THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The shocking defeat of Congress in the assembly polls has rekindled memories of the political scenario in 1967 when the national party was reduced to a nine member parliamentary party. The technical argument that the party has more than double the tally of 1967 now won’t hold ground as the tally of 21 was the same as in 2016 and the failure of the party to improve it despite being in the opposition for five years is a clear indication that the party needs to initiate extraordinary measures to tackle the crisis.
“Only an emergency surgery can save Congress. That needs to be done now as there are only three more years for the next Lok Sabha polls. The surgical wounds will heal by then,” Prof Radhakrishna Kurup who has a doctoral thesis on the ‘Politics of Congress factionalism’ to his credit, told TNIE.
Senior journalist Roy Mathew, who is a close follower of Congress politics, seconded the suggestion. “The last time there was an organisational poll in Congress was in 1991. For the last 30 years, nominated leaders are running the show and we all know how these leaders get posts. Merit has no place in the party and destruction is the norm for any organisation which gives scant regard for merit,” Mathew said.
Political scientist G Gopakumar, who is a former VC of Central University of Kerala, recalled how K Karunakaran had emerged as a leader in 1967 following the huge defeat. “The then KPCC president K C Abraham picked Karunakaran as the parliamentary party leader. He was a less known INTUC leader in his early 40s. Abraham found the spark and adventure in Karunakaran and calculated that he could be an effective leader,” said Gopakumar. By that time, young leaders AK Antony, Oommen Chandy and Vayalar Ravi had also risen to the leadership.
“Indira Gandhi was the AICC president then. She wanted youngsters in the leadership and she could motivate them too. It is important to have a visionary and vibrant leader at the helm to drive changes. Unfortunately, Congress lacks such a leadership too,” said Gopakumar.
“It is a fact that Congress is structurally weak and its social engineering has flawed. For rebuilding organisation, there needs to be a total restructuring,” said Gopakumar. Another drawback is the absence of voices in the cultural sphere, he said. “Compare supporters of Congress from literature and cinema with the same groups supporting CPM. Also, there are not many influencers for attracting youth,” he said.
Gopakumar suggested that the party should promote the culture of volunteerism. “People have a strong connect with the Left parties because of the work they do at grassroots. This is a pandemic season. The Congress can immediately take up voluntary mission to serve people. For that, they need leaders who are not careerists. Young leaders who had lost the poll can take up this challenge,” he said.