By Sushil Kutty
Himachal won, and Gujarat lost and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has done what previous Congress presidents have done, i.e., set up a committee to do an autopsy, find out why Gujarat was lost. In Himachal Pradesh, the Congress posted a very satisfactory win though the vote-share wasn’t too north of that of the BJP. Yet it was a victory to write home about and it enthused the Congress worker.
Lovely! What about the massive Congress loss in Gujarat, which happens to be the home state of both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, two political heavyweights, definitely?
Now, Kharge has set up a fact-finding team to find out what factors led to the Congress’s extremely poor showing despite the fact that the party’s Wayanad MP gave Gujarat a complete miss except for a single foray that might or might not have set the party up for a loss, who knows?
Clearly, Rahul Gandhi’s newfound acceptance as a mass leader of universal acceptance was not yet established when he took the one-day visit to Gujarat en route to Rajasthan and the Bharat Jodo Yatra with which he made a triumphant entry into Delhi.
And then straight to the Red Fort from where he gave an impromptu address to the nation, establishing the fact that the BJY was a resounding success with cats and dogs, cows and buffaloes, and odd pig joining the yatra.
Those who know the Congress say Kharge has borrowed the idea of constituting a committee to do a postmortem on an electoral loss from none other than Sonia Gandhi. So the panel to probe the Gujarat defeat was courtesy Sonia Gandhi and now we know who is leader, and who the follower!
Rahul Gandhi if he is not already doing it should take a cue from Kharge and learn the ropes from mum Sonia G. However, the “Congress will introspect” is almost as old as the party. Especially after the party suffers an electoral loss.
And off late, the Congress has had a string of losses. Goa, UP, and Punjab. But those were elections fought under the direct leadership of the Gandhis. Naturally, there was no need for an introspection.
But Gujarat went to polls after Kharge defeated Shashi Tharoor, and when Rahul Gandhi was hands-off everything related to the party, except the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Such panels of inquiry can be seen as vents to let off steam or as facilitator’s of cover-ups.
The Gujarat defeat was humiliating and there was a need for somebody to take the blame. From 99 in 2017 to 17 in 2022 cannot be let go without even an excuse for a reckoning.
The Congress cannot be seen as weak like the Republic of India which looks and functions more and more like a banana republic where everybody gets a pass, even crooks and brigands.
Heads must roll. Whether it be for a crime committed or an electoral loss. So, who should take the blame for the Congress party’s abject surrender in Gujarat? Cannot be Rahul Gandhi, he was too involved in unifying Bharat.
Cannot be Sonia Gandhi, she was all eyes on Rahul. Cannot be Ashok Gehlot, he was still not through with withdrawing from the Congress presidential race. Cannot be Shashi Tharoor, he was defeated, and blameless. So will Mallikarjun Kharge take the blame and close the chapter for once and all?
Hardly likely. That will be too easy. And that wouldn’t need a constitution of a committee, a pretense of an exercise to get to the truth whatever that might be. And already analysts are saying this was straight out of Sonia’s playbook though there are also those who say that would be too good to be true!
Anyway, the fact of the matter is, Mallikarjun Kharge has set up a three-member committee to check why the Congress lost Gujarat in such a devastating manner. Not surprisingly, the panel will also “suggest corrective steps”.
The panel will be headed by Nitin Raut, a former Maharashtra minister, whose surname sounds like “rout” which is what the panel will discuss, the party’s rout in Gujarat?. The other two members of the panel are Lok Sabha MP Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka and Bihar MLA Shakeel Ahmad Khan. The trio will “evaluate the results” and “suggest measures to be taken, with immediate effect.”
Maybe, they will do it with a clear head and an open heart. Maybe, they will not be cover-up artists. Maybe, they aren’t sycophants. Maybe, they would not come up with a whitewashed report that pleases everybody, especially the trio of Gandhis, and the party president who hardly registers as a party boss.
The panel’s report has to be submitted to the Congress president before two weeks are over. Gujarat 2022 is a blot on the Congress’s hallowed history. What else can be spoken of about 17 seats and a vote share of 27.28 percent, except pathetic?
And while on panel reports, perhaps this one will see the light of the day. Most such reports are buried deep. Post-2014 defeat, the AK Antony committee report was pushed under the carpet and AK Antony was not a weakling, reputed to be only second to Ahmed Patel in clout and seniority. Today, after eight years, Antony still cannot get over the fact his report remains under tonnes of dust in some corner of 24, Akbar Road.
As for the “suggestions” of such self-serving panels, they remain on paper and their embarrassed authors live on not to tell their tales ever thereafter. This one’s suggestions would most likely meet a similar fate. The fact of the matter is everybody knows why Congress lost Gujarat? The buck stops at the only door the central leadership. (IPA Service)
