THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Congress in Kerala thinks that the huge electoral setback the party suffered in the Hindi heartland will have no impact on next year’s parliamentary polls in the State.
Well, the ground reality is, however, entirely different. Congress leaders in the State are pinning their hopes on poll strategist Sunil Kanugolu, who scripted the party’s spectacular victories, first, in Karnataka and now in Telangana.
The Congress is also comforting itself with the thought that, unlike North India, the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) is weak in the State. BJP’s tactics which fetched it handsome rewards in the North will not succeed in South India, especially in Kerala, the bastion of secularism.
Also, in Kerala, the Congress thinks it has the solid support of minorities, especially Muslims who account for a substantial section of the population here. But, what is the ground reality? The situation on the ground tells an entirely different tale. A sea change has occurred in Kerala’s political landscape. The minorities are not as firmly behind the Congress-led United Democratic Front(UDF) as they were in the past. A big slice of the Muslim vote has gone to the CPI(M), which is a part of INDIA bloc leading the fight against the BJP-led Modi Government at the Centre. They have done so because they feel the CPI(M)-[led Left Democratic Front(LDF) is in the best position to take on – and defeat – the BJP in the state.
The Congress is itself to blame for this change in popular perception. Bombastic claims notwithstanding, the reality is that the Congress has been mealy-mouthed when it comes to countering the powerful BJP:-RSS combine. The main reason why Congress failed miserably in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh is the soft Hindutva line it adopted and practised vigorously. That way, the party virtually played into the hands of the BJP. The people cannot be blamed for ditching the Congress on this count.
This being the harsh reality, the Congress in Kerala should ensure that the party does not make the serious mistakes it made in the MP, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The party has its task cut out in Kerala, too. First and foremost, the Congress will have to regain the trust of the Christian and Muslim voters who have ditched the party because of its soft attitude to the BJP. This is easier said than done. An essential prerequisite in this battle is a more aggressive and open stance against the BJP-led forces. That alone can help the party regain the trust of the minorities. So far, there is no sign of the party planning to do anything of that kind.
Secondly, the party has to do a lot of ground work to strengthen the organization. The party’s efforts to firm up the organization have not made much headway thanks to the internecine infighting and group clashes. Group rivalries, which had remained dormant for a while, have resurfaced with redoubled vigour. So bad is the situation that Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee(KPCC) president K. Sudhakaran and leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan bared their hostility to each other in an ugly public showdown, to the chagrin of the party’s rank and file. Unless and until the party buckles down to the tough job of strengthening the organization, the party cannot hope to stage a comeback in Kerala.
Another major reason why the Congress cut a sorry figure in the recent assembly elections in North India is its refusal to accommodate its allies. If only it had given the Samajwadi Party a few seats in Madhya Pradesh, things would not have been so bad for the party. But its overconfidence bordering on arrogance did harm the party in MP and Rajasthan. This will have a crucial bearing on the future of the Indian alliance formed by the opposition parties. The Congress will have to work hard to mollify the allies, which are mighty miffed over the Congress’s high and mighty attitude.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan hit the nail on the head when he said that the Congress alone is to be blamed for the trouncing it suffered in the three north Indian states. The Congress, he said, toed a soft Hindutva line to counter the BJP’s rabidly communal politics. In Madhya Pradesh, he added, the Congress worked as a B team of the BJP. Some Congress leaders even went to the extent of spewing more venom than the BJP leaders themselves! And most importantly, when the situation called for total unity of the anti-BJP forces, the Congress went it alone, insulting the allies. And the party had to pay a heavy price for its arrogance, losing even the two states where it was in power.
The party must, therefore, reinvent itself if it has to have any chance of unseating the Modi Government in 2024. It must imbibe the coalition spirit, address the concerns of the allies and be more humble. Overconfidence and arrogance won’t do. That is the lesson it must learn from the drubbing it has suffered in the Hindi heartland. Otherwise, it will lose its strength even in Kerala, where it still is a force to reckon with. (IPA Service)
