In a time when most political parties - from TDP in Andhra Pradesh to BJP (we are not even sure who runs it anymore) are in disarray, the Grand Old Party of India (Congress) has been quietly (or not so quietly going by the mayhem in Mumbai) rebuilding itself, bottom-up. And, if the opposition does not take note and start making amends now it will be left far behind in the national polity.
The things that have been going for the Congress over the next 10 years are:
- Leadership: Yes, I know it is a dynastic rule but then again, who cares? The voter, at large, certainly does not seem to. Over the last decade though the Dynasty has morphed into a well heeled ruling family: it started with Sonia Gandhi’s ‘sacrifice’ that has meant that she runs the show all but in name, Rahul Gandhi seems to have transformed himself into the people’s man, and Priyanka Gandhi still generates more column inches than either when she does decide to do anything political
- Democracy: It does seem ironical, but the ‘High Command’ does seem to be interested in finally promoting the cause of internal democracy. This could have interesting and unintended consequences, which would make for interesting commentary
- Recruitment: Rahul Gandhi has been criss-crossing the country to encourage youth to join in the mainstream politics and he surely isn’t encouraging them to join the saffron brigade. This means that come the next general election in five years, the party will have a youngish (someone below 45 rather than below 60) membership to drive the party ahead
However, all this might come undone if the party can not provide effective governance. As the success of Nitish Kumar and Navin Patnaik proves the Indian voters (when not swayed by free booze) have cast their vote in favour of development and proven performance.
Here’s hoping that the trend of positive confirmation to development in the elections continues.
