Opinion The age of inclusiveness
The very effective theme of the Congress in this parliamentary campaign was inclusiveness.
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The very effective theme of the Congress in this parliamentary campaign was inclusiveness. The catchphrase was reiterated in President Pratibha Patils inaugural address to the new Lok Sabha last week. Inclusiveness has been the defining characteristic of the 113-year-old party. It symbolises different things to different people,accommodates varied ideologies and different strata of society under one roof. The Congress has a pan-India image,and an appeal cutting across caste,religion and income levels. In the first 25 years after independence,like the all-encompassing banyan tree,the Congress did not let any other political party grow under its branches.
It was in the wake of the Mandal agitation that the inclusiveness which the Congress boasted of as its core strength turned into its Achilles Heel. The partys message was too broad-based and diffuse to appeal to all sections at the same time. In contrast,other political parties were targeting specific sections of the electorate on the basis of caste,regionalism and religion. These smaller political parties began expanding at the expense of the Congress. The Congress,by continuously maintaining a balancing act,lost out on major issues whether it was Mandal,the Ayodhya mosque or regional aspirations.
The grand old party was no longer unassailable. The first body blow was in 1977,a referendum on Indira Gandhis Emergency rule,which saw the Congress tally fall to 154 seats. But it was after the Mandal reservations for OBCs gained momentum that the rot really set in. The nadir came in 1999 when the Congress tally was a dismal 114. Pundits claimed that the Congress was a dinosaur,out of place in the era of coalition politics. Finally,the Congress scrapped the Pachmarhi resolution of 1998 that had committed itself to going it alone and shunning alliance politics. When the Congress formed the government in 2004,its own tally was a modest 145 and it was dependent on fractious allies and outside support from the Left which handicapped the UPA government and constrained the fulfilment of its agenda.
Before the 2009 elections the Congress had a difficult choice to make. Should it strive for a repeat of the 2004 experiment,even though the UPA allies,taking advantage of the Congresss vulnerability,were increasingly demanding? Or should it go alone? The decision was crucial in the states of UP and Bihar which together account for nearly a quarter of Parliaments total strength. Congress leaders,fearful of power slipping out of their grasp,almost universally wanted the soft option,of accepting the crumbs offered by the RJD and SP. It was better to be a minor player than split the anti-NDA vote by fighting independently of the RJD and SP,they argued. While the seasoned politicians in the party were prepared to eat humble pie to retain power,the novice Rahul Gandhi understood that if the Congress bowed out of these two states,in the long run the party would eventually lose its pre-eminent position as an all-India party. BJP strategists were thrilled by what they considered Rahul Gandhis strategic blunder.
But it was Gandhi who had the last laugh. This election saw many of the Congresss traditional supporters returning to the fold. The results indicate the electorate was unhappy with regional parties,motivated by narrow,selfish considerations. It wanted a national party which could provide a strong government and an inclusive agenda. There is a lesson in this for all other political parties. Of course,it would be naive to assume that the electorate is no longer swayed by caste,regionalism or religion. These traits are so well entrenched in the system that they cannot be weeded out easily,but hopefully a small beginning has been made. In UP,the BSP and BJP carefully crafted their selection of candidates on the basis of caste,but the Congress,whose selection of candidate was far more random and last-minute,did better than both. Significantly,not a single Muslim candidate fielded by the SP won in UP.
The main opposition party,the BJP,should in particular pay attention to the lessons of 2009. Sudheendra Kulkarni,L.K. Advanis aide,has,in a soul-searching piece,pointed out that the acceptability of the RSS and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad is limited even within Hindu communities. Their philosophy,which is stuck in a time warp,is such that a large section of Indian society automatically gets excluded. The BJP,by reflecting this sort of thinking,has not been able to overcome the handicap of a limited social base. Its growth gets stymied beyond a point. Even at its peak in 1998 and 1999 when it was led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee a leader with an inclusive image it plateaued; in both years it got 182 seats. If it fails to read the warning signs,the BJP could end up as a dinosaur in the era of inclusiveness.
coomi.kapoor@expressindia.com
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