With its landslide victory in the General Elections, the Modi led cabinet took oath yesterday in a mega ceremony. So now when India has the government in place, there is an absolute need for a strong opposition, that will balance the governance to work in the favour of the nation.
We cannot deny the fact that a major chunk of BJP votes was a result of less reliability on the Congress party. Reasons are many for that and the most prominent of those is a great lack of conviction and strong leadership. Though I do not believe in the statement of dynasty politics because even the family members were elected by people, this is true that people look at the functioning of the party as decisions taken by the Nehru-Gandhi family. Therefore, even after displaying dignity in campaigns and concern for real issues in India, Rahul Gandhi could not emerge as the face of the Indian administration.
Rahul Gandhi now wants to resign as the Congress President. Many believe that this would be right if he steps down and passes on the opportunity to somebody out of the family. However, I believe this is not the right time because even if he steps down the control will go to one of many septuagenarian leaders, of whom the party is made of, and that will go exactly against what India wants.
If we look back to the time between 2012-2014, when so many cases of major corruptions like 2G and Coal gate scams were exposed, people were disappointed and infuriated and what added to this were the blatant excuses given by the senior leaders. The effect was visible in 2014 and even in the recent elections with the shocking results in Bhopal where Digvijay Singh’s anti- incumbency worked in favor of Pragya Thakur to a great extent.
With these examples, Congress must understand that the party needs a revival and new, young and promising leaders in place, and frankly the party does have the capacity to do that.
Instead of resigning now, Rahul Gandhi must focus on building up a strong party of people who are stern and have the ability to question. He even had that chance last year when Congress emerged victorious in the assembly elections of MP, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh. Sachin Pilot and Jyotiraditya Sindhia were contenders of the CM position in Rajasthan and MP, respectively, because their work had garnered popularity. However, once again the party chose the old leader and there they missed the chance. The results showed up now that the government party in these states was almost decimated. Even Rahul Gandhi lost his bastion to Smriti Irani.
This implies that a resignation is not the need of the hour but it is to reshape and revive. There must be unity in raising questions and issues. It is important to keep the state government on its toes for it to perform. More young and educated people must be drawn to the party. They must start focusing on the constituency they lost by reaching out to the grass root level and by creating possible solutions for their issues. In India, a look alike theory wouldn’t work so they have to be more practical with their functioning and strategies.
What people have been saying, that Congress is in the verge of extinction, is absolutely not true. At least, not now. It is just that they need to wake up.
It is important to understand that their aim should not only be limited to forming a government but it should also be establishing a sound opposition. A democracy can run successfully in the presence of both together.