It is normal for the President of a national political party to visit a state that is election bound. Amit Shah the BJP President has come and gone and will possibly return as the heat and dust rises. Meghalaya is going to the polls on February 27 and Rahul Gandhi, the newly anointed President of the Indian National Congress is arriving in Shillong today (Jan 30) to consult and confer with party workers about the poll prospects of the Party in Meghalaya. Mr Gandhi is expected to enthuse party workers who seem demoralized, especially after senior Congress MLAs and leaders of the Mahila Congress abandoned the Party to join the National Peoples’ Party (NPP) led from the front by late PA Sangma’s son, Conrad Sangma, a young leader who knows the politics of Meghalaya like the back of his hand. Rahul Gandhi is visiting Meghalaya at a crucial moment in its history. The state is set to elect representatives to the 10th Assembly, which is a milestone in itself.
What is curious is why Rahul Gandhi acceded to be an audience at a musical concert at the Polo Ground when he is burdened by more pressing issues of tackling the lethargy and desolation that has gripped his Party for a while now. Led by an octogenarian who does not speak to the media unless he is spoken to, the party machinery is not geared to meet the present challenges. The Congress has been on the back-foot. The leadership change in the Meghalaya Congress came too late in the day. The Party is not cadre-based and has not been able to keep the flock together at the primary units which have all but disintegrated. In the absence of dynamic leadership many grassroots workers have decided to sit out and not involve themselves. Besides, the propensity of the Congress party to promote sycophants while sidelining genuine workers has been its nemesis. It is unfortunate that the Party does not learn from its mistakes. After the tickets were announced for 57 seats, those whose names did not feature in the list have walked out with their supporters. Hence the Blocks in some constituencies have virtually disintegrated and have to be rebuilt from scratch. This is not a happy situation for any Party. With so much on his plate, how could Rahul Gandhi enjoy a musical performance, you wonder? Or is the pressure so intense that Gandhi has to take time off to listen to the promised music of peace?