It is true that the Congress has never been a cadre-based party. When the party wins elections, it does so on the basis of narrative and leadership. Arguably, narrative has been key to Congress victories, from Indira Gandhi's return in 1980 to Sonia Gandhi's dramatic victory in 2004.
The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) are some examples of cadre-based parties in India. A few may have weakened, but arguably, if the BSP and the Communist Party are still alive today, it is in large measure due to their cadre-based structures.
History Can't Guide the Future
Some in the Congress make the mistake of making history the guide to the future. Congress leaders did not use social media in the 1920s because social media did not exist. Given what a prolific writer Mahatma Gandhi was, had he been alive today, we can be certain he would have been at the forefront of using social media to persuade the public in his direction.
Similarly, the time has come for the Congress to rethink its party organisation. This is not something that is going to be addressed with a simple membership drive, because it is pointless to add new members unless there is a new imagination about the manner in which the party organisation is shaped and used.
A State Where Congress Model Is Different: Kerala
There is one state where the Congress organisation resembles that of cadre-based parties. And no, it is not Karnataka. It's Kerala. The reason is that the Congress organisation there evolved in response to the cadres of the CPI(M). They had to. It's how they survived - though today even in Kerala, the organisation has weakened, as the last assembly election showed.
Just as the Congress evolved a new organisational structure in Kerala in response to the CPI(M), it needs to do so nationally too in response to the post-2014 version of the BJP.
Learning From The BJP
The BJP today has such a formidable party organisation that we rarely hear of the role of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) workers in the party's election campaigns anymore. It is well-known that the BJP has expanded its party organisation manifold since 2014. What is less appreciated is what this organisation does.
Critics and analysts focus on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speeches and campaigns, as well as the media, as the factors behind the BJP's victories. But the huge army of party workers going from door to door does not get credit.
The common man cannot reach Narendra Modi or Rahul Gandhi. For the common man, the party is the party worker who lives next door. The party worker does what she can for the people living in her polling booth, all year round. As a result, it's the party worker who can pull in the BJP vote as a personal favour.
BJP's Tech-Savvy Army
This has always been true of political parties. Apart from increasing the number of party workers to a massive 20 per booth, the BJP has centralised and turbo-charged this army with technology. Party workers are given regular campaign tasks, at least once a month, to reach every home. Whether it's G20 or Ram Mandir or free food grains, the party worker will take the message to every doorstep.
If the BJP still loses some state elections, it is because in a given situation, the party may suffer narrative issues, such as indefensible anti-incumbency or leadership challenges, say, a lightweight chief minister. But even in such scenarios, the BJP invariably retains a strong vote share, thanks to the workers who bring in the vote.
The workers are answerable for their tasks to the party leadership centrally, and not to local leaders. The BJP manages this centralisation through technology. These days, the party uses an app called 'Saral', where workers have to upload selfies to prove that they actually organised a small gathering to make people hear the fortnightly episode of PM Modi's Mann Ki Baat show. If a worker doesn't perform well, she can be replaced - after all, there is no dearth of cadres in the party.
The Risk Of Shifting Loyalties
By contrast, the lone Congress worker in a polling booth is answerable to the local Congress leader. If the Congress leader switches to the BJP, so does the worker and the votes she possibly commands.
There is no reason why the Congress should not or cannot create a new centralised party organisation like the BJP's. In fact, I'll go a step further and say that the Congress party's long-term revival is impossible unless it creates a new tech-driven centralised party organisation where workers are held accountable for door-to-door campaigning through technology.
It's not a question of if, but when. Now is a good time to begin.
(Naresh Arora is an accomplished political strategist. He has worked for the Congress party for Haryana, Assam, Karnataka and Rajasthan Assembly elections)
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author.
