Congress Party Can’t Afford To Lose New-Age Politicians Like Tharoor

In Telangana, going by the way things are happening now, Anumula Revanth Reddy, who undoubtedly played the key role in the party’s surprise victory in the 2023 Assembly polls, doesn’t seem to have been given a free hand to run the State as its Chief Minister. As a consequence, administration is more or less in disarray. This will obviously lead to dissatisfaction among people. Frankly speaking, it already started. That’s what happens when a chief minister doesn’t have full control over key ministries in his government

In the Indian context, Shashi Tharoor is a political paradox. I first interacted with him a few years back. It was through email, of course. We had just launched Bizz Buzz digital edition and I was looking for a good columnist with a pan-India appeal. I sent a message to him, asking for a fortnightly column for us on political and other developments.

Tharoor, popular author and a former diplomat with the United Nations, seems to have a strong supporting team that we don’t see with many politicians. The reply was prompt and professional. He was willing to contribute a column for us. Somehow, it didn’t work out.

The four-time Congress Member of Parliament from Thiruvananthapuram has been in the news in recent weeks for praising rivals from the opposite spectrum!

Firstly, he wrote a newspaper article in his inimitable style, lauding achievements of the Kerala government in the startup space. Kerala is currently being ruled by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) led by Communist Party of India (Marxist) – CPI (M), while the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) is in opposition.

Kerala voters are known to throw out ruling parties every five years. But that did not happen in 2021 when LDF retained power, putting paid to the aspirations of the Congress-led front.

In this backdrop, a popular Congress leader like Tharoor praising the LDF government did not go down well with the Kerala Congress leaders. But Tharoor did not stop there. He also lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the latter’s handling of maverick US President Donald Trump, when both the leaders met in Washington recently. The maverick Trump has already pushed the world into turmoil.

However, a Congress leader lauding the BJP Prime Minister obviously creates a political sensation. For, BJP has defeated Congress at the national level in three General Elections -2014, 2019 and 2024- on-the-trot. And the defeats of Congress against BJP in Assembly polls are countless. Therefore, Tharoor’s words of praise for Modi tasted bitter for Congress leaders and cadre.

But as I said in the beginning, Tharoor is a paradoxical politician, who still remains in Congress, a centrist party, despite praising leaders from the left and right of the Indian political spectrum. That’s so because Congress needs Tharoor more and not the other way around.

Congress slipped into political wilderness after India’s growing middle class and urban population started drifting away. It is not an exaggeration to say that Tharoor is the only popular Congress politician whom the India’s middle class and urbanites like. That way, Congress can’t afford to lose a suave new-age politician like him at this crucial juncture given that its aggressive push for caste census may further alienate the urban class. Furthermore, Congress needs politicians who put forth constructive criticism as such a strategy will improve its image nationally and position it as a better alternative when push comes to shove.

It is said that Tharoor is keen on throwing his hat into the chief ministerial race in Kerala and his recent comments are a clear indication of this desire. Given the current odds against Congress, he will make a good bet. Furthermore, Congress needs strong and popular leaders like him in the States for it to improve its performance in the 2029 General Elections.

But unfortunately, the Congress is moving in the reverse direction in States where it has a strong leadership. The classic example is Telangana where it is in power.

Going by the way things are happening in Telangana now, Anumula Revanth Reddy, who undoubtedly played a key role in the party’s surprise victory in the 2023 Assembly polls, has perhaps not been given a free hand to run the State as its Chief Minister. As a consequence, the administration more or less is in disarray. This will obviously lead to dissatisfaction among people. Frankly speaking, it has already started.

That’s what happens when an incumbent Chief Minister is denied full control over key ministries in his government. Congress is a national party. So, the decision-making is slow in States where it is in power. That’s not the case when a regional party is in power. From 1994 to 2023, Telangana experienced speedier governance barring the years when K. Rosaiah (September 2009 to November 2010) and N. Kiran Kumar Reddy (2010-2014) were chief ministers from Congress in the undivided Andhra Pradesh. Dr YS Rajasekara Reddy, though from Congress, ruled the undivided AP between 2004 and 2009 like a regional satrap.

But many say the current government under Revanth Reddy leadership looks like an old-style Congress dispensation with administration in slumber, confusion reigning in many departments and what not. The result-Confidence levels among people are on the wane. So, it’s no surprise that the image of both Revanth Reddy and the Congress party is at stake in the State. But let me save this topic for another day.

However, the fact of the matter is that the Bharatiya Janata Party has almost transformed into the Congress of the Indira Gandhi era. In those days, Indira Gandhi, the all-powerful leader, dictated the terms, sought votes on her name and installed whoever she wanted as chief ministers. Despite the setback in the 2024 General Elections in which BJP lost significant traction in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra, the saffron party subsequently went to Assembly polls in Haryana, Maharashtra and Delhi without a chief ministerial face and won the elections hands down. That is primarily because of the Modi factor.

But that was not the case before 2014. In those days, BJP had strong leaders in States – Narendra Modi in Gujarat, Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Madhya Pradesh, B.S. Yediyurappa in Karnataka and likewise in other States.

This phenomenon created a positive image about BJP across India and helped it secure a majority on its own in the 2014 General Elections where there was a severe anti-incumbency wave against the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre.

Hence, to check the BJP juggernaut, the grand old party should execute a similar playbook and opt for stronger leaders at the State level. Will Congress show political maturity and do it remains to be seen.