More than four decades ago, during the party’s centenary celebration in Mumbai, the then Congress president Rajiv Gandhi vowed to free the organisation from the clutches of power-brokers. But like many other promises, this one too remains unfulfilled and has cost the party severely. It is now dominated by politicians who are more interested in grabbing power than working to strengthen the party by reestablishing lost connection with people at the grass roots level. In the absence of a powerful leader in the organisation who can hold the party together, these power-hungry politicians are doing everything possible to ruin it rather than focusing on its revival. Such leaders are not interested in occupying the prestigious party president’s post, which was once adorned by great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Jawaharlal Nehru. On the contrary, they are interested only on remaining Chief Ministers, even after tasting power on several occasions in the past. A careful examination of the recent exodus from the Congress, since the beginning of its downfall in 2014 will show that many so-called party stalwarts have deserted the organisation, on finding the party’s chances of returning to power bleak, forgetting the contributions made by the party in shaping their political careers. They are critical about the functioning of the party without offering an effective alternative to replace the present leadership. It may sound strange but the fact remains that despite all criticism targeted at the Gandhi family, these leaders cannot find a suitable name outside the said family to head the party.
As a result, a political circus is taking place for the party’s presidential election as every leader is seeking his pound of flesh, taking advantage of the turmoil within the party. Plenty of names emerge every morning, only to be rejected by the evening because the Congress leaders are not in search of a strong leader, but rather a personality who can be remote-controlled by all and sundry. While one is trying to grab the limelight by projecting himself as a Gandhi family loyalist, others are raising banners of revolt as they want to hang on to power under any circumstances. As the leaders have failed to show any direction to the party, it is time now for thousands of Congress workers from all over the country to come forward and fix the mess. Clearly, the party is not safe in the hands of these power-brokers and will drift into oblivion if such leaders are not removed from the organisation at once. It is time now to tell these rootless leaders either to follow the Congress ideology in its true letter and spirit, or to make an exit. The party has given them name, fame and success and it is time now for them to offer their unconditional support to the party’s high values and aid in bailing it out of the worst crisis it has faced since inception.