Opinion The election of Mallikarjun Kharge as Congress president will not change the electoral fortunes of the party

The election and the much-hyped Bharat Jodo Yatra of Rahul Gandhi on the eve of two critical state elections paint a picture of an organisation in complete disarray and a party clueless about its next move. At a time when the Congress leadership should be focused on Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat, where it faces the mounting challenge of new entrants vying for the opposition space, it is embroiled in the factional rivalry in Rajasthan, selection of a new president camouflaged as an election and an aimless yatra executed with no concrete electoral agenda in sight. 2024 is still far away.

The sole purpose of the Bharat Jodo Yatra is to attempt yet another launch of Rahul Gandhi when faced with mounting internal dissension within the party and questions over the utility of the dynasty in the changed context. The yatra is not aimed at the ruling BJP, nor is the public its target audience. It is rather directed inwards as a show of strength and a test of loyalty to silence the dissenters within the party. The yatra and the “fixed” elections have successfully stifled any opposition and possibility of meaningful change within the Congress party. There is little doubt that Kharge will be to the Congress party what Manmohan Singh was to the UPA government.

The dynasty and the durbar have again shown that they remain in complete control of the Congress, even as the party continues to wither away across the country. It cannot stop the veterans from deserting or acting independently. It is incapable of attracting the youth. It has no new agenda to put before new India, apart from the old secular-socialist rhetoric in an even cruder form. It thinks that the public in the post-reform, aspirational India will be swayed by the anti-capitalist rhetoric of the 1960s and ’70s. Over the past two decades, it has assembled and nurtured an ecosystem virulently against any form of expression of India’s cultural tradition and civilisational ethos.

In a deeply nationalist and religious country, the Congress has adopted the language of the far-left and the deracinated wokeism flowing in from American universities. This, at a time when India is seeing a strong cultural revival and assertion of its national interests and civilisational pride. While the Congress organisation continues to melt away at the grassroots, the party is at ease among the social media warriors and activists who think deconstructing Indian society, culture, and religion; undermining institutions and even armed forces by wild insinuation and conspiracy theories, and mocking anything and everything India does is a way to remain relevant.

The problem with Congress is not only organisational and structural, which can be addressed by an organisational reshuffle. Its issues are rooted in ideology, and the social and class structure of the party. The party is today left with no meaningful social base and only relies on inflaming caste, linguistic, religious, and regional fault lines to remain in the electoral contest. But even that has diminishing returns in the face of the inclusive and representative politics of the BJP and local parties who can better play the same game. This election is just another step towards the complete disintegration of the Congress party; another flicker before the light goes out.

The writer is National Vice-President, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha