Opinion | Congress's Main Poll Challenge Is Keeping Its Own House In Order

The Congress in Madhya Pradesh suffered another setback on April 30 after former minister and six-time MLA Ramniwas Rawat quit to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This came soon after its Indore candidate, Akshay Kanti Bam, withdrew his nomination on April 29. Just days before that, the Election Commission rejected the nomination of the party's Surat candidate, Nilesh Kumbhani, due to discrepancies, resulting in the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Mukesh Dalal winning the Lok Sabha seat unopposed.

With no significant challenger left for the BJP's sitting MP Shankar Lalwani in Indore, this marks the first time the Congress lacks a candidate in this seat. Consequently, the Congress must now find support among the 13 non-BJP candidates in the fray.

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In the Banswara Lok Sabha constituency, the Congress found itself campaigning against its own candidate. The party had extended support to the Bharat Adivasi Party's (BAP) Rajkumar Roat, while the Congress' Arvind Damor, who had already filed his nomination, refused to withdraw, remaining in the fray as a Congress candidate.

Lack Of Control

The incidents in Indore, Surat, and Banswara are unprecedented for any party. The recent incidents indicate a complete lack of planning and control within the Congress as well as deficiencies in its candidate selection process.

Earlier, the Congress's candidate, Rohan Gupta, returned his ticket from Ahmedabad East, citing his father's illness, only to join the BJP after some time.

Over the past five years, the Congress has experienced a significant exodus of leaders, including big names like Jyotiraditya Scindia, Himanta Biswa Sarma, and Sunil Jakhar. According to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), out of the 405 MLAs who quit and switched parties from 2016-2020, as many as 170 - that is, 42% - were from the Congress. In contrast, only 4.4% - or just 18 - BJP legislators jumped ship in this period. Out of the 12 Lok Sabha members who switched parties in the same period, five were from the BJP. In the Rajya Sabha, out of the 17 who quit, seven were from the Congress, the ADR report says.

Leaders With Questionable Loyalties

While much has been said about the human resource issues facing Congress and its inability to retain talent, very little has been discussed about the leaders with questionable loyalties holding a place in the grand old party. With these incidents, it is difficult to ascertain how many of the declared Congress candidates are truly committed to the party and how many have a secret pact with others.

The recent remarks of Sam Pitroda on inheritance tax have also sparked a row. He has been a known offender of sorts. In May 2019, Pitroda, when questioned on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, set off a storm with his rather insensitive remarks. In June 2023, his remark that temples were not going to solve India's problems of unemployment, inflation, education, and health, again sparked a row.

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In one state that faced elections in 2022, the main criterion for the selection of Congress candidates was bizarre, to say the least. The state leadership asked surveyors to recommend candidates who would not switch over to the BJP. How could anyone do this? How could pollsters find out what was on the minds of candidates or whether they could have a change of heart later? In the same state, when pollsters were tracking weekly vote share movements across seats, the Congress, a few days closer to the elections, began leading on a few seats it had been trailing in earlier. A detailed inquiry suggested that the BJP had put up weak candidates against these Congress nominees.

Scoring Self-Goals

Leaders like Pitroda and many others keep on scoring self-goals. Before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, half a dozen Congress candidates pulled out after the party officially announced their names, damaging its chances even before the contest began.

Internal squabbles are one of the key diseases plaguing the Congress today. Many leaders are alleged to have close connections with rival parties and their loyalty is questionable. The recent instances indicate just as much.

The Congress is hoping to avoid such faux pas in the remaining phases. But the BJP would try to ensure that the pattern repeats as it helps build a narrative of which way the wind is blowing.

(Amitabh Tiwari is a political strategist and commentator. In his earlier avatar, he was a corporate and investment banker)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author