress was dealt with a body blow by the winning BJP.
This happening at a time when there is hue and cry over reforming the party comes as more worrying. The question remains as to why certain people are being sacrificed when those who should have admitted their failure in keeping the party afloat continues to reign supreme. It is in this context the call by the group of 23 dissenting Congress leaders comes as significant.
Extreme corrective measures are a must
But then, the people in Sonia Gandhi’s circle have been baying for the G23 leaders’ blood. Picking Kapil Sibal for more rebuke, they are attempting to tarnish him for calling out the facts. Congress Chief ministers, including Rajasthan’s Ashok Gehlot and Chhattisgarh’s Bhupesh Baghel have lashed out against Sibal for demanding that the Gandhis should step aside from the leadership role and give some other person a chance. They have even ridiculed Sibal as someone who doesn’t know anything about the party.
If just revamping the state PCC units is all that is known as corrective measures for the party leadership, the Congress is sure to miss the next general elections bus. There would even be no comfortable avenues for the party to even remain in the reckoning. It is high time that someone breathes some sense into the circle that defends the Gandhis. They, not Sibal, should learn the ABC of public sentiment if the party is to find ways to remain afloat.
