If Congress dreams of beating BJP in the 2024 election, it needs to address its \u2018messenger\u2019 and \u2018machinery\u2019 issues. The Gandhis would need to adjust.
For several eternal optimists whose hearts skip a beat at the mere mention of the Congress\u2019 resurrection, Easter Sunday came a little early. A day before, poll strategist Prashant Kishor was at 10, Janpath, presenting a blueprint for the party\u2019s revival on the way to the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Sonia Gandhi decided to form a committee to study his proposition.
When was the last time a Congress committee report saw the light of day and its recommendations implemented? In 2007, Sonia Gandhi set up a 13-member committee to look into the \u2018future challenges\u2019, with Rahul Gandhi as a member. Nothing came out of it. Today, many of those members have become \u2018present challenges\u2019 for the Gandhis \u2013 Jyotiraditya Scindia, Veerappa Moily, Mukul Wasnik, Anand Sharma, Prithviraj Chavan, and Sandeep Dikshit. While Scindia joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), others are now part of the famous \u2018G-21\u2019 (G-23, originally). Ask AK Antony how many party committees he headed and what happened to their reports.
The latest committee on Prashant Kishor\u2019s roadmap may not meet the same fate though. PK has been discussing his ideas with the Gandhis for two years and both sides agree on \u201c90 per cent\u201d issues. Their talks on the remaining 10 per cent broke down last September. If the Gandhis called him again on Saturday, their differences must be whittling down.
The Gandhis are desperate to get PK on board. The Congress is imploding. The trust deficit between them and their party colleagues is only widening. If nothing else, PK\u2019s association with the Congress, in whatever capacity, could take the pressure off the Gandhis, they must hope. Those who don\u2019t see any future in Congress may pause and re-think, given PK\u2019s reputation as a poll strategist with a magical wand.
Prashant Kishor\u2019s Congress strategy
So, what is Prashant Kishor\u2019s plan for the Congress? You don\u2019t necessarily need to see his blueprint for that. As veteran journalist Arun Shourie says, in search of a so-called secret document, we fail to read what\u2019s available in public records. PK has, in a number of interviews over the past three months, left enough clues about his handbook on how to defeat the BJP or revive the Congress. He has given out a broad outline of his strategy without getting into operational details. In essence, Prashant Kishor has a \u20184Ms\u2019 formula \u2014 Message, Messenger, Machinery and Mechanics. What will be the Congress\u2019 big message in 2024? Well, the opposition must first examine what\u2019s working for the BJP. Essentially, three things, he says \u2014 Hindutva, hyper-nationalism and welfarism. So, how does one counter them? PK doesn\u2019t proffer specific answers- not in public, at least. But he is conscious of their limitations.
For instance, election data shows that only one out of two Hindus voted for the BJP, he argues. \u201cHindutva has its limitations. You can bring 50-55 per cent Hindus on the basis of Hindutva but there are enough liberal, open-minded Hindus\u2026. It\u2019s a futile exercise to get into a debate over Hinduism and Hindutva,\u201d he told ThePrint Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta in a recent Off The Cuff programme.
As for hyper-nationalism, Prashant Kishor finds it \u2018unimaginable\u2019 that a party that led India\u2019s Independence movement should struggle to counter BJP\u2019s \u201canti-national\u201d narrative against the opposition. He has been raising many questions, in dismay and disbelief. How can the Congress allow the BJP to appropriate an icon like Sardar Patel? How many Congressmen are actually fighting for Jawaharlal Nehru, beyond holding press conferences? Expect the opposition party to take a series of initiatives to reclaim the \u2018nationalist\u2019 space and its icons soon, that is, if PK gets associated with it.
As for the BJP\u2019s welfarism, the opposition must have an alternative proposition for the people, offering them a better deal if they elect it to power. And the alternative should look more credible and convincing.
These are the broad contours of the opposition\u2019s likely counter-narrative that PK has been dwelling on.
Can Congress have a non-Gandhi Messenger?
Of the four \u2018Ms\u2019 that form his mantra of success, \u2018messenger\u2019 is the most complex and ticklish in the context of the Congress. In his interviews, Kishor has been articulate about the effectiveness of the JP Nadda model. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah virtually run the BJP. But they have Nadda as the party president. It helps the BJP\u2019s narrative about the party offering everyone an opportunity to reach the top. In an interview with Mojo Story\u2019s Barkha Dutt, PK had said: \u201cIn the BJP, Modi and Shah run the organization but Nadda is the president. How does the BJP use it? It says that even a booth-level worker can become president. Whether they become or not, it sends out a message to the masses at large.\u201d
PK has been vocal about his views that the jobs of the Prime Minister and a party president are different and they require different skill sets. So, one who runs the organisation shouldn\u2019t be the PM candidate, whose main job is to strike a chord with the people, telling them their vision for them and winning the janata\u2019s hearts.
But that\u2019s a problem with the Congress. Not that Dr Manmohan Singh was any Modi, but a repeat of the Sonia-Singh model looks unlikely. Although PK maintains that he finds Sonia still capable of running the party and has no problem with Rahul Gandhi\u2019s return to the helm, it doesn\u2019t change his views on the Nadda model. \u201cYou cannot remain a principal political force for long if you are a family-run party,\u201d he told Shekhar Gupta at the OTC.
At 75, another term as Congress president for Sonia Gandhi is out of the question, although one never knows about the Congress. If Rahul Gandhi returns, notwithstanding his proven competence, or the lack of it for the job, he shouldn\u2019t be the PM face as per PK\u2019s strategic vision. How would it gel with the Gandhis? If the Gandhis were to concede and project a Nadda in the election for the party president\u2019s post in September, it would pacify the G-21 and also help the party shed its dynastic tag. But, given the Gandhis\u2019 track record, it amounts to asking for the moon.
The fate of Rahul Gandhi\u2019s lieutenants
Prashant Kishor is known to have plans to rebuild the Congress from the bottom up \u2014 forming committees from the booth, block and district levels. But he will find the going tough once he decides to fix accountability in the party, starting right from the top. PK often points out how the Congress blames its failures on its inability to communicate with the people. He is perplexed: How has Randeep Surjewala been heading the Congress\u2019 communication department for over seven years? Well, if PK starts looking at the track record of people around Rahul Gandhi and seeking accountability from them, he will find that the Congress leader\u2019s 12, Tughaq Lane residence is deserted.
Prashant Kishor is not known to hold one view in public and another on closed fora in his assessment of contemporary politics and the strengths and weaknesses of parties. The question, therefore, remains if the Gandhis are ready for the big churn in their party that he wants to bring. Will PK change the Congress or will it be the other way round? Nobody has an answer yet.
(DK Singh,
Political Editor The Print)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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