Confronting the ideological deadlock, the tendency to take quick decisions of the leadership and the opportunism of the leaders, the new attitude to the Congress, the courage to face today’s challenges directly, whether Rahul Gandhi will be able to succeed in giving the organization a committed and fighting momentum, whether it is his ideological Only the depth of the struggle will be known. For the first time, Rahul Gandhi has started a new debate with attitude, language and ideology. Rahul Gandhi has said that those who are afraid can leave the party.
Rahul has invited people outside the Congress to join the Congress, appreciating the courageous people fighting against the policies of the Narendra Modi government. This is the first time in the 136-year history of the Congress that a Congress leader has clearly spoken about revamping the party to fight the RSS.
By the way, internal differences and debates have been going on in the Congress during the time of Jawaharlal Nehru. Despite this, the socialist policy of Nehru remained the direction of the Congress. Nehru constantly had to contend with the status quasits, feudalists and proponents of archaic mass ideas present in the Congress. Indira Gandhi dared to split the Congress by ousting those leaders who were opposed to nationalization and planned development policy, and who came to be known as syndicates.
In the history of Congress, Indira Gandhi won by the continuation of the ideological struggle and formed a new Congress. By fighting stalwarts like Morarji Desai, Nijilingappa, Sanjeeva Reddy, Indira Gandhi gave a new look to the Congress. Prior to this, many big leaders of Congress were sent outside the government for the work of the party under the Kamaraj scheme. The ideological debate and its direction have weakened since the defeat of Indira Gandhi in 1977. Rajiv Gandhi was aware of the Congress legacy, but by the time he became a mature leader, he had to die in the violence of the LTTE. Rajiv Gandhi tried to implement plans for scientific progress and modernization of India and tried to strengthen villages and panchayats through decentralization of power. He challenged the ruling groups by talking of going to the villages for only 15 paisa in one rupee from Delhi. But Bofors and Ram Mandir foundation stone paved the way for the defeat of Rajiv Gandhi.
Since then, no member of the Gandhi family became Prime Minister or Minister. Narasimha Rao had neither the intention nor the dream of any ideological struggle. Sonia Gandhi also ideologically never attacked the weaknesses within the party. After Dr. Manmohan Singh became the Prime Minister, the Congress became a victim of the bureaucratic trend.
Things changed after the defeat of Congress in 2014. Many Congress leaders left the party and went to the BJP. Even among the young team that Rahul Gandhi trusted, many left him and went with the BJP and Modi. Rahul Gandhi realized this only at the time of the 2019 elections, when he said that the party leaders did not support Rahul Gandhi alone, fighting against the RSS-BJP. This was said in the review meeting of the defeat and left the post of party president. Since then the Congress has been a victim of ad-hocism.
Since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress has not been able to play the central role of the opposition. In the Covid period, of course, Rahul Gandhi continued to try to expose the government through tweets. Whether it is a question of China’s policy or economic policy or ways to deal with the epidemic, Rahul Gandhi’s sharp attitude was visible. For the last two years, the Congress has been visible only with the help of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.
This can be a troublesome period for any political party. Meanwhile, 23 senior Congress leaders targeted Rahul Gandhi. His aim is indirect, but his motive is obvious. Of these, two have gone to the shelter of the BJP and leaders like Ghulam Nabi Azad have been giving more importance to the relationship with Narendra Modi. Rahul Gandhi’s latest statement is in a way a big challenge for the established leaders within the party, because Rahul Gandhi has spoken about not being afraid, which is clearly visible from the conduct of most of the famous leaders at this time.
The Congress’s biggest problem is not just the lack of political courage. Narasimha Rao changed the way Congress declared mixed economy and non-alignment. India was a recognized leader of non-aligned countries and had a global voice. She became weak from the time of Rao. Leaving the socialist trend behind, the path of crony capitalization of liberalization, privatization and globalization was taken, which strengthened during the time of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and has remained in motion since then. It not only pushed aside the values ??that emerged from the freedom movement but also recognized the tendencies of consumerism, superstition and neo-feminism.
If Rahul Gandhi really wants to give direction to the Congress, then today the danger is not only from fearful leaders, but also from this economic policy which remains a factor of inequality, poverty and deprivation. Can Congress fight against this economic policy and give a new economic concept to the country? It is this question that can make a party relevant to the future of Congress, a parallel worldview against the values ??of the RSS. The BJP and Narendra Modi cannot be contested without fighting against the basic ideological vision that emerged in India after 2014. As simple as the statement is, the path of giving a new attitude to the Congress is equally difficult.
