Congress is vital for the political fabric of the country but must strengthen its state-level units to remain relevant

The last few days saw a series of political earthquakes of low magnitude causing some shock waves in the national capital as well as in Kerala. It all began with the release of the life story of Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Man Friday to Indira Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Narasimha Rao, Manmohan Singh and who maintained a vast network of friends cutting across party lines. “Azaad”, the autobiography of Ghulam Nabi Azad tells the readers about the degeneration suffered by the Indian National Congress over the last three decades.

The release of “Azaad” was followed by the exit of Kiran Kumar Reddy, the last chief minister of united Andhra Pradesh and Anil Antony, son of A K Antony, former defence minister and the senior most Congress leader from the GOP to join the BJP.

While Anil Antony’s exit from the Congress and joining the BJP were in expected lines, it is not going to make any change in the fortunes of the Hindutwa party either at the national level or in Kerala. The BJP leadership can take solace in the fact that Anil is a brand name because of the Antony tag. Congress workers in Kerala do not know much about him as he was one of the back-room boys of the party working in its digital media cell. The BJP leaders can claim that Christian community members are joining the party inspired by the charisma of Prime Minister Modi.

Though the BJP had tried its luck by inducting Christians into the party, it is yet to make any impact either in Kerala or in the rest of the country. The Kerala media is full of reports about the attack on Christian priests and evangelists in the rest of the country by Hindutva zealots. Cardinal Baselios Cleemis (64), head of the Syro Malankara Catholic Church, who is in the race for the next Pope, has already declared that minorities, especially the Christians, were not safe in India under the Modi administration. The legislation enacted by BJP-ruled States banning religious conversion has antagonised the Church as evangelization is the spirit that sustains the community. The possibility of Anil Antony adding to the kitty of the BJP looks bleak.

Congress started stagnating the moment the party leadership cut to size the regional satraps. There was a time when the party had the services of chieftains like K Kamaraj, K Karunakaran, Devaraj Urs, S Nijalingappa, Vasanth Dada Patil, Biju Patnaik, Atulya Ghosh, Sidharth Shankar Ray etc. Congress leaders like NKP Salve, and Vasanth Sathe, commanded respect not only in India but across the world. This writer remembers reading a news item about Salve’s mission to bring the 1987 World Cup Cricket Championship to India. “With Salve in charge, there is no possibility of the World Cup going anywhere else,” one of the top cricket managers had been quoted as saying. Do we have such leaders in Congress now?  

What Kiran Kumar Reddy told the media after joining the BJP last Friday is noteworthy. Congress does not have the right leaders in the right places. The party which was in power in Tamil Nadu till 1967 thanks to the likes of Kamaraj and C Subramaniam, has ended up as a doormat of the DMK. At best, the party could be described as the B team of the DMK. The BJP does not have much to celebrate over C R Kesavan, great-grandson of C Rajagopalachari, joining the party. Kesavan, who was in Congress from 2001 to 2023 left the party because of the cold-shouldering by the national leadership. There is nothing much to write about his contributions to Congress.

There never will be an India without Congress. But the party could be strengthened only by its leadership. Leaders should understand their drawbacks and shortcomings. Modi bashing alone will not make the party return to its days of glory. It is not yet late.

(The writer is a senior journalist with The Pioneer. The views expressed are personal)