Rahul Baba says that “If India is a computer, then Congress is it’s default programme”. This statement is not completely wrong. But can definitely be harmful considering the changing conditions of the nation.
History of India cannot be written without mention of Congress. If we say that modern political set up of India started with the birth of congress, then I don’t think many of us would disagree. This party played very important role in fight for Independence and even after Independence this party played major role in shaping the fortunes of millions of Indians. In 66 years of independent India, Congress has ruled the nation for almost 54 years. This kind of domination by a political party is unique in political history of any country in the world. This domination cannot just be a co incidence rather it explains the strong hold of this oldest party in India. There are some unique features of this party that no other party in India till now incorporates.
India is not only biggest democracy but is also a country with vast diversity of language, religion, race, region etc. Democratic set up under such diversity becomes even more challenging. Under such challenging situation Darwin’s law ‘SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST’ becomes quite applicable. So a necessary and essential condition to survive in Indian democracy is quality of ‘ACCOMODATION OF DIFFERENCES’. There can be no doubt that none other than congress is the best survivor, so it must possess this quality. Yes!!! Now I think you understood. Congress party‘s history is as long as history of modern India. The reason why it was formed in 1885 was to accommodate differences between British government and educated Indian class. Over the years this reason got lost (and for good reasons) in Indian struggle for Independence but somehow the foundational quality remained in the functioning of congress. With emergence of many dynamic leaders in congress, came in a phase where there was difference in opinion. This divided the congress between’ GARAM DAL and NARAM DAL’, BUT again they found ways to resolve their differences and become united and there are other numerous examples in which this quality has helped bail out congress. In post independence era as well, this is also responsible for helping them getting representation across the country. Since its inception this flexible nature of the party is not only responsible for its existence but also for it success.
If we go by performance, it is not always true that this party had best plans and gave us the best outcome. But they have successfully exploited the diversity of our nation. They are completely aware of the purest political truth is that in democracy there is only one qualification to rule and that is obtaining majority. Majority votes are the most important criteria and they have successful used “identity politics” to obtain them. We still live in colonial hang over and let’s accept this fact that dynasties play pivotal role in our country. Many people vote on the name of family and as most prominent leader during pre- independence India belonged to congress. So THEY HAVE LONG LIST OF DYNASTIC RULERS IN THEIR PARTY. This identity has been very successfully used to fetch votes for congress. This is the reason why Rahul Gandhi has such a stature in the party. The reality is well known not only to us but to the party also that they have better and able leaders than him in their party but they accept the bigger reality that he has the dynastical link of Nehru- Gandhi, which would get him votes.
Political scenario in India has been so heavily dominated by congress that the rules of the game is formed by them. Be it a right wing party or a left wing party after coming to power they rule like center wing party. We have so many examples from Indian states, a left wing party which talks about radical land reforms, sing anti privatization slogans, promises labor laws reform. But after coming to power, they forget everything and try to balance everything which is how a center wing party like congress functions. This happens because the political structure has been framed and dominated by congress and it will require many more years to break them. If we see the functioning of other political parties like SP, DMK, and NCP…… they have imitated the functioning of congress in actual sense.
Belief of congress in dynasty has benefited them on one more aspect; which is internal conflicts of the party. There has never been any conflict regarding the choice of the leader. The overall features of congress like accommodation of difference and divine importance of Nehru-Gandhi family has never brought the issue of leadership in congress. Unlike BJP, the main opposition party we would very rarely find congress party leader critiquing each other.
Considering these arguments if RAHUL BABA says that “IF INDIA IS A COMPUTER, THEN CONGRESS IS ITS DEFAULT PROGRAMME”.. This statement cannot be considered completely wrong. But can definitely be harmful considering the changing conditions of the nation. Voters charm for dynasties is declining and it is very evident from the emergence of self made leaders like Narendra Modi, Nitish Kumar, Mamta Banerjee and many others. With new generation of voters, congress needs to reform their strategy as the present one may not sell in the market. . Till now they have been reading the voters sentiments very well, but there is need of some reforms. Or else it doesn’t take long for an outdated software to be out of the market .Similarly other parties also have to understand that to break the rules set by congress the first thing they need to do is to stop working like them.
Here comes the true essence of democracy which can be explained by the famous dialogue of OM PURI in MAQUBOOL that …. ‘SHAKTI KA SANTULAN JARURI HAI’… and for this all the parties have to evolve.
*Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not
necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any agency of the Indian government. Examples of
analysis performed within this article are only examples. They should not be utilized in real-world
analytic products as they are based only the source information. Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of any Indian government entity.
