Election strategist Prashant Kishor has expressed his latest opinion about the Congress, in which he has said, ‘The Congress party does not improve, it will drown us too. We lost only one election in 10 years in 2017. Congress spoiled our track record, so after that we joined hands with them that we will never work with these people. Actually Prashant Kishor did not work for Congress after 2017. Although he did go to join the Congress but that is a different matter. He joined the Congress, not as an election strategist, but as a leader, to make structural changes in it and prepare it to take on the BJP. Despite giving presentations several times, when the Congress did not agree to his terms, it seemed that the Congress wanted to take his service as an election strategist, but by joining the party as a leader, he was allowed to do everything with his mind. Don’t want to give
The Congress, however, considered some of the suggestions of Prashant Kishor at the Nav Sankalp Shivir in Udaipur and decided to implement some of them. But from the political developments that have taken place in the last three weeks after the Nav Sankalp Shivir, it does not seem that the Congress has understood what is lacking in it and what it needs to improve. In fact the Congress did not even discuss its shortcomings in Udaipur. It did not even think that what is her weakness, due to which she is continuously losing elections and due to which her leaders are leaving the party continuously. For three days, the top leaders of the party kept thinking but did not contemplate the defeat and neither the organization was considered. The election of the Congress president is to be held in August. Even with its preparations, the party has not been able to create any political atmosphere, while the election of the BJP President is to be held next year and it has created a political atmosphere by organizing working committees continuously in every state. State Working Committee meetings of BJP have been held in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand.
The biggest political development after Nav Sankalp Shivir is the biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha. Seeing the candidates of Congress for these elections, it is also clear that Congress cannot change under any circumstances. The Congress has fielded a total of 10 candidates, but among them there is strong opposition in the states regarding one from Maharashtra, three from Rajasthan, two from Chhattisgarh and one from Haryana i.e. seven candidates. Think, seven out of 10 candidates are heavily opposed and two of them are caught in a battle where their chances of winning are slim. Congress has given outside candidates except Jairam Ramesh from Karnataka, P Chidambaram from Tamil Nadu and Vivek Tankha from Madhya Pradesh. That is, instead of the state where the seats are vacant, a candidate from another state has been fielded. The Congress has done this only so that those who are loyal to the family can be sent to the Upper House.
The Congress has neither taken care of the social equation nor tried to balance the regional in deciding the candidate. The names of the candidates were issued as per the order of the emperor. Rajiv Shukla, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, is contesting from Chhattisgarh, Pramod Tiwari from Rajasthan and Imran Pratapgarhi from Maharashtra. Haryana’s Randeep Surjewala and Maharashtra’s Mukul Wasnik are candidates from Rajasthan and Delhi’s Ajay Maken from Haryana. Bihar’s Ranjeet Ranjan has been made a candidate from Chhattisgarh. In contrast, the BJP has given tickets to only two of its 22 candidates outside their state. It has fielded Nirmala Sitharaman from Karnataka and K Laxman from Uttar Pradesh.
If we talk about social equation, BJP has given only four Brahmin candidates out of 22 candidates. Apart from these, most of its candidates are from backward and Dalit castes. It has taken special care that at least the candidates are high profile. He has given opportunity to most of the organization leaders and grassroot workers. In contrast, the Congress has given seven out of 10 upper caste candidates, including five Brahmins. There is one Dalit, one OBC and one Muslim in the Congress list. Apart from this, the party, which has given the slogan of Ladki Hoon Lad Sakti Hoon, has given only one woman candidate out of 10, while four out of 22 candidates of BJP are women. The BJP has implicated the Congress by giving additional candidates in three states, but despite having the opportunity, the Congress could not entangle the BJP in any state. On the contrary, the Congress leadership, in its ignorance or immaturity, spoiled relations with Jharkhand’s ally JMM.
The manner in which the Congress has fielded candidates in the states it ruled – Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, it seems that the party has given up its intention to win in these two states next year. Had the Congress shown its intention to contest and win in these states, all the candidates would have been local and would have been in line with the caste equation of the state. They would have been grassroot workers and would have strengthened the hands of both the Chief Ministers. But instead of making five outsiders and exhausted leaders as candidates, the Congress high command has put its chief ministers in trouble and spoiled the prospects ahead. The second and major drawback is that the Congress is still working in that imperialistic style that it is not to give anything to those who are not loyal or who have ever questioned the family. Then many suitable candidates of the party were ignored.
Think, even in such a bad condition, the Congress is engaged in the game of oblige people loyal to the family and to settle the disgruntled leaders. The party is not considering its shortcomings in such difficult times. Instead of keeping the party united and addressing their grievances by talking to the leaders, it is creating such a situation that more leaders leave the party. After the Nav Sankalp Shivir, old leaders like Sunil Jakhar and Kapil Sibal left the party. Congress is acting as if it doesn’t care. It is not that the party has this approach only in the case of leaders. The party has no organization and no program. Congress is not running any program to surround the government in spite of such extreme inflation, unemployment and poverty. BJP and regional parties are busy preparing for the upcoming assembly elections but Congress leaders are engaged in a game of settling each other within the party. In fact, even after losing the elections continuously, the Congress leaders are in the mood that one day people will get tired of the BJP and then they will hand over power to the Congress sitting at home. It happened once in 2004 but it is not going to happen now.
