In the run up to the 2019 general elections, Rahul Gandhi is under immense pressure to save the family dynasty. Congress has fallen disarray under his leadership. The grand old party does not have anything substantial to establish its hold over the voters so it is attempting to resort to alliances or political propaganda.
In terms of alliance building, until a few months ago Congress was very sure on some key allies, including Samjwadi Party (SP)- Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in UP along with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in Bihar. Unfortunately for the Congress, the UP clan has refused the entry of the grand old party by politely endowing to them, the two family bastions out of the 80 constituencies in UP, as a courtesy gesture. Moreover, the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar does not seem to be working out as Congress in its adamancy, is stuck to those seats of RJD which are well beyond their reach, irking Lalu Yadav in the process. Similarly in Karantaka, in an attempt to devise a seat sharing formula with Janata Dal (Secular), the grand old party has not been able to come to a conclusion which has led to JDS contemplating contesting alone. In West Bengal, the Congress’ seat sharing bid with CPI(M) failed miserably with the left party declaring candidates for the disputed seats. All in all, even after the polling dates have been announced with weeks left, the alliances are nowhere to be seen.
Congress, dreadfully realizing that the parties are more than happy to contest without them, has accepted the fact that it might have to contest alone. In furtherance to this, the party adopts its next political strategy- criticising the Modi government for the Rafael deal. Party president, Rahul Gandhi stated in his speech yesterday in Gujarat, “Modi ji brags about patriotism from every state but he does not speak on what he did to the Indian Air Force with Rafael deal. Anil Ambani’s company did not have any experience of manufacturing an aircraft and yet the deal was given to him.”
Keeping in mind, this was the speech that most people didn’t even attend as they left soon after Priyanka Gandhi’s address. Rahul Gandhi does not have any corruption charges or scandals to criticise the Modi Government with, unlike the previous Congress rule. Therefore, the leaders of the Congress are harping on the old fizzled out topic, returned to ad-hominem attacks without any cohesive messaging. The Supreme Court has categorically stated that there is no occasion to doubt the process of signing the Rafale deal. Nevertheless, Rahul Gandhi doubts even the apex court in its decision.
To compound their problems of failed campaigning and alliances, a substantial number of senior Congress leaders have refused to contest the Lok Sabha elections. The list includes leaders from Kerala such as Oommen Chandy, K C Venugopal, V M Sudheeran and Mullappally Ramachandran in addition to former Chief Minister of Maharashtra Prithviraj Chavan and former PM Manmohan Singh. Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders have been requesting earnestly for these leaders to contest the elections but without avail. Most of these leaders have been contesting the general elections till 2014 but want to sit this crucial year out, preferring to stay in their states rather than function under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership.
The grand old party has been indulging in attempts at forging alliances and political agendas since a long time and now, right before the elections, all their efforts seem to be collapsing for them. An early peaking is a sure sign of later downward spiral in politics and it seems Congress is right in the midst of it.
