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HomeOpinion50% of Kharge's Congress Steering Committee members haven't fought Lok Sabha polls...

50% of Kharge’s Congress Steering Committee members haven’t fought Lok Sabha polls since 2014

With Kharge as president, one expected that there would be battle-hardened members. But the committee composition speaks a different story.

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For ardent Congress supporters, the past few weeks must be both exciting as well as much ado about nothing. After all, the party successfully managed to conduct an election to get a full-time president in Mallikarjun Kharge. Similarly, the Bharat Jodo Yatra has completed 50 days, and it seems to be getting decent traction on the routes it is passing through.

However, the more things seem to change in the Congress party, the more they remain the same. Kharge, in his first decision as the Congress president, has constituted a 47-member Steering Committee that would function in place of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party’s highest decision-making body thus far. The new committee will be functional till Kharge’s election is ratified in the upcoming plenary session of the party, which will possibly take place in March-April next year. Only then a new CWC will be constituted.

While many have criticised Kharge’s elevation as ‘status-quoism’ within the Congress, it indeed is a very significant step for the party. There is no doubt about his political understanding and experience. But the big question is whether Kharge will be able to rescue the Congress from its most difficult phase. The answer largely depends on many aspects, including Kharge’s desire and ability to expand his role. Can he initiate reforms that have become necessary to handle the party’s crumbling structure? Can he come out of the shadow of the party’s first family and create an independent identity for himself?

Durbar still stands

We collected information on the new Steering Committee members — 48, including Kharge — relating to their age, state, gender, and, most importantly, their electoral performance during the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Not surprisingly, the Delhi durbar of the Congress party — famously described as ‘Old Guard’ — has a significant imprint on the newly constituted committee. Kharge’s last-minute entry as ‘unofficial official candidate’ and his pitch to run party affairs “in consultation with and under the guidance of the Gandhi family” is very much reflected in the new committee.

Having retained a large number of current CWC members, the Steering Committee looks nothing more than a façade. Under the new leadership, the Congress is treading the same path that has brought it to the brink of terminal decline. It seems that the Delhi durbar will continue to exert significant control over the party affairs in the foreseeable future.


Also read: Kharge over Tharoor—Congress returns to caste politics without the cynicism of Mandal


What the data says

The Congress may continue to adulate itself for giving India its first woman prime minister and president — Indira Gandhi in 1966 and Pratibha Patil in 2007. But with only six women in its 48-member committee, including Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra, the promises emanating from the latter’s Uttar Pradesh campaign earlier this year seem nothing more than empty rhetoric.

Similarly, only one member, Manickam Tagore, of the Steering Committee, is under the age of 50. Approximately half of the members are 70 years or above, making 68 the average age of the committee. One must wonder how the Congress plans to enthuse and excite India’s young voters with such an old leadership. More than 65 per cent of India’s population is below 35 years, and the average age is less than 29.

Data by authors | Graphics by Soham Sen
Data by authors | Graphics by Soham Sen

One gets baffled at the Congress’ regional priorities to rejuvenate its organisational structure. While it is spending a significant number of days in southern states during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, it has appointed a large number of members from the northern states to the Steering Committee — 50 per cent are from the North, 25 per cent from the South, 10 per cent each from western and eastern states, and a meagre 4 per cent from the Northeast. With serious organisational crises brewing in many states such as Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Chattisgarh, the new committee isn’t even pretending that any substantial transformation would be brought in. With the exclusion of many prominent leaders — Sachin Pilot and Shashi Tharoor, for instance — the party seems to be inviting fresh troubles.

Data by authors | Graphics by Soham Sen
Data by authors | Graphics by Soham Sen

The most surprising aspect of the committee is in its continued reliance on politicians with not-so-bright electoral track records. As Kharge is famous for not losing any electoral contest before the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the expectation was that there would be more battle-hardened members. But the committee composition speaks a different story — only one in five members is currently either an MP or MLA, almost one-third represent the party in the Rajya Sabha, including Kharge, and half of the members are not a part of any legislative body.

A significant number of the members have actually never contested any assembly or general election. Nearly two-thirds did not contest in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, and among the rest 16 who did, a majority lost by a significant margin. The proportion of members who did not contest and winners were identical during the 2014 Lok Sabha election.

Cumulatively, 50 per cent of members of the committee did not contest the last two general elections. Another 16 per cent have lost one Lok Sabha election and did not contest in the other; 13 per cent have lost both general elections, and 15 per cent have won at least one of the two. Only three members, including Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, were elected as MPs during both elections.

Data by authors | Graphics by Soham Sen
Data by authors | Graphics by Soham Sen

With more than half of the Steering Committee members having neither sought nor gained a mandate from the people, it is doubtful the party can prepare a serious blueprint for its revival plans in the run-up to the 2024 election. The conspicuous message from the committee is clear – the executive bodies of the Congress will continue to house loyalists as well as accommodate some critics who would not jeopardise the status quo, i.e., the dominance of the Gandhi family and their Delhi durbar.

A captain can only turn around the fate of their team when they can fully harness the capabilities of the members. This begins at the selection level itself. Is this Kharge’s way of trying to understand the pitch conditions before starting his innings like a seasoned batsman? The answer perhaps lies with those following the Congress party closely.

The authors are with the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), New Delhi. The views expressed
are personal.

(Edited by Humra Laeeq)

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