New Delhi: The most humiliating defeat of the party in the Lok Sabha election has forced some leaders to openly express their frank opinion on the top leadership - the Gandhi family.
The first to attack Vice President Rahul Gandhi, who led the election campaign, was its oldest ally Indian Union Muslim League (IUML). Its mouthpiece 'Chandrika' wrote a hard-hitting editorial blaming Rahul Gandhi for the sorry state of affairs in the party and the doomed prospects. For the first time, the Gandhi family is facing a direct attack from both its own members and alliance partners.
Some of them are even suggesting that the party must look beyond Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi for its survival.
The IUML mouthpiece 'Chandrika' said "an inexperienced Gandhi leading the elections made implementation of tactics easy for Narendra Modi. He did not realise that going from one place to another was not enough to feel the pulse of country. Rahul took into confidence only a few from his young coterie. In this election, the war room of the party was shifted to Gandhi's residence, where seasoned leaders were forced to remain outside. The Rahul brigade did not learn from the defeat of the party in Assembly elections in various states. The Congress did not have an attractive slogan for this election. The party failed to make the elections into a battle between two ideologies. However, the decision for total revamp of the party is a good omen".
This editorial embarrassed the alliance leader, the Congress in Kerala, and the IUML was forced to retract.
Former Union minister Milind Deora who lost South Mumbai Lok Sabha seat has been very vocal since the decimation of the Congress. Attacking the 'team Rahul' for the collapse of the party, he said, "Everyone needs to share the blame, especially those who felt they had value to add but kept quiet for the past 2-3 years when things weren't going well. Those who were silent are to be blamed as much as those who were giving wrong advice."
A Kerala Congress leader TH Mustafa went a step further by calling Rahul Gandhi a joker, an act which was unthinkable till yesterday. Addressing the media in Kochi, Mustafa, a former Kerala minister said "Rahul behaved like a joker and that's the reason why the Congress suffered a major reversal in the Lok Sabha polls. The role of a prime minister is not child's play and the people knew it and handed out the worst defeat to the Congress party. He should take responsibility and quit and if not he should be removed and Priyanka Gandhi should be made the new president of the party."
The usage of the word 'joker' has shocked the Congress party. Instead of doing a proper introspection, the party suspended him raising serious questions over its willingness to accept the harsh criticism.
The five time Mizoram chief minister Lal Thanhawla has also surprised the party by openly criticising the party leadership. He even said that the party high command had instructed all its chief ministers not to attend the swearing-in of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He defied the diktat by attending the swearing-in.
The latest to join the list of 'attackers' is a veteran Rajasthan Congress leader Bhanwar Lal Sharma. He said that the time has come for the party to think beyond Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra.
Hitting out at Rahul in strongest words, Sharma said that Rahul was enjoying authority as he belonged to the Gandhi family and he did not enter the party through a democratic process.
He said, "Rahul Gandhi is enjoying authority as he belongs to the Gandhi family. He has not come through a democratic process. Democratic system should be there and nobody should be imposed. Party leaders should think beyond Priyanka and Rahul."
These attacks by its state leaders have sent shock waves across the top rung of the party, which controls the affairs from New Delhi. It is a known fact that most of the so-called top leaders and general secretaries enjoy a lot of clout only because of their proximity to the Gandhi family.
Most of them are backdoor entrants. They are Rajya Sabha members and have no mass support or understanding of the real issues. This 'gang' is now facing uncertain future and trying to shield the Gandhi family in its own interest. According to a former Union Minister and a grassroots level leader 'the Delhi gang' is trying to quell the rebellion by taking action against those who voice the dissent against the Gandhis. He said that these actions would go against the party and it could even cause more damage to the party in tatters.
The Gandhis led by Sonia Gandhi are talking about taking a 'collective' responsibility for the 'collective' failure. But, the state level leaders and other grass roots level leaders are not ready to buy their version. They claim that the BJP decimated the Congress by using its strong local leadership and the Congress can survive only if the Gandhis kick 'middlemen' without any responsibility out of its headquarters.
Many independent analysts don't agree with the claims of the leadership that it can bounce like it did in 1980, 1991 and 2004. A New Delhi based long time Congress watcher T Shivaprasad Shetty said, "The Congress must understand that the situation in 2014 is entirely different from the situation in 1977-80, 90s and early 2000. Then the Congress had a lot of mass leaders at state level and it's vote share was high. There have been major societal changes in the last 10-15 years. The young voters don't identify themselves with the Congress. They are aspirational and have no time for history etc. Their number will increase in every election. How can the Congress expect these voters to back to the party, if it does not make sweeping changes? The populist schemes no longer excite the voters and they have outlived their utility. Congress' strength is Modi's weakness".
As long as the Gandhi family is both the source of strength and weakness, the Congress can't expect to return to power. The decimated party requires radical changes.
Will the party democratize and decentralize?
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