The Congress, especially under Sonia Gandhi, has been moving steadily towards the left of centre. But it still managed to keep the centre in its sights. During the UPA years, while Sonia Gandhi’s National Advisory Council gave the government a socialist turn, the Manmohan Singh cabinet became the face of economic reforms such as bringing in FDI in retail, etc, and somewhat of a balance was kept—though, of course, the tilt was heavier towards the Sonia Gandhi point of view. Now, in Opposition and with the rise of Rahul Gandhi, the party has once again taken a sharp left turn. And nowhere was this emphasised more than with the proposed entry of JNU leader Kanhaiya Kumar along with Independent MLA Jignesh Mevani. There is a concern amongst Congress leaders that the duo, along with Hardik Patel, will push the Congress towards a sharp left. Kanhaiya had contested the last polls as a CPI candidate from Begusarai in Bihar and is used to being referred to as Comrade and greeted with a Lal Salaam.
Add to this Sitaram Yechury’s influence over the Gandhis—though Yechury is said to have been opposing Kanhaiya’s entry into the Congress, but that could be more due to a turf war (CPI vs CPM) than any ideological differences. In Uttar Pradesh too, a crucial state that is often seen as semi-finals to the general elections, the Congress has been dominated by leftist and JNU affiliates. Sandeep Singh, who is said to be Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s point person for Uttar Pradesh, is from the JNU. Others in his team, too, have left leanings, including an ex CPI member.
There are two questions here, the first being when the world is rejecting a dominant left leaning ideology, why is the Congress taking such a sharp left turn. The second is that the Gandhis are looking to newcomers rather than its own leaders to revamp the party. The G23 has already thrown a sulk and clearly the party leadership is not making too much of an effort to placate them. Rather, they are issuing stern warnings as they did in the case of Captain Amarinder Singh.
Interestingly, in the run-up to the 2014 polls, Rahul Gandhi had been advised that the pro poor image was not working well with the middle class and even the aspirational youth was looking for development rather than doles. He did make a couple of appearances at the CII and other business forums trying to reassure the business community. But when the Modi government itself began to adopt some of the UPA’s socialist schemes such as MNREGA and farmer subsidies, the Congress has once again moved leftwards. The recent farmers’ agitation of course gave Rahul the impetus he needed to take on the Modi government as being pro-corporates and not pro farmers. He is often heard lamenting that the nation is in the grip of one or two corporate houses. Given this background, it is clear that the Congress is going leftwards and we will expect to see more of the NGOs and JNU influence on the party.