Even as the Congress celebrates its victory in Karnataka, it is important that it does not build up a narrative based on wishful thinking. While the win may have come on the back of strong anti-incumbency against the Bommai Government, it could well have been thwarted by the BJP juggernaut. The Congress, as in Himachal Pradesh, had strong local leaders that command extensive followings in their respective castes and regions. Some months ago Mallikarjun Kharge from the state was made party president in the efforts at inner-party democratisation. The internal rivalries were not allowed to undermine the party campaign. (Former Harish Rawat, pertinently, has lamented this lack of unity in the Uttarakhand unit of the party and blamed it for the defeat in the assembly elections.)
There is a need to go further down this road, rather than depend on the rapidly diminishing charisma of the Nehru-Gandhi family. A party that gives its cadre, from the grassroots up, the opportunity to rise to the highest levels on the basis of merit, will certainly find its way back to past glory.
It is also important that it adopts a responsible approach to governance. The emulation of the AAP model of bribing the electorate with freebies from the state exchequer may bring in the votes of the less well-off sections, but it can totally undermine the economy and build up to a major meltdown in the not so distant future. There are many populist measures that can undo the liberalisation process that has brought India to the forefront globally. The desperation to win the Lok Sabha elections could lead to frenzied concessions likely to prove entirely unsustainable. Rahul Gandhi’s increased pandering to the radical Left should be resisted by the saner elements within the party.
The Congress should also not forget that the BJP, despite its poor performance in Karnataka, lost only 0.4 percent of its support base as compared to the last assembly election. So, its core remains untouched. The Congress benefited from the votes the JD(S) lost. This particular situation is not likely to be repeated in the states that go to the polls in the near future, like MP, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. Unless the issues within the local leadership (Sachin Pilot-Ashok Gehlot, for example) are not resolved with the required promptness and dexterity, the celebrations are not likely to last very long. Also, it should also watch its back, for the Lotus finds many ways to bloom, other than just elections.
