FairPoint: A mother’s defence cannot hide a son’s electoral failures
New Delhi: It is not uncommon for a mother to defend her child, whatever the circumstances. It is a deeply ingrained human instinct. So, when Sonia Gandhi says Congress and other Opposition parties have not had a level playing field since 2014, it appears to be little more than a mother coming to her son’s defence.
She says the BJP has a complete “stranglehold” over all institutions, particularly the Election Commission. The veteran leader also claims that the mainstream media has been controlled, and that the ruling party is using money power and exploiting religion. No doubt, this is a mother’s explanation for her son’s inability to gain power despite having been in politics and ‘working so hard’ since 2004, when Rahul Gandhi took the political plunge.
A mother’s defence of her son is understandable and, in many ways, even praiseworthy. But the repeated electoral defeats since she and, subsequently, her son took charge of the Congress party raise a much bigger question. Sonia Gandhi became the party president in 1998, several years after the death of Rajiv Gandhi in a major terror attack in Tamil Nadu on May 21, 1991. Since then, Congress has seen a steady decline, except once, in 2009, when it went past 200 in the Lok Sabha on its own.
No matter whom she blames for the losses, the truth about the grand old party today is that its decline has been gradual, with each successive election taking it further down the political ladder. Over the past three decades, the party has struggled to retain its position as the country’s dominant political force.
In 2004, Congress won 145 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats, with a vote share of 26.53 per cent (10,34,08,949 votes). The BJP won 138 seats. Congress, along with its allies, formed the government at the Centre under the UPA banner, with outside support from the Left Front, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party.
Sonia Gandhi became UPA chairperson, while Manmohan Singh took over as Prime Minister. It was also in 2004 that Rahul Gandhi entered active politics by contesting and winning his first Lok Sabha election from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. He did not hold any ministerial portfolio or formal Cabinet position, but his political standing within the party was already significant.
In 2009, Congress won 206 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats, gaining 61 seats over its 2004 tally. Its vote share rose to 28.55 per cent (11,91,11,019 votes). Sonia Gandhi continued as UPA chairperson, and Manmohan Singh remained Prime Minister in UPA-II.
Rahul Gandhi, meanwhile, had become the General Secretary of the party in September 2007 and was given charge of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) and the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI). He was appointed Congress Vice-President on January 19, 2013, and, four years later, in December 2017, succeeded his mother as party president.
The party lost power in 2014, and when the defeat was repeated in 2019, Rahul Gandhi resigned as Congress president, taking moral responsibility for the party’s electoral performance. In a four-page open letter, he stressed that accountability was critical for the party’s future and called upon the Congress Working Committee (CWC) to find his successor.
Since Rahul began exercising considerable influence over the party’s decision-making, particularly from 2009 onwards, Congress has reportedly lost 71 of the 83 Assembly elections it has contested. This is apart from its continued inability to return to power at the Centre. From being in power in 11 states in 2014, the party is now down to four.
The success of any political leader is ultimately measured by electoral victories, and Rahul Gandhi’s record falls woefully short. Considering his political lineage, his performance so far has been particularly disappointing. His great-grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru’s Congress dominated the country’s political landscape and ruled more than three-fourths of the states. His grandmother, Indira Gandhi, won three Lok Sabha elections, two of them with huge majorities, and under her leadership, Congress ruled over more than two-thirds of the states. Even his mother, Sonia Gandhi, did a commendable job, achieving what had seemed almost impossible. Despite the party being out of power at the Centre from 1996 to 2004, she managed Congress’s return in 2004.
Rahul Gandhi may no longer be the president of his party, but he continues to remain its principal power centre and de facto chief. No major or minor decisions are taken without his involvement and approval. So, when the party continues to slump, he cannot escape responsibility. Yet, he has failed to find the right strategy or take the necessary steps to arrest the decline, let alone bring about a revival.
He has consistently failed to present an alternative model of governance. Instead, his principal political ammunition has been to demean Prime Minister Narendra Modi, launch personal attacks, question Indian democracy on foreign shores, and even hold meetings and parleys with individuals known for their anti-India positions. There has been little in the way of a positive political narrative or a credible governance model that the electorate can look forward to. His politics has largely revolved around attacking the ruling dispensation rather than presenting what a Congress government would do differently.
What he has found instead is the SIR and ‘vote chori’ narrative. He tried hard to make it a major electoral issue in Bihar and West Bengal, but the results did not go his way. Despite the lack of any widespread public acceptance of these allegations, Rahul continues to raise the issue of vote theft. And standing firmly behind him is his mother, Sonia Gandhi, who appears equally convinced that her son is losing elections because of electoral manipulation.
The decline of Congress as the country’s dominant political party is a fact. Blaming institutions, the media or the ruling party may provide temporary political comfort, but it cannot explain away repeated electoral failures. A political party cannot keep fighting elections on the premise that the system is against it. At some point, it has to look within and ask why voters are unwilling to give it another chance.
There cannot be a bigger disappointment than watching a rocket firecracker fail to take off, only to fizzle out near the very glass bottle from which it was supposed to make a grand launch. The excitement disappears, the claps stop midway, and the expected spectacle never materialises. Yet, there are always voices urging another attempt, hoping that the next launch will finally succeed. But merely lighting another firecracker will not change the outcome. Sometimes the entire approach needs to change, and a fresh beginning is required to get the desired result.
It is high time Sonia Gandhi understood this. A mother can certainly help her child find the right direction, but she cannot keep defending every failure. In a democracy, it is the people’s mandate that decides who governs the country. No amount of street protests, allegations, or political rhetoric can substitute for that mandate.
