In the recently concluded Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, the Congress adopted a new slogan – ‘Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan’. It’s a call to revisit the foundational values and principles of India. In an era marked by growing polarisation, social inequalities and challenges to democratic institutions, this slogan embodies the ideals of non-violence and social justice enshrined in the constitution.
The CWC meeting at Belagavi provided Congress a platform to revive its ideological celebrity and present a new roadmap for addressing contemporary challenges. By aligning the legacies of Gandhi and Ambedkar, the Congress is attempting to reposition itself as the custodian of India’s democratic, pluralistic and inclusive ethos. However, the realisation of this vision requires not just rhetoric but a sustained effort to address the challenges of caste inequality, communal divide and democratic erosion.
Congress once the principal architect of India’s independence and democracy, is now redefining its vision. This slogan seeks to project the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (Bhim) and the Indian constitution (Samvidhan), creating a new turning point in a fractured Indian political climate. At a time when the nation’s social fabric and communal harmony face threats from caste and communal polarisation, revisiting the ideals is necessary.
The decline of Congress
The departure of influential regional leaders has weakened Congress’s grassroots presence and electoral strength in several states. These leaders were pivotal in maintaining Congress’s regional dominance and connection with local communities. Their exit created political voids that were quickly filled by regional parties and the Bharatiya Janata Party. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar in Maharashtra, and Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) chief Jagan Mohan Reddy in Andhra Pradesh were prime examples of the party’s failure to prevent such foundation collapse.
This also allowed the BJP to target outgoing Congress leaders like Jyotiraditya Scindia in Madhya Pradesh and Himanta Biswa Sharma in Assam and onboarding them to their camp. Today, they have emerged as powerful regional leaders of the BJP.
In Economics, there is a theory called ‘law of diminishing return’. It explains how a company can increase its profit by investing more resources. But at a certain point, when it has reached a saturation point, the company’s profits will start declining. This can apply to politics as well. Any party may grow by adding more cadres and accommodating leaders by providing various positions, but after a point, the party would be unable to provide more satisfying roles to leaders, causing them to move out of the party by joining others or creating new ones.
In the recent past, when the Congress held significant power at the centre and in many states, it reached a stagnant phase, creating a sense of limited opportunities for political advancement among its second-rank leaders. From that point, many leaders switched camps or built their own parties. With a decade-long series of defeats, decline in power and unfilled vacancies, Congress can now offer excellent positions for emerging leaders at various levels. By reorienting its cadres and leaders, the party can rebuild its century-old legacy of reflecting India’s diversity, protect it from further erosion and strengthen the party to regain electoral power.
As the Congress party seeks to revive its relevance, prioritising gender equity in its organisational and electoral framework is both a moral imperative and a political necessity.
Underrepresentation of women
Despite its history of strong women leaders, Congress has struggled to ensure equitable representation of women in party positions and electoral tickets. Women hold less than 20% of key positions in Congress’s organisational hierarchy.
According to the Congress website, top positions in the party are largely occupied by male leaders. Only 10 out of 66 members in the All India Congress Committee (15.24%), six out of 39 in the CWC (15.3%), 3 out of 12 general secretaries (24%), five out of 36 in the political affairs committee (13%), and three out of 14 members in the central election committee (21%) are women.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, only 14% of Congress candidates were women. Congress failed to field women candidates in proportion to their population, undermining its claim to promote gender equity. The underrepresentation of women weakens the party’s ability to address issues like gender-based violence, women’s economic empowerment and healthcare reforms. With nearly half of India’s population comprising women, Congress cannot afford to overlook this constituency.
Gandhi believed that women’s empowerment was central to India’s moral and spiritual regeneration. Ambedkar championed legal and structural reforms to ensure women’s equality. As the chief architect of the Indian Constitution, Ambedkar enshrined the equality of sexes in the fundamental rights and introduced the Hindu Code Bill to grant women equal property and marital rights. For the Congress to truly embody the ideals of “Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan,” it must prioritise gender equity in the party and in its electoral strategy.
Communication is key
In the past 10 years, the Congress has suffered electoral defeats largely due to its inability to communicate the party’s commitments and promises to the electorate, especially in BJP-ruled states. It also failed to capitalise on anti-incumbency sentiments by establishing a powerful counter-narrative.
Even in states like Haryana, where there was high disappointment and resentment among voters against the BJP, the Congress failed to woo voters. In most cases, it was forced to defend itself against the BJP’s unrestrained attacks.
Both the 2019 and 2024 Congress manifestos carried attractive promises, such as providing Rs 72,000 per annum to the poorest people under Nyantam Aya Yojana (NYAY) and addressing various pressing issues such as the Agnipath scheme, the cap on OBC reservation, minimum support price (MSP) and strengthening MGNREGA. Unfortunately, the party failed to deliver the message to voters and set a narrative in its favour.
In contrast, the BJP actively engaged in a misleading campaign against the Congress manifesto. The Congress has struggled to match the BJP’s communication machinery, relegating it to a backseat in campaign efforts.
A voter won’t cast their vote only by reading party manifestos or hearing rally speeches, but the battleground is preset. Building a positive narrative and projecting a candidate with strong leadership skills is key. Unfortunately, both Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party failed to do so.
It is noteworthy to recall the resolution passed at the Congress plenary session in Raipur in 2023, which promised amendments to the party bylaws to provide 50% reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes across AICC and Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) posts. The resolution also proposed increasing the total number of CWC members to accommodate more representatives. While this was seen as a tactical shift in the party’s stance, it remains largely unimplemented.
To pose a credible deterrent against the ever-growing BJP, which has even altered government machinery to influence electoral practices, the Congress must bring back a vast section of people’s trust by onboarding their leaders to the party. Inducting OBC and Dalit leaders in the party’s high command not only makes Congress a more representative body but also a stronger voice for people’s problems.
Restructuring Congress as a more representative party – with OBC, Dalit, minorities, and women – while accommodating significant regional leaders is essential for effectively challenging the BJP in 2029. The party can test this in the upcoming elections in Delhi and Bihar in 2025 and in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal in 2026.
This also provides a reasonable timeframe for the Congress to implement structural changes and make necessary policy corrections based on the election results in these states. Adopting a slogan won’t change voters’ mindsets or bring confidence, but providing more communities and adopting a regional-centric approach with powerful communication can achieve this herculean task before 2029. The question is: Will Congress pay heed to this?
This article was originally published on The Wire on Jan 5, 2025.
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