As can be expected the Congress’s 84th Plenary session in Delhi on March 17, spent more time talking about the current Prime Minister, Narendra Modi instead of doing an honest soul searching. It’s almost as if the Congress has forgotten its saga of corruption especially during the two tenures of the UPA. Former Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh had defended the UPA’s inability to rein in corruption because of coalition politics. There are many things wrong in the way the Congress has been functioning and continues to function. One of those is its leader’s inconsistent political engagement. Rahul Gandhi who was anointed AICC President some months ago needs to take off for some foreign destination fairly regularly. Recently the Gandhi scion was not around when the election results were announced for the three North Eastern states. This in-absentia leadership is confusing to say the least.
So the Congress has in its Plenary ripped Narendra Modi and his Government to bits. But has the Party spent enough time to honestly answer some burning questions? If the Congress blames the BJP of authoritarianism, the same question can be asked of it. Can anyone in the Congress point a finger at Rahul Gandhi despite his inherent flaws and political gaffes? The answer is No. In India all political parties are run strictly along family, caste and strict hierarchical lines. There is no space for dissent within any of the parties. Every party is so fragile that any attempt at questioning leadership roles raises doubts and fears that the party could collapse. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) revolves around Laloo Yadav and his family. The Bahujan Samaj Party’s visible face is that of Mayawati. The Trinamool Congress is all about Mamata Banerjee. The Shiv Sena is a party of the Thackerays. The Janata Dal (United) is known only by its leader Nitish Kumar. The Left Parties have Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury as prominent visages. The BJP is now a party virtually run by Modi and Amit Shah. Hence inner party democracy is absent across all parties. These much touted party plenary are therefore an exercise in futility. No party has the courage to address its inherent weaknesses until the big fall from grace.