Hours after the Congress was decimated in the elections with its tally in the Lok Sabha plummeting to an all-time low of 44, a shell-shocked Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her deputy Rahul Gandhi took personal responsibility for its worst showing ever. The party put up a brave face and asserted that it will survive, but fingerpointing, if not a full-blown blame game, has already begun.
Dazed Congress leaders rallied around the Nehru-Gandhi family and called for introspection. Key leaders maintained a public silence on the reasons for the defeat, while in private held the government leaders responsible for the crushing defeat. Questions are also being asked about the style of functioning of Team Rahul, which oversaw campaign management and running of the party ever since he became the vice president. ?Congress has done pretty badly. There is a lot for us to think about. As vice president I hold myself responsible for what has happened,? Rahul said. Sonia too took responsibility as party chief. “This mandate is clearly against us, our party. We accept politely this decision of voters and respect it. But at the same time, we also hope the next government will not make any compromise with the unity of Indian society and the interests of the nation,? she said.
The blow was decisive as the Congress could not even enter double digits in any of the states. Party leaders said severe organisational problems and weaknesses and mismanagement of the campaign added to the ?mood against the government?, fuelled by massive corruption scandals, price rise and disconnect with the people. ?The PM addressed three press conferences in 10 years. Isn’t that a reflection of the lack of communication?? asked CWC member Anil Shastri.
?At the AICC session in January last year, it was specifically pointed out that we are lagging in communication. But the situation continued. The continuing rise in prices hit the common man. We could not handle properly the issue of corruption as well,? he told The Indian Express.
Rahul’s reluctance to become the party’s PM candidate, many admitted, sent across a ?defeatist? message. ?The perception created was that he had not stomach to fight a figure like Modi. It was a self-defeating move,? another leader said. The Congress failed to convey a central message in its campaign and the blame for it is being laid at the doorstep of Team Rahul, comprising the likes of Jai-ram Ramesh and Mohan Go-pal. ?The campaign was all over the place,” a leader said.
Party leaders were scathing at Ramesh. ?He wanted to be the Ahmed Patel of Rahul without taking any responsibility,? a senior general secretary said. ?Rahul Gandhi did not take full control. But he did whatever he could,? Union minister Vayalar Ravi said. Many senior leaders were sidelined and were not even involved in the campaign management. ?The team did everything. So, obviously the credit or blame should go to it,? a senior leader said.
Ashok Gehlot was sidelined after the defeat in Rajasthan. Sheila Dikshit was removed from the Delhi scene and sent to Kerala as governor and JP Aggarwal removed as state unit chief, leaving the demoralised state unit in the hands of inexperienced leaders.
The common call was for introspection. But nothing had come out of similar post-mortems in the past. A committee headed by AK Antony had in the past suggested major changes but nothing was implemented. For instance, ?even a basic suggestion like candidates should be announced much in advance was not implemented,? said Shastri. So is the government or the party to be blamed for the defeat. ?It was a Congress-led government. You lose an election not because of organisational failure, but because of omissions and commissions of the government,? he said.
Others disagreed. ?There are some organisational issues. We will have to accept the weaknesses of the Congress. We have given the best programmes and we failed to take them to people and give publicity,? AICC general secretary BK Hariprasad said. Not just Hariprasad, almost all top leaders admitted the ?mood was against the government.?
But what are those organisational issues. ?It was a difficult election. When you needed all human resources at your command, you allowed state chiefs and general secretaries to contest,? a senior general secretary said.
Many AICC general secretaries in charge of states ? like Madhusudan Mistry, Gurudas Kamat, Ambika Soni and CP Joshi ? entered the electoral fray, leaving the day-to-day election-related coordination with state units to ad hoc substitutes. Many state unit chiefs like Sachin Pilot (Rajasthan) and Ashok Tanwar (Haryana) are also contesting.
But leaders like Shastri said Rahul cannot be blamed for everything. ?How can we blame him. Whatever Rahul Gandhi said was not implemented.
Those who joined the party just before the election were given tickets. It was not done by Rahul. The leaders did. Some of them left the party even after bagging the ticket, forcing partymen to vote for NOTA. I voted for NOTA as the Congress candidate deserted at the last minute. It was decided that more than one member from a family wouldn?t be given a ticket and the party did,? Shastri said.
Senior leader Satyavrat Chaturvedi said the biggest failure was of communication. ?The party and the government both have the instruments to communicate and the responsibility to communicate, but we failed. The mood was for change. The defeat is of each of us,? he said.
