The Congress Chintan Shivir failed to throw up anything concrete to help it regain lost footing

The latest Congress jamboree at Udaipur, aka Chintan Shivir, is over. It was supposed to be an exercise by the ‘grand old party’ to soul search, find faults within and tread on the path to revival. If one goes by the reaction of party men and media persons at the Shivir, it was just another meeting without any effort to usher in radical changes that could revive the party. The Chintan Shivir, which was called ‘Nav Sankalp Chintan Shivir’, failed to achieve anything meaningful. The main agenda, however, was to absolve the party’s high command of all the electoral debacles in the recent past. A camp like this should have been an interactive exercise that could obliterate the line between the leaders and workers. But Rahul Gandhi seemed aloof and reluctant to connect with his party workers. The Congress seems to have made peace with its existing situation and status quoist mindset. There were no sessions dedicated to introspecting and rectifying the problems alienating the party from people. Despite the BJP handing it issues on a platter, it has been unable to cash in on these. Hardly any Congress leader on the ground connects with people or takes up their issues.

One of the decisions taken at the Shivir is to take up Bharat Jodo Yatra, starting October 2. It would be a 3,500-km rally to create awareness about the BJP’s game plan among people. How far it would serve the purpose we don’t know yet, but it’s indeed a good strategy. Advani’s Rath Yatra and Chandrashekhar’s yatra did make a difference. The Congress could also think of galvanising State and district units to create awareness among people and stop polarisation. Congress president Sonia Gandhi was right in her speech about polarisation and the ruling party’s strategy to deflect attention from real issues. But the moot question remains what the Congress is doing to call the bluff. The BJP sets the agenda and blames Congress for the problem; yet it is unable to effectively retort to it. Of course, the Congress’ revival strengthens Indian democracy as only a national party can effectively play the role of meaningful Opposition. Regional satraps are regional in their scope and approach. For a vibrant democracy, a strong Congress in and out of Parliament is the only guarantee against the BJP’s bulldozer.