How The Congress Can Rediscover Itself

A cult of personality has taken over politics in recent times.

- Purushottam Agrawal

Not only in India, but also the US, Russia, China, Turkey, Japan and Brazil. This is a fallout of the deep penetration of 24x7 TV and social media, and the simultaneous decline of narratives rooted in political and social values. It is almost as if people everywhere have conferred on charismatic leaders some miraculous powers to usher in their version of achhe din. Miracle moves such as the (in)famous demonetisation of November 2016—played up by an obliging media as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s brahmastra (ultimate weapon) in the war against black money—often backfire. But in an atmosphere where fawning media, in a bizarre caricature of reality, had us think Modi might even win India the cricket World Cup, it is not hard to manufacture consent for misadventures masquerading as miracles.

In such a situation, it is only expected that some person, rather than processes, will be held responsible for the demoralising defeat of the Congress in the recent general election. The blinding spotlight is on Rahul Gandhi. Those urging the Congress to simply curl up and die or those holding Rahul solely accountable for the defeat choose to conveniently forget that only recently under Rahul’s leadership the Congress gave the BJP a run for its money in Gujarat and formed governments in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. Instead of resigning, Rahul might have focused on continuing to revitalise the Congress and address the real causes of defeat. But that course might not have forced the Congress leaders out of their business-as-usual mindset. Rahul Gandhi’s resignation, then, is a reminder to the political class that it must always be accountable to public opinion, and to Congress party satraps that there is a larger ideological battle to be fought.