In need of an overhaul

Congress indulged in disruptive tactics to inspire confidence among dispirited its cadres

With reference to the editorial, “A rudderless Opposition” (July 6), the 2014 Lok Sabha elections brought the Congress to the nadir of its influence in national politics; the party has since been in bewilderment about how to recover, revive and reorganise its forces, ideas and energies.

The Congress indulged in several disruptive tactics in Parliament to inspire confidence among its dispirited cadres and resolve its existential crisis. It held key legislation hostage to obstructionist politics and tried to harvest political capital by playing victim at the hands of the ruling dispensation. 

The formation of ragtag coalitions in states was a mere exercise in face-saving by the party. Most of these alliances failed to wriggle free from their antiquated vision of power and seldom had a roadmap for the development of constituencies bound for elections.

It is time the grand old party overhauled its organisation structurally by infusing fresh ideas and articulated a comprehensive plan for development. Instead of encouraging sycophancy and preference for loyalists within the party, the party should try to strengthen its leadership from the grassroots level and make it accessible to both leaders and workers. It should come up with clear agendas and a dynamic leadership, both at the Centre and in states, and reassert its social democratic values of welfare and pluralism effectively.

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Shreyans Jain, New Delhi

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