Rajkumar Singh
The Karnataka victory has proved charismatic for the Congress. A few months ago, the Congress wrested the power of Himachal Pradesh from the BJP, but after demolishing its only stronghold in South India, the confidence of the country’s oldest party is on skyrocket. The work of telling the satraps, who show their eyes to the high command, their limits has already started. In view of the next Lok Sabha elections, for the sake of opposition unity, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was made interlocutor, now the Congress is in a mood to do it on its own terms.
what did victory change
- After the victory in Karnataka, the Congress is convinced that the victory in Himachal Pradesh was not a fluke. After wresting the power of two states within a few months from the BJP, which describes itself as the world’s largest political party, the Congress has got the formula and confidence to win elections.
- The party is feeling that despite having limited resources, it can defeat the BJP with the help of local leadership and issues with populist promises. Its fear that BJP can win every time by taking advantage of the division of opposing votes has gone away.
- In Karnataka, the Janata Dal Secular of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda and former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy was also in the fray with a claim to power, but the voters made the self-styled kingmaker almost irrelevant.
- It is a result of the resounding victory in Karnataka that the Congress did not even invite the three Chief Ministers of the opposition – Arvind Kejriwal of Delhi, K. Chandrasekhar Rao of Telangana and Bhagwant Mann of Punjab – for the swearing-in ceremony of its Chief Minister, while all opposition parties The leaders were invited there.
Of course, the Congress’ dislike for KCR and Kejriwal is no secret and it is not one-sided either. In the past, the potion of opposition unity that KCR and Kejriwal have been cooking had no place for the Congress. Now that the Himachal and Karnataka victories have given wings to the confidence of the Congress, it does not want to miss out on answering them in their own style. Nitish Kumar came to Delhi the next day to meet Kejriwal, the convenor of AAP, in order to minimize the damage that could be done to the opposition unity by this behavior of the Congress. In the midst of constant confrontation with the BJP government at the Centre, Kejriwal is also facing the danger of being snatched away by the ordinance, given by the Supreme Court to appoint officers. Contrary to his nature, he is still willing to cooperate with the Congress. However, the real reason for this is the need for the support of the Congress to block the passage of the ordinance in the Rajya Sabha. Congress, an old player of the game of power, also understands that the camel has hardly come down from the mountain. Therefore, on the pretext of discussing with the leaders of Delhi-Punjab, he has not opened his cards yet.
This confidence of the Congress high command is not only reflected in the behavior of the regional parties, but also with its satraps. It is a matter of last year itself, when most of the MLAs did not turn up for the Legislature Party meeting called by the party supervisors who went to Rajasthan to replace Ashok Gehlot, who is going to become the National President of the Congress, but the politics of pressure against Sachin Pilot While doing so, he sent his resignation to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.
It was an unprecedented incident of defiance of the high command in the history of the 137-year-old Congress, but still the party leadership could not do more than make Mallikarjun Kharge the national president instead of Gehlot. Kharge was also among those observers who boycotted the meeting called by pro-Gehlot MLAs. Remember that after the fall of the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh due to the rebellion of Jyotiraditya Scindia during the Corona period in the year 2020, the same situation was also being created in Rajasthan, but on the assurance of Rahul-Priyanka, the pilots agreed. Had that assurance been implemented, perhaps Pilot would not have had to go on a hunger strike against his own government and then go on a mass struggle. However, that weakness seems to be a thing of the past. The Congress is moving forward taking lessons from the victories in Himachal and Karnataka.
- It has understood that assertiveness on local issues, unity in the party and revelries are the keys to victory.
- That’s why it didn’t take long to summon Gehlot and Pilot to Delhi and give instructions for unity.
- It is not yet clear what formula has been worked out for unity in Rajasthan, but it is clear that Gehlot’s arbitrariness alone will not work. Leaders of Madhya Pradesh have also been called and explained.
no one is bigger than the party
In Chhattisgarh, the figure of thirty-six between Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Health Minister TS Singhdev is also not a secret. Haryana is also a great example of how deep factionalism is in the Congress, where the state organization has not been formed for the last nine years. While two Lok Sabha and two assembly elections have been held during this period. Now the message of the confident high command is clear: no one is bigger than the party, everyone has to work together in the interest of the party.
(The author is a senior journalist)
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author’s own.