By excluding some of the prominent leaders from the list of star campaigners, who after their suggestions to the leadership for holding elections to various party positions, are considered to be dissidents by the high command, the Congress appears to be pursuing a path that leads nowhere. The non-inclusion can be interpreted as a snub to these functionaries, but in the end, what would count is how the party fares in the forthcoming Assembly elections. From all available indications, the Congress is nowhere in the fight in most states and thus could salvage some prestige only if the DMK’s dominance over Tamil Nadu politics for instance, could help it to win a few seats.
The Congress is already being accused of breaking the UPA; it has tied up with the Left Parties in West Bengal while the RJD is supporting the Trinamool Congress in the same state. It would have been politically a wise decision if some of the G-23 leaders were made to campaign aggressively in the Assembly elections, so that there would be little scope left for them to seek greener pastures elsewhere once their branding with the Congress had been reinforced. Now these leaders may take up positions which would seek to show the Congress leadership as selective without being pragmatic. It may be true that barring Bhupinder Singh Hooda, none of the other G-23 leaders have a mass base, and some of them would be too happy in the future to somehow assume a stance that could bring them closer to the BJP.
Therefore, they should not have been left free to set another agenda which would show the leadership in poor light. The list of star campaigners has several names who can physically not go and consolidate the Congress chances in the poll-bound states. There could be tokenism involved but politics is also about making a realistic assessment. There are several lightweights also in this list which means nothing, since it is the outcome of the polls that would determine the future path of the Congress. Some of the G-23 leaders have been criticised within the party for adopting a soft attitude towards the BJP and the Prime Minister. In the current circumstances, there is nothing much the high command can do about it with its writ no longer running extensively as it used to in the past. Chief Ministers and senior functionaries have been defying the directions of the top bosses primarily because there is no clarity on the chain of command.
Within the Gandhi family also, there are confusing signals that emanate once in a while leaving the workers wondering as to what would happen in the future. Elections within the organisation are also as important as polls that are contested by political parties. The objective should be to ensure that parties function smoothly without any ambiguity. The Congress must set its own house in order before believing that it would fare dramatically well in the poll-bound states. It should not expect different results by making the same mistakes over and over again.
