Congress: Trying to remain relevant in the National Politics
New Delhi: 15 years of rule, and then a sudden free fall. This is precisely the story of Indian National Congress in Delhi. In its fifth successive defeat, the party did not manage to win even a single seat in the 2015 Delhi assemble elections.
Ajay Maken has resigned as party general secretary taking responsibility for this disastrous loss. Congress ruled Delhi for 15 years in succession since 1998, getting a considerable amount of seat share every time. According to Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), ‘incumbency, crumbling alliance, confusion on leadership and failed governance’ highlights the downfall of the Congress Party.
In the general elections held in 2014, the party which has ruled the country more than any other party, it faced its worst defeat with its seat share going down to two digits. Gradually, the party is losing out on states too. It has lost out on key states like Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Haryana. Congress is left with only Karnataka and some other small North-eastern states.
The main reason behind Congress’s decline is the weak leadership. INC vice-president, Rahul Gandhi has not been able to prove himself as an efficient commander. There has been a continuous demand to give the reigns of the party to Priyanka Vadra, Sonia Gandhi’s elder daughter. However, the party needs to move beyond the Gandhi family and explore other options. Many senior and capable leaders have been sidelined.
The party has also failed to connect with the ‘common man’. Apart from this, the party does not seem to have a significant agenda to counter other parties. Unlike the other parties, the INC still relies on traditional methods for doing their election campaign. The party needs to learn from its adversaries to engage with other various means too, especially, the use of social media. The Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee’s Facebook page is not even one year old, while Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has maintained theirs since their inception.
Congress has been wiped out of the Delhi electoral map. And if Congress does not act upon its limitations as soon as possible, it is possible that it will disappear from the country’s electoral map as well.
