Congress: A New Non-Gandhi President and a Dalit

Asia News Agency

Congress: A New Non-Gandhi President and a Dalit

Mallikarjun Kharge, a non-Gandhi, Wednesday formally became president of the Indian National Congress. A Dalit from Karnataka, Kharge is a grass roots politician who worked hard and rose from the Congress ranks to national prominence.

 

Dalits could return to Congress fold in the South

Kharge’s election is interpreted by some as part of the Congress’s political strategy to regain its Dalit base. The Dalits, writes  Badri Narayan  (professor, Govind Ballabh Pant Social Science Institute, Allahabad) “were a lifeline for the Congress for many decades, a solid vote bank that the party depended on to win many elections.” Kharge “is not known to project his caste identity or use it as political capital. That said, every act in politics also has an instrumental value. Seen from this perspective, the Congress is likely to introduce Kharge’s caste location in the electoral narrative."

At the outset, states Narayan “the election of a Dalit Congress president is a symbolic gesture that carries the message that the party is open to giving higher and appropriate representation to the community in the organisation. Since Kharge hails from southern India, it is safe to assume that the appointment will enable the mobilisation of Dalits in Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu. It may enthuse the Dalits in these states to back the Congress. These states were once a Congress stronghold…..”

However, “Dalits do not constitute a homogeneous community anywhere. South India is no exception.

 

Impact in north may be limited

In northern India, Kharge may have limited impact. “One, the Congress organisation is weak outside the southern states. In two big Hindi heartland states, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the Congress organisation is nearly non-existent — between them, they send 120 MPs to the Lok Sabha. Second, the Dalit mobilisation in this region has multiple forms and many are attracted towards various political alternatives and parties. For instance, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)  continues to hold a deep attraction for the Dalits in northern India.” And  with the “help of a strong party organisation, the BJP has successfully mobilised the Dalits, poor and marginalised……Political parties such as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)  have also been able to win the support of Dalits in states such as Delhi and Punjab, where they had backed the Congress for many years.”

In short, concludes Narayan “any political gesture or event without being backed by a powerful organisational push and direct communication with the marginal social communities could remain just a symbolic act….”

 

Embryonic connection with Unity March

According to Anand K. Sahay (senior journalist based in Delhi) the Congress president’s election and the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ (Unity March) “have an embryonic connection that can’t be overlooked. If the protagonists keep this in view, the result can be energising for the Congress; if not, the two -- standing in isolation or in disregard of one another -- can wither, giving the ruling establishment a freer run than before.”

Rahul Gandhi’s long march is a month and a half old, and has covered about one-third of the distance it set out to traverse. “The response so far has been overwhelming. Of course, the more difficult part -- northern India’s terrain, where the Congress organisation is jaded due to inadequate attention by the Congress leadership (meaning the Gandhis themselves) -- is still to come.

Yet there is no gainsaying that Rahul Gandhi, helming the ‘Yatra’, is now in public perception a very different political figure than earlier. The BJP’s propaganda campaign of many years, which depicted him as an incompetent who thought he was the entitled one due to his heredity, had worked but has now fallen into disrepute……

“Mr Gandhi noted the government refuses to let Opposition parties express themselves in Parliament, and that’s why he thought to connect with the people direct and talk to them about national concerns….”

Kharge’s enormous challenge: In this context, Sahay writes the vastly-experienced Mallikarjun Kharge, “bears an extraordinary burden. He comes in at a time when the party has been at its weakest, when India is in a state of social and economic crisis -- a situation that lures moral decay……Mr Kharge must take charge straightaway.

“He will have to choose his tactics and instruments, and gather advisors from various states without losing time -- in fact, before a fresh Congress Working Committee can be elected and the Parliamentary Board set up. There are too many state elections coming up before the next Lok Sabha polls in about 18 months, to permit delay. Pressing questions abound….”


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