There have been very fast developments in the last few weeks in Indian politics. In particular, these developments have affected Rahul Gandhi. One must always remember what ex-British Prime Minister Harold Wilson said: “ A week is a long time in politics”. Right after the May 2021 state elections results were out, a quiet challenge has been posed to Rahul Gandhi, both within the Congress and outside by parties seeking to replace him as Leader of the UPA opposition. Right now, Rahul Gandhi is facing severe challenges. But in politics, every problem has a solution.
The great German Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck said 100 years ago “: ‘Politics is the art of the possible “. It means that anything can be done in politics and any problem can be solved.
Ever since the 2019 parliament elections, there has been a silent challenge to Rahul Gandhi’s leadership in Congress. The continuous defeats in elections have taken the shine of Rahul Gandhi. Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena are the most important allies of Congress along with the DMK. The DMK has no national ambitions, excepting wanting central ministers. One must remember how much damage DMK did during Manmohan Singh’s time with their ministers, stinking of corruption allegations.
What one never expects happens in politics.No one ever expected that Chandra babu Naidu would ally with Congress in Telangana or Congress become an ally of Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.
Challenges to Rahul Gandhi right now :
Narendra Modi, the biggest challenges. If the BJP forms a government again in 2024, then it will be difficult for Congress to avoid decline. 15 years out of power is too much for any party. Rahul Gandhi has been unable to challenge the BJP.
Seniors within the Congress Party”
Rahul Gandhi has got into an unnecessary dispute with the seniors of the Congress Party. The biggest asset of the Congress are the senior leaders and senior workers, who have experience and enjoy respect in society. The new entrants are no match. Moreover leaders like Jairam Ramesh, Shashi Tharoor are good on social media. But they don’t earn loyalty from workers, since they only talkers and not doers.
*Mamata Banerjee is the newest challenge to Rahul Gandhi. After the victory of Mamata, she made it clear that she will enter national politics. Mamata clearly hinted that new leadership is needed to challenge Narendra Modi, thereby meaning that Rahul Gandhi should give way. Mamata has also made a formula called 1 to 1 contests. This means that in any state the most important non- BJP party must contest nearly all the seats and the other parties must step back. This means that the Congress should absent itself from Telengana, Odisha, Bengal, and such states where the Congress is zero. Will Rahul Gandhi agree to step aside for Mamata Banerjee and also withdraw from Telangana?
- Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena: The biggest challenge to Rahul Gandhi’s leadership of the opposition has come from his Maharashtra allies Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena. Thanks to the Congess’ support, Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray look like friends. But actually, they have become the biggest threat to Rahul Gandhi. Their silent slogan is ” We want the Congress, but not Rahul Gandhi “. If there was no Sharad Pawar –Shiv Sena Maharashtra government, there would have been no threat to Rahul Gandhi. Sometimes, victories led to big defeats.
What Rahul Gandhi can do :
Compromise with the Congress seniors:
Rahul Gandhi should not stand on prestige but should compromise with the seniors. In fact, Rahul Gandhi can elect a compromise candidate as Congress President. This will placate all the senior leaders and ordinary workers. There is a big distance between Rahul Gandhi and ordinary workers. This compromise will bring everyone back. Recently, we saw when a junior leader Manicka Tagore tried to run the Telangana Congress, what bad consequences have come out. Senior leaders would have sorted out such issues quietly.
*Rahul Gandhi should agree with Mamata Banerjee’s formula of One-to-One contests. But Rahul Gandhi should also insist that the price for him withdrawing from the leadership of the opposition is that another Congress leader would-be leader of the opposition and not any other leader like Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee, or anyone else.
*Congress should withdraw from the Maharashtra government and give outside support. If Congress withdraws, then Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena will be terrified and shaken up and stop opposing Rahul Gandhi. Supporting the Maharashtra government from the outside will be brilliant as BJP will be out of power and Sharad Pawar will lose his size.
Rahul Gandhi should use social media and photo opportunities less.
The public gets fed up with over-exposure. Rahul Gandhi is under the impassion that if he is on the social media every day, he becomes a big leader. The public is smart and knows that social media is only a trick to get media attention. A more mature behavior would help Rahul Gandhi.
*Stop distancing Congress from Hindus: After the defeat of Congress in 2014, senior leader A.K. Anthony gave a report which blamed “ Congress being viewed as an anti-Hindu party “ Anthony suggested that the Congress Party be truly secular and treat all communities equally. But Congress has not followed A.K. Anthony’s advice. Even now, in Assam for example, even Bengali Hindus, who are against Assamese Hindus, voted for the BJP. At one time, Congress represented the Hindus.
Congress should be a strong nationalist party :
Rahul Gandhi has been criticizing the Modi government on 0-Pakistan, China, and foreign issues. The public is upset as they think Rahul Gandhi is not nationalistic. Earlier, the Congress party was viewed as the strongest nationalist party. Congress should assume that role again.
Rahul Gandhi should learn from Kerala and Assam defeats:
The Congress was sure of victory in Assam and Kerala. Therefore, Congress saw to it that only Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra canvassed. No senior leaders were asked to the campaign. But there were shocking defeats in Kerala and Assam and Rahul Gandhi has been blamed for the defeats. Had Rahul Gandhi allowed senior leaders to lead the campaign as earlier, the Congress might have done better and Rahul Gandhi would have escaped the blame for the defeats.
Congress should re-invent itself;
We have seen how the BJP has changed its image and won elections. We are now seeing how KCR is trying to change has been trying to change his image. If the Congress Party is to survive, then Rahul Gandhi should step back a little and change. It is true that Congress gets still 20% of the vote in the country. But fewer young people are joining the party. If Congress and Rahul Gandhi don’t change, then India will become Congress-Mukt as BJP wants.
The first and most important step is that Rahul Gandhi should stop trying to become prime minister. Rahul Gandhi must aim for Congress to win and grow and stop using the Congress Party as if it is there to only make him Prime Minister. Any other Congressman can also be a good Prime Minister. P.V. Narasimha Rao is a good example of a great Congress Prime Minister.