Will ideological evolution of Congress help in 2024?

If we look into the changes the party has made to its constitution to give 50 per cent reservation at all levels of the party hierarchy, we can notice an ideological evolution of the party. It is significant that the party has accommodated forces of social justice in its ranks. The lack of recognition for these forces has long been considered a big obstacle to the revival of Congress in north India. In addition to that, the party has revisited the policy positions that it had adopted in the early 1990s. It has invoked its legacy of being the leader of the freedom struggle and the architect of democracy in free India

The Modi government has managed to prevent discussion at the Congress plenary in Raipur. Events such as the arrest of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also helped to achieve this. These orchestrations also helped the ruling party divert people’s attention from the most important happening of recent months: the collapse of Adani's business empire. If an incident like this, which has far-reaching consequences for the country’s economy, can be sidetracked without much effort, then it is not at all surprising to find that an event like the Congress plenary has been completely ignored. However, the plenary is a historic event and will have a huge impact on Indian politics.

It will be a myopic view of a great event like the Congress plenary if we only associate it with the 2024 elections. This is true: Indian democracy may take a different course if the present government returns in 2024. Many people think if democracy has to survive, the opposition parties must defeat this government. For this, it is necessary that Congress be rejuvenated to the level at which it effectively takes on the Modi-Shah duo. Without the revival of the Congress, the fate of the opposition hangs in the balance. Can the Congress meet the challenge of the well-oiled machinery of the BJP? Will it be able to mobilize different political parties? The Congress has certainly tried to address these questions in its plenary. But these aspects have limited consequences so far as the larger questions of Indian politics are concerned. The plenary has deliberated on such ideological issues that must be looked into for the sake of improving the country’s future.

If we look into the changes the party has made to its constitution to give 50 per cent reservation at all levels of the party hierarchy, we can notice an ideological evolution of the party. It is significant that the party has accommodated forces of social justice in its ranks. The lack of recognition for these forces has long been considered a big obstacle to the revival of Congress in north India. In addition to that, the party has revisited the policy positions that it had adopted in the early 1990s. It has invoked its legacy of being the leader of the freedom struggle and the architect of democracy in free India.

"The Indian National Congress has been the torchbearer of the Indian freedom struggle under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, and Congressmen and Congresswomen have been the progenitors of Indian nationalism. It is Congress that liberated the country from centuries of suppression and exploitation at the hands of the British. It has been a unifying force in a very diverse country, with its secular and inclusive policies.

India’s first Prime Minister, the great visionary, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, along with his closest colleague and unifier of modern India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, laid firm foundations for parliamentary democracy and put India on the path of development and modernization. Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’s role in framing the Constitution shaped the democratic ethos for one India centered around the values of justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity," says the political resolution of the Raipur session.

Finer aspects of this resolution need to be explained in the current discourse of Savarkar versus Gandhi. It is not merely taking pride in referring to political giants of yesteryear. The resolution has unambiguously acknowledged the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi and attributed the leadership of independent India to Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. Another significance of the symbolism is that it avoids linking the entire Congress legacy of independent India to the Nehru-Gandhi family. This had become the norm during and after the tenure of Indira Gandhi to invoke the names of this family.

The clarification has been extended further to the ideology of the party. The resolution says, "Congress should be absolutely clear about its ideology, with which our forefathers fought for freedom, laid down their lives, and sustained democracy. The idea of India has been clearly laid down by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru that Congress stands for secularism, socialism, and federalism."

The party has also answered one more question. Detractors have long accused the party of failing to mobilise the secular and democratic forces of the country and making a joint front against the present regime, which, people suppose, is out to destroy the secular, democratic, and federal character of Indian polity.

The party has resolved that the unity of secular and socialist forces will be the hallmark of the future of the Congress party. "Congress should go all out to identify, mobilize and align like-minded secular forces," the resolution says.

However, the party has made it clear that it does not approve of any third front. "We should include secular regional forces who agree with our ideology. There is an urgent need for a united opposition to take on the NDA on common ideological grounds. "The emergence of any third force will provide an advantage to the BJP/NDA."

This is true: the question of opposition unity is a complex one, and Congress has to find a way out of it. Many people believe that Congress is yet to come to terms with ground reality and is not ready to recognize the political power of regional parties. They suggest that Congress should allow regional parties to lead the charge against the BJP in the states where they are strong. It is clear that Congress has dismissed the idea. Is it not erroneous to ask Congress to vacate the political space in its possession in the name of opposition unity? Should it vacate its space in Kerala in the name of opposition unity? It will only allow the BJP to fill the space that Congress has been occupying in the state against the Left Front.

(The author is a senior journalist. He has experience of working with leading newspapers and electronic media including Deccan Herald, Sunday Guardian, Navbharat Times and Dainik Bhaskar. He writes on politics, society, environment and economy)