On Monday, Shashi Tharoor while speaking to the media said that the vacuum created by Rahul Gandhi’s resignation as Congress Party Chief should be filled up because the inordinate delay in naming Rahul’s successor is harming the Party even as people are deserting it for greener pastures. The pragmatic Tharoor said what everyone would readily agree with which is that even if Priyanka Gandhi takes over the reins she should be elected, not selected to the top post. The Congress Party which has, for decades, disallowed free expression has naturally taken umbrage. Senior Congress leaders feel that Tharoor should not have gone public with his statement about the Party’s internal affairs. But what Tharoor stated is a fact! The Congress has become a rudderless ship today.
Anyone who listened to Tharoor speak will agree that he meant well. It must be frustrating for every Congress worker to live in this vacuum for over eight weeks now. The recent Karnataka drama which might well be replicated in other Congress-ruled states all reflect the Congress Party’s inability to rein in its MLAs because of the absence of any leader of stature to stem the attrition. The Congress party has been known to ride the wave of sycophancy. No one is willing to do a serious introspection on why the Party has failed to steer the electoral ship and what is needed for the Party to pull itself out of the morass after its second humiliation in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The absence of a strong opposition in Parliament today is also attributed to the inability of the Congress to pull its weight and reinvent itself. It is failing the people of India by its inability to counter the ruling party even in the passage of the amendments to the Right to Information Act.
That Tharoor is isolated after he made that statement shows that the Congress is light miles away from reforming itself and encouraging inner-party democracy, although a small section of those who stand with Tharoor say that he is only reflecting the overwhelming sentiment felt by Congress’s rank and file. The most serious challenge the Congress has to face is the six assembly by-elections to be held soon, as a result of some MLAs contesting the Lok Sabha polls.
Shashi Tharoor is one of the few free-thinkers in the Congress who is not given to sycophancy. Perhaps he is also disillusioned by the fact that during the Lok Sabha election campaign he received little or no support from his Party. Tharoor had in fact complained to the High Command about this. This does not speak too well about the general health of the Congress Party