Another controversy, another example of Congress’s reactive politics

That the Gautam Adani business behemoth faces grave corruption charges is irrefutable. Despite launching a power-packed broadside against the alleged Modi-Adani nexus, Congress has failed to capture the public’s imagination. Rahul Gandhi has held several press conferences. But Congress has not spoken in a simple, uncomplicated and direct manner with the common man on the subject. Ordinary people are not equity analysts who understand overseas tax havens, stock-price manipulation, short-selling derivatives and complex ownership structures. Congress should have linked crony capitalism to how national resources owned by India’s public were being sold to corporate barons, leading to further inequality. Mere catchy sloganeering is also not enough; it has to be sustained through active civil society and public engagements, platformed at multiple touchpoints, till it becomes part of the zeitgeist. This needs organisational muscle, not just one leader functioning as a solo crusader, a la Forrest Gump.

Honestly, it is wrong to say that Modi has Teflon coating; instead, it is Congress which is ham-handed, lacking the endurance of a marathon runner. For instance, Rahul Gandhi wrote a powerful column in this newspaper on Congress being against crony capitalism and not against India’s industry, business and commerce (‘A new deal for Indian business’, November 6, 2024). This was a much-needed exposition given the BJP’s accusation that “Congress is anti corporate India”. But his column should have been followed up by an aggressive outreach to CII/FICCI /Assocham etc, business TV channels, universities and public events, and mainstream media as well.  It was not. I don’t think even party workers were aware of Gandhi’s ideological position. An excellent opportunity was blown away.

Congress’s most striking failure has been its inability to articulate nuanced positions on foreign policy and national security issues, once its forte. This has helped Modi play to the domestic gallery on muscular nationalism and characterise the Opposition as fifth columnists. While the BJP continues projecting the image of a strong Modi, both domestically and internationally, Congress seems to timidly succumb to that fable. Did the Leader of the Opposition, who represents over 63 per cent of non-BJP voters, including their allies, corner the Modi government on Bangladesh amidst the organised attacks on minority Hindus by Islamic hardliners? It did not, allowing the BJP to question Congress’s ambivalence on religious violence in Dhaka. The allegation of “minority appeasement” was in vogue, with the BJP comparing Congress’s relatively more vocal stance on genocide allegations against Israel in Gaza. Foreign policy was effectively communalised for partisan local vote-banks, while Congress looked dumbstruck.

During the ugly spat with Canada on extra-judicial cross-border killings that grabbed the international spotlight, a clueless Congress was repeatedly hammered by the BJP for playing footsie with terrorists. There was no pushback, even when the US, as part of the Five Eyes Alliance, asked deeply disturbing questions on India. The encirclement of the south-east Asian neighbourhood by the Chinese (mostly through commercial and infrastructural investments) rarely features in Congress’s agenda-setting to corner Modi on foreign policy. Congress has become a “reactive party” that only responds with a lawyer’s immaculate precision to a BJP provocation. It needs an agenda-setting appetite. If you are in politics, you need a performative DNA.

The party eschews foreign policy controversies, fearful of being labelled anti-national. Its lack of courage for truth-telling on core issues is making it a political liability for the INDIA bloc as well. Gandhi should know he is not just a leader of the Congress party; he is the leader of the Opposition now.

The world is seeing a significant far-right resurgence and the capture of social media algorithms by sympathetic Big Tech owners. Repressive authoritarianism is on an upswing. Fake news proliferation is rampant, thanks to AI. Indian corporate-owned media is either pusillanimous or happily married to the prevalent mood of the nation. Congress needs to wake up to a grueling 24×7 battle. It might be a good idea to take political communication seriously, and work harder across all available channels (including hostile Big Media) through direct public outreach, focus groups, street protests, town halls, university engagements, listening tours, chatting with political influencers on YouTube etc. Public memory is fugacious. The political capital built by Gandhi during the Bharat Jodo Yatra has already dissipated. If he sees himself as a shadow prime minister, pray, where is the shadow cabinet? Wouldn’t Tharoor be an external affairs minister in it? Couldn’t Sachin Pilot be home minister? Why isn’t Congress reimagining itself, controlling the narrative, and coming up with a big, bold idea? If you cannot set the narrative, you fail. The lotus party has bloomed because Congress has become lazy.

Defensiveness is bad politics in the grotesque Trumpian era where lies are the new oil. Congress, always tentative, has become an even more defensive party. If it had to score six runs to win in the last over of a match with nine wickets in hand, it would first try not to lose any wickets during that chase. Rohit Sharma single-handedly can score 36 in that over.

The writer is a former spokesperson of the Indian National Congress