The coronavirus is the motherlode of metaphors. It represents man’s war against Nature, the eventual outcome summarising his capacity to resist degradation. In other words, a battle for immunity versus mutation. Since the rise of Narendra Modi, the Gandhi bacillus has been diagnosed as the pathogen, which has weakened the Congress party. Covid-19 has a nasty habit of tricking the body’s immune cells to turn against itself, causing total collapse of the system.
In this case, the infection stage has gone beyond the G-bacillus. The Congress party has infected itself. As the Bihar election results demonstrate, the Grand Old Party of India is a danger to itself, let alone others it sleeps with. It is by now obvious that Rahul Gandhi is not an antigen to the BJP’s revengeful ravages. He is kryptonite for his party. This time, the contamination has moved beyond him. The Congress is kryptonite for any alliance, from the Mahagathbandhan in Uttar Pradesh, to the Bihar bandobast.
It lost nearly all the bye-elections after its elected governments were toppled by the BJP in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh—a sure sign that it is a hopeless proposition for anybody’s political future. It almost flat-lined in Rajasthan—the ICU isn’t so far away. The relevant point is not the BJP’s sabotage of the democratic mandate in the states—a practice started by the Congress—but the GOP’s own compromised immunity against defections. The future of the Congress is imperiled by internal contradictions. Mr Gandhi is just the catalyst.
The party’s existence depends on three planks: Socialism, welfare state and caste. The first two have been re-engineered by Mr Modi as the twin engines of cash transfer Ram Rajya while the third, caste, is a permanent inflammation in the bloodstream of Indian politics. Ironically, it was the Congress that first invented the electoral caste calculus in Independent India, which turned on the progenitor soon. Mr. Gandhi, “the student eager to impress the teacher (read Mom) but deep down lacked either the aptitude or the passion to master the subject” could not handle the dark depravations and elemental energies of caste dynamics.
His PPT advisors depended on the inputs of sycophants to dole out tickets, with all the arrogance of unearned political pedigree. Now, INC’s fellow travellers are realising that it is a liability, not an asset. At the same time, the Gandhi bacillus has identified internal dissent as a threat. After the Congress’s Bihar rout, and its growing reputation as an irreversible infection, there is soul-searching in the party again. Senior leaders are demanding introspection and sweeping changes. Old family retainers like Ashok Gehlot are chastising the reform-seekers. Previous dissenters have been crushed. Mrs Gandhi is calling another session as usual. Make no mistake, nothing will change.
Mr Gandhi may even be back as the official boss. During the recent poll campaigns, Mr Modi had turned down the volume against the Family. Is this an indication that the Congress is becoming irrelevant even to the BJP? The Gandhis will soon become irrelevant to the Congress just as the Congress is becoming irrelevant to both allies and voters.
If the party has to survive, it has to lead a fresh Independence movement within, creating new state cadres and leaders, jettisoning the ageing betals and remember what it is supposed to champion. Once upon a time, for better or for worse, it stood for India. Its uniqueness quotient is that it has never been seen as an alternative to anything; in fact other parties are seen as an alternative to it. Unless the Congress decides to become an alternative to itself, not even Mr Modi can save it from extinction.
Ravi Shankar ravi@newindianexpress.com