Obituary Alert : The Death of the Indian National Congress

Indian National Congress helped in building India. It was in the year 1883 when Indian Civil Servant Allan Octavian Hume decided to set up a committee to look after the interest of the Indians during the colonial period of British India, finally with the support of other nationalists, a session was held in Bombay (Mumbai) from 28th to 31st December in 1885.

It was the period when Indians had realised that they were a mere dumping ground for the British goods while taking away all the resources India had. The drain of wealth was at its peak during the Industrial revolution and afterwards and it was important for Indians to have an organisation that talks about the national interest, look after the needs of the downtrodden. While famines in Bengal, South India were common, the disastrous mismanagement of the people of India led to the birth of the Indian National Congress.

In this long 137 years history of the Indian National Congress, great leaders from all walks of life participated in gaining the freedom of India, nationalising more than 700 princely states into the one country and giving birth to nations like Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Little did they know that come the 21st century, by the year 2022, the death of the Indian National Congress was inevitable and we have our reasons to prove it.

Dynasty Rule inside Indian National Congress

India is a union of states, which were ruled by kings and princes and princesses over the years. With new constitution, titles such as kings, landlords, etc. were abolished to form a new India but Indian National Congress followed the same ideology of the ancient India.

Jawaharlal Nehru was India’s first Prime Minister and after leading India for almost 16-17 odd years, his other family members took over the reign. Even though there were leaders from other walks of life, the baton was handed to Indira Gandhi (daughter of Nehru) and later to her son, Rajiv Gandhi. It is also to take note that others too came for the leadership (even from other party rule such as Janta Dal) but they all could not hold the position for too long.

It seemed like India could only be led by the Gandhi family and Indians too supported the idea of it until Sonia Gandhi took over the leadership of INC in her hands. Even though she was not the Prime Minister of India but it seemed like the President of INC was a puppeteer to Manmohan Singh, former Prime Minister of India (2004-2014).

India was watching everything, India saw that Singh was a good economist but an inefficient leader of his own. Then came Rahul Gandhi, it seemed like the baton was given to him by force and it was felt that he was certainly not ready for it. Even though there were other efficient politicians that could have handled the situation well, such as Sachin Pilot, Jyotiraditya Scindia, etc. Rahul Gandhi certainly was not the pick.

India rejected the dynasty rule, India saw why Rahul Gandhi could not handle that rank, whether it was through interviews or rallies or even at the parliament.

A Stronger in BJP for Indian National Congress

Bharatiya Janata Party is the world’s biggest party and has a huge following especially in north and central India. BJP had a stronger leadership than INC, what Modi and Shah say on the mic could be well understood by one and all unlike other parties. They had a different strategy when it came to gain the support of the people. Then CM of Gujarat had created a model for India, businesses flourished, there was prosperity in that state.

Taking that state as a model, BJP went ahead and made Modi the poster boy of the 2014 campaign. Their online campaign was a major hit. They understood the power of internet and not only did awesome campaigns online but made a joke out of Rahul Gandhi and INC through memes and highly skeptical information though Facebook and WhatsApp channeling. It was indeed a win using the power of internet.

BJP talked about developments, India’s international position, foreign direct investments, employment of the youth, fighting against corruption while INC stood firm for farmers, women empowerment, youths; when rapes were an all time high during INC, farmers committed suicide excessively, youths were unemployed. It is still debatable whether BJP has eradicated everything but they were talking about things that youth in 2014 wanted to hear the most.

INC realised it too late, it was all over for INC by then.

No more a top choice for Opposition in Parliament

A strong opposition is also a major requirement especially in Lok Sabha where bills can be overturned; but a weak opposition in the Parliament means the power to question the current government goes in jeopardy. INC has lost its power as major opposition due to weak leadership in its supreme leaders such as Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.

Their speeches do not have the power to question the authority, leading to voters confused with the question of ‘If Not BJP in the centre then who?’

State Elections Cleanups for Congress in India

It is become clear that India wants a regional party to rule the state (if not BJP) and they want BJP in centre to look after the macro affairs of India. As of 2022, BJP and its coalition in the state & UT elections are in holding 18 states whereas Congress is only left in two states i.e. Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

The only national party that has been into two states is Aam Aadmi Party which is Delhi and Punjab. Aam Aadmi Party within the span of 10 years has successively managed to win elections in two states. It is certainly clear that the 2nd party of choice in States is AAP. If they continue to work in the right direction, they might be replacing Indian National Congress as the Opposition in the Parliament.