Two days before the results of the assembly polls poured in, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra held a rally in Lucknow to mark International Women’s Day. She said the women candidates her party had fielded in Uttar Pradesh had given their all, and that they should not be bothered about the results. The fight had just begun, Priyanka said.
As it turns out, the fight will now be for the Congress’s survival. The grand old crisis-ridden party is at its lowest point. The last assembly polls it won was in 2018, and it rules only two states own its own—Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The situation is so grim that the Gandhis, especially siblings Priyanka and former party president Rahul Gandhi will have to address mounting doubts about their effectiveness as politicians.
The Congress may not have been in the race in UP, but it was dealt an embarrassing defeat in Punjab by the Aam Aadmi Party. Chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and state party president Navjot Singh Sidhu, lost their seats. Capt Amarinder Singh, who quit the party after being removed from the chief minister’s chair months before the polls, also lost from home turf Patiala. The Congress also failed to wrest back Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa from the BJP.
“The results are contrary to the Congress’s expectations,” said senior party leader Randeep Surjewala. “We fought well, but failed to get the people’s blessings. We are dejected, but we are not going anywhere. We will be back with a new strategy.”
Rahul and Priyanka had led the party from the front in the elections. Rahul was campaigner-in-chief in all states except UP, where Priyanka held the reins. The role of the Gandhis, especially the changes they brought about in Punjab, will now be questioned. While supporters say that the Congress had no option but to replace the unpopular Amarinder Singh, critics have questioned the manner in which he was removed.
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Priyanka had played a major role in appointing Sidhu as state party president, and Rahul had invested heavily in the game-changing potential of Channi’s dalit identity. With the bets having come undone—Channi lost from both the seats he contested—daggers are out now.
Priyanka, once seen as the Congress’s secret weapon, will face questions about her effectiveness. But supporters say that she did connect with the voters, especially women. “Priyanka ji’s campaign resonated with the people, and the crowds she attracted in her rallies were real and not managed. This is only the beginning of our revival,” said Pankaj Srivastava, vice chairman of the party’s media department in UP.
Voices of discontent in the party will get stronger. The G-23 group of leaders have been demanding reform and an effective, full-time leadership in the party. The results will bolster the group’s calls for a shake-up.
The party is set to have its organisational elections later this year. Rahul was expected to make a comeback as president, but now there is speculation about the possibility of a non-Gandhi party chief. Also, the Congress’s claim on the pole position in any anti-BJP bloc is now undeniably weakened.
The party is in a dire position—it needs to introspect, but there is not much time for it. If it is to redeem itself in the assembly polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh later this year, it has to act now.