What Modi Does But Gandhis Can’t

New BJP reaches out to people with professionalism. Congress still takes a casual approach

- Hilal Ahmed

The ‘Congress crisis’ is more than an internal party matter. Of course, the ongoing issues such as tussle between Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot in Rajasthan and the delicate position of Gandhi family, especially in the wake of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, are entirely Congress-centric phenomena. The party’s lethargic attitude and its organisational inability to establish itself as a challenger are certainly responsible for these contradictions.

There is, however, a need to go beyond these political manoeuvrings. The Congress crisis reflects a few serious structural problems of Indian politics, which are deeply rooted in the institutional formation of many political parties. Two crucial aspects of the present crisis, empty professionalism and individual worship, in my view, must be given serious analytical attention in this regard.

Empty professionalism:

Political class in India has gradually become more organised and professional in the last three decades. Congress was the leading political force behind this crucial transformation in the aftermath of economic liberalisation in the post-1991 period.

● The Nehruvian principles of nation building were given up by the party.

● An imaginary dividing line between politics and economy was created to redefine the role of the state as a professional entity – a mediator to facilitate the smooth functioning of the market economy.

● Politics, thus, emerged as a specialised activity to maintain and nurture social cohesion.