Given its massive drubbing in the Assembly elections, it is now an undisputed fact that the electoral fortunes of the Congress are at an all-time low and the party is facing its worst existential crisis. (“AIADMK, Trinamool win; Cong, routed in Kerala, Assam”, May 20). This defeat has rubbed salt into the wounds of a party that is still trying to come to terms with its defeat in 2014. The ignominious defeat of the Congress can be attributed in Assam to the seething anger of the common man against misgovernance and in Kerala to the party’s inability to ward off all the allegations of corruption.
The results are also a sad pointer to the fact that the Congress adamantly refuses to learn from its mistakes and continues to live in denial. It is now disconnected from the grass roots and is clearly reluctant to look beyond the charisma of the Nehru-Gandhi family. It is still obsessed with dynasty politics and uses the same to revive its electoral fortunes despite rejection from the electorate over and over again. But having said this, it would be premature to script the epitaph of the Congress; it has bounced back strongly from crises earlier and can do so, if it introspects and acts.
These results clearly show that the aam aadmi ’s top priority continues to be development and effective law and order. Like in every other election, the voter needs to be congratulated for his/her judiciousness and maturity.
Suresh Kumar,Coimbatore
The results again delivered a massive blow to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. The party has seen its worst disappointment in West Bengal where it formed a working alliance with the CPI(M). The alliance was expected to come close to unsettling Mamata Banerjee, but ended up boosting her party’s performance instead. The alliance had been forged with the objective of making it work not just in the Assembly elections but also in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. But Mr. Gandhi’s tactical failure is not limited to West Bengal; it was worse in Assam. He was being projected as an icon for the youth, yet he did not show the political courage to find a new leader in place of Tarun Gogoi. It has been two years since the party got decimated in the Lok Sabha elections. Since then everyone has been waiting for Mr. Gandhi to restructure the party. The problem is neither has he taken over as party president nor has he restructured the party. Such is the level of despondency within the party that senior leaders do not even wish to discuss the subject.
Meghana A.,New South Wales, Australia
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has upset his partymen with his tweet where he said the party needs “major surgery”. Congressmen may have taken this to mean a change in the leadership of the party (read: the Gandhis) but there is nothing wrong even if that is what Mr. Singh meant. The Congress under the Gandhis has suffered humiliating defeats both in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections and is gradually vanishing from the political map. It is high time the ineffective leadership is changed.
A. Srikantaiah,Bengaluru
Though the lotus has bloomed in Assam probably due to anti-incumbency, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s boast of having emerged a truly national player is vastly exaggerated (“With his mojo back, Amit Shah looks forward to 2019”, May 20). There are still places where the BJP’s presence is either marginal or zero. In Tamil Nadu, it has no presence. In Kerala, it has got only one seat; in West Bengal, it has got three out of 294 seats. Clearly, the party has failed to cut any ice in these States with the Prime Minister’s message of development. It is clear that the people of these States are refusing to be told what to wear, eat, who to marry, and what slogans to chant.
S.K. Khosla,Chandigarh
The Assembly elections prove that India is a politically diverse country where no single party or leader can claim to dominate the national stage or lay claim to national leadership. It is true that not all election victories signal big changes, but the BJP’s huge success in Assam heralds a significant shift in politics not just in the State but possibly in the region as well. Hoping to be kingmaker in the event of a hung verdict, AIUDF president Badruddin Ajmal has himself lost the election, suggesting that the migrant and indigenous Muslim support base he was banking on voted with more discernment than he anticipated. Prime Minister Modi had visited almost all the northeastern States after assuming power and spread the message that the “people of the region are part of the great Indian civilisation and should not be alienated”. In one of his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ broadcasts, he had described the region as being “as good as Dubai and Singapore” and had said it has a lot of potential. He said the region gave him love; the results show that this is indeed true.
J.S. Acharya,Hyderabad
The DMK-led alliance has emerged as a strong Opposition in Tamil Nadu with 98 seats to its credit. Now it should behave in the Assembly as a constructive Opposition by debating and discussing issues and not walk out just for the sake of it, as we have seen it in the past. The alliance should support development schemes that are beneficial to the people. And the AIADMK government, for its part, should concentrate on implementing what it promised in its manifesto.
D. Sethuraman,Chennai
People say parties must not distribute cash for votes but they continue to accept money. Though so many people were affected by the floods, they voted the AIADMK back to power. Giving freebies to economically backward sections is alright on paper, but don’t people realise that distributing freebies will lead to economic instability in a State that is already reeling under financial deficit?
J. Sumuki,Vellore
In December last year, the CPI(M) held an organisational plenum to reorient its structure and discuss strategies that would help in arresting the continuing electoral decline of Left parties in India. Its resolution document showed the Left’s struggle to remain relevant as an electoral entity with a pan-India base with an ideology that has arguably outlived its time. The Left parties even tried to extend their support to JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar by hailing him as their saviour incarnate in the hope of connecting with their traditional support groups. It looks like nothing has worked. The Left’s abysmal performance in the Assembly elections shows its waning popularity among agricultural workers, semi-skilled workers, and farmers who have historically identified themselves with the sickle. It is time the Left realised that it cannot consolidate its votes merely by assuring “equal distribution of poverty”. It must come up with fresh ideas and dynamic leadership, both at the Centre and in the States, if it is to present itself as a serious player outside university campuses.
Shreyans Jain,New Delhi
