Congress command in the hands of inexperienced leaders
Party must decide as to whose voice it will be
The restlessness among the Congress party has increased after the tragic defeat in four Assembly elections – Delhi, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pardesh – which could be gauged from the statement of party leader Mani Shankar Aiyar. He has said that the party will lose the next elections. He is of the opinion that there is a need of revolutionary changes in the party set-up right from top brass to ground level. Aiyar has said to this extent that Manmohan Singh should not have been Prime Minister during 2009. There is possibility that some leaders might be thinking like this but they are reluctant to speak openly like Aiyar. Today the Congress party is standing at the cross-roads and its credibility is at stake.
Now when the general elections are ahead, the Congress party is not in a position to decide as to with which agenda or programme, it should come before the Congress. During the tenure of UPA-I, the stress was on rural India and the government tried to present its programmes like MNREGA and Right to Information Act through the common man and it had been successful to some extent. During the next term of UPA-II, this process continued for sometime followed by Right to Education to maintain its pro-people image but after this it changed its track and hurriedly moved on economic reforms.
With these programmes, no doubt, the government won the confidence of small category of people but the common man felt ignored. The government could neither control over the inflation nor stop the number of scams which exposed the government to the public and there was a great set-back to the image of the party. This conveyed a message that the government is of Managers and Bureaucrats. Even the government failed to take political decision and in nut-shell, the question was raised on the capability of Manmohan Singh.
In fact, giving a power to a professional and giving report to the party from the background failed. If we see from the system point of view in the party despite the initiatives of Rahul Gandhi, there have been no basic changes in the party. Every where is groupism and generally the power has been given to the inexperienced leaders. Thus there is a need to develop a leadership at the ground level. Congress has also to solve its leadership problem and it has to decide as to whose voice it will be.
The restlessness among the Congress party has increased after the tragic defeat in four Assembly elections – Delhi, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pardesh – which could be gauged from the statement of party leader Mani Shankar Aiyar. He has said that the party will lose the next elections. He is of the opinion that there is a need of revolutionary changes in the party set-up right from top brass to ground level. Aiyar has said to this extent that Manmohan Singh should not have been Prime Minister during 2009. There is possibility that some leaders might be thinking like this but they are reluctant to speak openly like Aiyar. Today the Congress party is standing at the cross-roads and its credibility is at stake.
Now when the general elections are ahead, the Congress party is not in a position to decide as to with which agenda or programme, it should come before the Congress. During the tenure of UPA-I, the stress was on rural India and the government tried to present its programmes like MNREGA and Right to Information Act through the common man and it had been successful to some extent. During the next term of UPA-II, this process continued for sometime followed by Right to Education to maintain its pro-people image but after this it changed its track and hurriedly moved on economic reforms.
With these programmes, no doubt, the government won the confidence of small category of people but the common man felt ignored. The government could neither control over the inflation nor stop the number of scams which exposed the government to the public and there was a great set-back to the image of the party. This conveyed a message that the government is of Managers and Bureaucrats. Even the government failed to take political decision and in nut-shell, the question was raised on the capability of Manmohan Singh.
In fact, giving a power to a professional and giving report to the party from the background failed. If we see from the system point of view in the party despite the initiatives of Rahul Gandhi, there have been no basic changes in the party. Every where is groupism and generally the power has been given to the inexperienced leaders. Thus there is a need to develop a leadership at the ground level. Congress has also to solve its leadership problem and it has to decide as to whose voice it will be.
