Is Congress erring in ignoring state leadership for semblance of opposition unity?

New Delhi: Just to maintain the semblance of unity amidst opposition ranks, the Central leadership of the Congress led by Mallikarjun Kharge, is seemingly ignoring state leaders of the party.

With an eye on cobbling up a possible alliance ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress leadership seems more interested in playing to the gallery for over two dozen opposition parties rather than listening to its state leaders.

The Congress’ central leadership seems to be on the way to creating a major disconnect with its state units with just months to go for Lok Sabha in polls. Over the past few days, the grand old party has gone against its West Bengal, Punjab and Delhi leaders to support causes that these state Congress leaders had opposed vehemently.

Sources stated that the desperation of the central Congress leadership is quite evident as they have rejected the caution of senior Delhi Pradesh leaders like Ajay Maken and Sandeep Dikshit to not support the Aam Aadmi Party over the Central ordinance issue. Despite these leaders warning that this could end up hurting the grand old party, state leaders have been ignored and the high command has decided to support AAP on the issue.

Similar sentiments regarding AAP were also expressed by Punjab leader of the opposition and senior Congress leader Pratap Singh Bajwa who had urged the Congress central to reconsider its stand on the ordinance issue.

The situation was identical in West Bengal as the state leadership was left in the lurch after political violence erupted during the electoral process. Congress West Bengal chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury repeatedly attacked the Mamata Banerjee-led government over the violence during the electoral process. However, he received no clear words or actions of support from his superiors in the party’s central leadership.

Sources pointed out that Chowdhury was fighting a lone battle against the TMC even as violence was allegedly unleashed in the state against opposition candidates by the cadre of the Mamata Banerjee-led party.

It is believed that the senior leadership of the Congress was averse to targeting Mamata Banerjee during the electoral process. The thought was seemingly that smaller sacrifices needed to be made in order to maintain an eye on the achievement of a bigger goal, which is the opposition unity at the national level, sources said.

This has completely exposed the disconnect between the Congress' central leadership and state leaders, with just months to go for crucial Assembly and Lok Sabha polls in the country.

Why Congress may suffer politically in the long run?

Most opposition parties are trying to forge a mahagathbandhan of sorts ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls against the Narendra Modi government. While Congress is the main opposition party at the national level in many states these proposed alliance partners are themselves standing against the grand old party. In fact, many of these have a long history of supporting anti-Congress movements.

Sources stated that parties like AAP, Samajwadi Party and Nationalist Congress party have been growing at the cost of eating into Congress' vote bank.

Congress high command needs to listen to its state leaders to grow in these regions. The party needs to negotiate from a position of strength and not play second fiddle to the regional players, was the sentiment echoed by several leaders. “There is an urgent need to get regional leaders on board by the party high command while deciding political strategy in various states,” sources said.

Leaders in the Congress believe that it is a golden opportunity for the party to reemerge in key areas like Delhi and Punjab, where the AAP grew at its expense.  By fomenting false allegations against Congress’ leadership.

With a split in NCP ranks, a similar opportunity has also been presented to the grand old party in the crucial state of Maharashtra. Essentially the Congress lost all its vote share to regional players and unless it is willing to fight for it these voters are not going to return on their own. With less than a year to go for the 2024 Lok sabha polls, the time for Congress to correct its strategy is fast running out.