The Congress’ abysmal performance in the Bihar Assembly elections has triggered massive discord in the party, with the grand old party being turned into a divided house.
Senior leader Kapil Sibal’s open criticism of the party leadership after the Bihar debacle has provoked a sharp rebuttal from Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. Defending the high command, Gehlot, in a series of tweets, said on Monday that “there was no need” for his colleague to mention “internal issues” to the media. He further said that after every electoral loss, the party has shown an undivided and firm belief in the party leadership and emerged stronger from each crisis.
Gehlot also assertively said that Sibal’s comments to the media, criticising the leadership after the Bihar defeat, has “hurt the sentiments” of party workers across the country.
Sibal was part of a group of 23 senior Congress leaders who had written to party chief Sonia Gandhi in August, making suggestions on ways to revive the organisation. This had not gone down well with many, including Gehlot, who were close to the high command.
The way Gehlot came out so openly in defence of the party leadership is a clear indication that the discord will assume much worse proportions in the days to come. Sources told The Daily Guardian that the Congress high command may convene an emergency meeting to deal with it. Another indication is that the high command seems to have given Gehlot the responsibility to take on the Congress rebels. With Gehlot on the front foot, disgruntled leaders might go on the back foot, say sources.
The disgruntled veterans who had written to Sonia Gandhi are understood to be getting ready to rake up the organisational issues once again in a big way in the light of the party’s miserable performance in Bihar polls.
Backing Sibal, Congress Rajya Sabha member Vivek Tankha, who was also a part of the 23 leaders seeking an overhaul in the party, said that it is time to act now, else it will be too late. He also said that, for democracy to survive, the Congress has to survive. “Kapil ji is an iconic lawyer and a hardcore Congress personality. Together and individually, we have fought countless battles and continue to fight BJP shenanigans. For our democracy to survive Congress has to survive. Time to act is now or tomorrow may be too late,” Tankha tweeted while tagging Sibal’s interview.
What is amply clear is that the Congress is facing massive infighting now, with seniors blaming the team of Rahul Gandhi for the poor show in Bihar. Rahul had given responsibility for the Bihar poll to Randeep Singh Surjewala. The Congress leaders who were looking after Bihar poll management are now being held responsible for whatever comments RJD leader Shivanand Tiwari made on Rahul Gandhi.
Sources said that the Congress leaders working in Bihar shared wrong information with the high command after the first phase of voting. They had apprised the high command that the victory of the Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan) was certain after the first phase of polling. Rahul Gandhi also trusted their report. Strategists of the Congress also miscalculated the bypolls in MP. Despite Kamal Nath’s wish to have rallies with Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in some of the seats in MP, Congress strategists went against this proposal, considering victory to be certain in around 18-19 seats. Like what was in practice a decade ago, these strategists still believe that the party will perform well even if Rahul and Priyanka do not personally visit the constituencies. This is the reason why the siblings are practising their politics through Twitter.
Priyanka is in charge of UP, where Congress’ performance in the bypolls was quite poor. All her experiments to revive Congress in UP have come a cropper. Another important state, Bihar, was taken lightly and the Congress did not do anything to groom the local leadership there. Rahul relied on Tejashwi and took it as a part-time job. Tejashwi Yadav did not work full-time too, resulting in old allies and leaders of the RJD distancing themselves from it. He tried to do Bihar’s politics while sitting in Delhi, giving an impetus to the campaign only during election time. Tejashwi did manage to establish himself as a leader, despite stopping short of power. But the Congress is still the real loser.
The party is not in a position to do anything concrete in other states, with Kerala going to the polls in May next year. The Congress had been hopeful of doing well in Assam but after the Bihar drubbing, the writing is on the wall. Some Congress leaders might even desert the party in Assam. It depends on the DMK in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. And as far as West Bengal is concerned, the Congress is on a sticky wicket. Therefore, challenges for Rahul Gandhi will be manifold in the days to come.