Delhi Congress president Arvinder Singh Lovely. (File Photo)
Delhi Congress president Arvinder Singh Lovely’s resignation is symptomatic of all that is wrong with the party. Resignation of the state president is no ordinary event within the organisational scheme of things. In a democracy, elections are nothing less than war. Nothing could be a more serious betrayal than one of the senior lieutenants of the party leaving the battlefield when the party is engaged in an existential fight. This shows that the party in the state was led by people who had no commitment. For them, personal interest was paramount; they were not in the party for any cause, all they had was hunger for power and post. Opportunism was their only virtue and once that was denied, they were left with no choice but to resign.
An unreliable choice
When the Congress ruled Delhi and Sheila Dixit was the chief minister for three consecutive terms, Lovely and Rajkumar Chauhan were given important portfolios in the cabinet. But once Congress was decimated by the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP in 2013, they started looking for greener pastures. Lovely had left Congress and joined the BJP with much fanfare. But when he realised that the BJP would not oblige him with any plum post unless he proved his loyalty, he went back to Congress. It was wrong of the Congress high command to give him such an important responsibility during an election year. In my opinion, a defector is always a defector and, under no circumstances, should he be relied upon to deliver for the party, especially at a time of crisis.
The 2024 parliamentary elections are no ordinary elections — constitutionalism, democracy and the future of the country are at stake. It is said, and also believed by a section of society, that if Narendra Modi comes back as prime minister with a substantial majority then the Constitution can be changed. When every political party and leader in the Opposition is under the radar of investigating agencies, when the Enforcement Directorate (ED) can arrest one of the tallest leaders of the country — Arvind Kejriwal — and no Opposition leader is safe from its clutches, when the Congress bank account has been frozen, then circumstances demand politicians of steel who can face the crisis and fight like gladiators.
India is going through exceptional times and it has no need for chicken-hearted leaders. In Delhi, the Congress has been in dire straits since 2013 because of such leaders, who have neither mass appeal nor the appetite to fight for the party; who are, at best, self-seekers and opportunists. In contrast, AAP, despite its supreme leader Kejriwal being in jail, is fighting with a vengeance, unafraid, and with commitment to their leader. One can disagree with their unorthodox style of firefighting, but one can’t discount the fact that, up to a large extent, they have succeeded in turning the crisis into an opportunity. Today, if there is sympathy for the AAP at the grassroots, credit should be given to its fighting spirit. Congress, in contrast, after losing to AAP in the 2013 assembly elections, made no effort to fight back. Rahul Gandhi should realise that a war is never won by paper tigers. Battle-hardened soldiers who are not scared to take the fight to the enemy are the need of the hour.
Why Congress and AAP need each other
The last two parliamentary elections have proved that, on their own, AAP and Congress are no match for the BJP’s might. No doubt, AAP won the assembly elections in 2015 and 2020 with unprecedented mandates. It also defeated the BJP in the last MCD elections. But in parliamentary elections, the Modi magic had no parallel. In the 2019 elections, the BJP not only won all seven seats but also received an unassailable 54 per cent vote share.
On the other hand, not only did Congress draw a blank in both parliamentary elections (2014 and 2019), it failed to win a single seat in the two assembly elections as well. The party’s performance in the MCD elections has also been pathetic. In this context, only an idiot would think that Congress could work wonders if it contested the Lok Sabha elections on its own. The reality is that Congress is in a hopeless situation.
The local unit has neither a leader of stature nor any imagination as to who could be relied upon to resurrect the party. The alliance with the AAP was a way out. Together, these two parties can offer a good fight to the BJP.
Resignations that matter little
Today, the BJP is facing 10 years of anti-incumbency. Unemployment and price rise are huge issues. If the BJP thought that the consecration of the Ram Mandir would help the party sail through the election in the national capital, then it was grossly mistaken. The Hindu-Muslim binary is slowly but definitely losing its sheen. Mundane issues are dominating the daily discourse. Local BJP leaders have no appeal, their Lok Sabha candidates are rootless wonders. Without the Modi magic, they will struggle to win. Like in other parts of north and central India, candidates are not important — either people will vote for or against Modi.
My sympathies are with those who think and believe that Lovely and Chauhan’s resignations will make or mar the elections. If they were so good, Congress would not have been in such a pathetic state. If Congress is to grow in Delhi, then sooner rather than later, it should bid adieu to such leaders. It should learn from AAP, which invested in new leaders. The time for old faces and ideas, and party hoppers, is over.
The writer, a former member of AAP, is co-founder and editor of SatyaHindi and author of Hindu Rashtra
