One of the key reasons Narendra Modi and Amit Shah maintain their political dominance is the continued decline of the Congress Party under the leadership of the Gandhi family. Once a formidable political force, the Congress appears to have lost its way. Instead of mounting a credible challenge to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress struggles with internal divisions and diminishing relevance. This has become more apparent with each passing election, particularly in the recent Lok Sabha polls, where the Congress failed to win a single seat in its traditional strongholds, including Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, and Arunachal Pradesh. The situation is no different in state elections. In the recent Haryana assembly polls, Congress\u2019 internal rifts were laid bare, especially between Bhupinder Singh Hooda\u2019s Jat faction and Kumari Selja\u2019s Scheduled Caste community supporters. This factionalism, though not unusual in Indian politics, highlighted the Congress\u2019 inability to present strong and cohesive leadership. Hooda\u2019s dominance in distributing party tickets-reportedly securing 75 out of 90 seats for his loyalists-only antagonized the Scheduled Caste community. Giriraj Kishore of the BJP capitalized on these divisions, accusing Congress of marginalizing Selja by not naming her as a chief ministerial candidate before the polls. He dubbed the state unit \u201cHooda Congress,\u201d further fueling the internal discord. This disarray is symptomatic of the broader dysfunction within the party. The Congress continues to be led by proxy by the Gandhi family-Sonia, Rahul, and Priyanka through their coterie – Mallikarjun Kharge, perceived as a mere figurehead, and Rahul\u2019s confidant and go-to man K.C. Venugopal. Since 2009, Rahul Gandhi has been propped up as the party\u2019s leader, yet his tenure has been marked by electoral embarrassments and growing disillusionment within the party. Rahul has used up crucial and precious time spanning 20 years of political experiment and during which the Congress paid a heavy price. However, Sonia and her cronies have the biggest faith in Rahul that he has been given the longest rope to \u201cgrow\u201d. Despite his repeated failures, no one within Congress dares to challenge his position. Potential challengers are either sidelined or driven out by loyalists as they fear losing their own influence within the party. Moreover, Congress\u2019 troubles extend beyond its internal challenges. The party\u2019s inability to manage alliances within the INDIA bloc, a coalition formed to counter the BJP, further weakens its position. The discord among opposition parties is palpable, with Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav all showing reluctance to fully embrace Congress as a leading partner. This has left Congress on unstable footing, particularly in key states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Delhi. The bitter truth is Rahul has been instrumental in ensuring Congress comes second place in elections, which in politics is totally unacceptable. So long Rahul in his present mental status remains the unquestioned leader, Modi and Shah can sleep peacefully. If there was any explanation about Rahul\u2019s contribution to the party, it is that he is leader who leads by proxy. Things could change only if Rahul can remove the loyalists who have stifled internal growth so as to bring in fresh talent so as to allow the party to think creatively and strategically. Only then can Congress hope to rebuild itself as a formidable force in Indian politics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of the key reasons Narendra Modi and Amit Shah maintain their political dominance is the continued decline of the Congress Party under the leadership of the Gandhi family. Once a formidable political force, the Congress appears to have lost its way. Instead of mounting a credible challenge to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[685],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-450602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=450602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450602\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=450602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=450602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=450602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}