Congress has been a constant figure in the Indian political space since the last 136 years. Now the grand old party of India is seemingly on its deathbed, as its nepotistic and favoritism-based policies are not being accepted by the party’s office bearers. As Sidhu’s opportunistic rampage in Punjab hogs all the limelight, the Congress party in Goa is registering its own downfall as well.
Gandhi family cuts short its Shimla vacation
As troubles in Punjab and Rajasthan reek up, Luizinho Faleiro, a key leader in the Goa chapter of the Congress party has resigned from the post of his MLA. Luizinho, a former two-time Chief Minister of Goa, criticized his party, claiming that he had suffered in the party and stressed that Goans’ sufferings needed to end. He also appreciated Mamata Banerjee. calling her a street fighter and saying that she was the only one from the country who has posed challenges to the Modi government. The speculations are rife that, he might join Mamata-led TMC, soon.
Commenting on the sorry state of affairs in Goa Congress, chief minister Pramod Sawant said, “A Congress MLA (Luizinho Faleiro) has recently resigned from the party. I don’t know which party he will be joining. Since 2017, Goa Congress leaders are leaving their party. Almost 13-14 people have left Congress.
This development is crucial, as Goa is about to witness assembly elections in 2022. During the 2017 elections, Congress had emerged as the single largest party, winning 17 out of 40 seats in the assembly. In 2019, 10 out of 15 Congress MLAs had joined the BJP, reducing the number of total MLAs in the assembly to 5.
Out of 28 states, Congress has majority governments in only Punjab, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh. All these state governments are also on the brink of breaking away into different factions.
Congress – Volatile even where they are in majority
In Punjab, the Congress government has been paying for its sin of promoting Navjot Singh Sidhu’s idiocy as its brand value. After being selected as the President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, Sidhu was hell-bent on making Captain Amarinder Singh resign from his chief ministerial post, which he eventually did. Sidhu, who was distraught by the party’s decision to appoint Channi as the new Chief Minister, finally resigned from the presidency of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee.
When it comes to Rajasthan, the Congress party’s trouble is far from over. Speculations are rife that assembly speaker CP Joshi may be appointed as deputy chief minister in the upcoming cabinet expansion, shunning a young and loyal leader like Sachin Pilot. Congress has a tough choice, as on the one hand, they have a long-time party loyalist Ashok Gehlot, while on the other they have to face Pilot, who has strengthened his foothold in Rajasthan. If they do not give Pilot his deserved due, his faction will mostly likely slip away from their hands, as in the case of Jyotiraditya Scindia, in Madhya Pradesh.
Similarly, Congress has put both feet in two different boats in Chhattisgarh. The two-year-long tussle between chief minister Bhupesh Singh Baghel and health minister Tribhuvaneshwar Saran Singh Deo has been on the rise in the last few months. The Congress high command has not held up on its promise of sharing the chief ministerial posts for 2.5 years each between Baghel and Singh Deo. The stability of the Chattisgarh government is highly doubtful and it is being speculated that Singh Deo may dissociate his faction from the party.
Read more: Chhattisgarh is going to get a new CM or a new government very soon
Incompetent leadership – the main reason behind Congress’s downfall
After major scams like the 2G scam and the CWG scam were exposed in the UPA2 government, the party lost heavily, also thanks to a charismatic approach by Narendra-Modi-led BJP, in the 2014 general elections. The total loss of the public’s faith in them has resulted in Congress being wiped out from many states. It is so much in dire need of a leader that recently, it imported tukde-tukde gang leader Kanhaiya Kumar from CPI.
Read more: After failing CPI(M), Kanhaiya could script Congress’ last story
It is time for Congress to realise that the Indian public is watching their policies and not the faces of their ministers. Rather than engaging in political maneuvering, it would be better for the party, if they stop insulting their cadre on the ground, in favour of the incompetent poster boy – Rahul Gandhi.