The Congress party’s travails require no elaboration. The setbacks to its existence have been many, the latest being the abrupt resignations of Ghulam Nabi Azad in Jammu and Kashmir and Anand Sharma in Himachal Pradesh from Committees they were earlier appointed to . Notably, both are stalwarts with long years in leadership and leading faces of the G-23 group of reformists seeking elections at all levels in the Congress. Both feel they have been ignored and slighted by the party. Sharma says he would remain a Congressman forever, but one doesn’t know. Azad is likely to form a regional outfit for Jammu and Kashmir as per some reports. Notably, with the Congress party failing to pick a president for so long, the mood in the Congress is one of desperation. Sonia Gandhi’s health problems make her continuation as interim president difficult. The “rudderless” status of the principal opposition party is music to the ruling BJP’s ears. Thus, a fear among the Congress ranks today is that the “exits” crisis in the party could snowball.
It is still difficult to write off the Congress. The grand old party has been edged out of power in almost all states since the rise of the BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Regional parties captured power in several states and thrived at the cost of the Congress. The tri-colour party now rules no more than two states – Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh – though it remains as a strong Opposition in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. The eyes of political analysts are set on the assembly elections due in several states in the coming months. If not for the Congress’ own merit, a possible anti-incumbency wave can be advantageous to the party. If the party wins some of these states, it can act as a morale boost to Congressmen. This can be the springboard on which the party can launch itself on to the 2024 Parliament polls, or general elections.
While the complacency of the Congress establishment is there for all to see, several situations today are to the advantage of the BJP. The presence of Modi at the apex is one. As opinion polls showed, he towers over other leaders. The national economy is in revival mode when economies of neighbouring countries as also of the US are struggling in the post-Covid phase. As of now, there exists no anti-incumbency mood against the BJP or Modi. Point to note is, such scenarios can reverse any time. 2024 is still far away, but time is running out for the Congress to set its house in order.a
