The Congress party suffered a rout in the Lok Sabha 2019 elections and the big gloom over the party is more humiliating than the 2014 results with the biggest jolt in the hotly-contested Amethi seat in Uttar Pradesh. Firebrand Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Smriti Irani defeated Congress president Rahul Gandhi at his home turf, the traditional Gandhi pocket borough thereby taking the wind out of the sails of the Congress.
The impact of Rahul's shocking defeat, where huge victory margins have added the halo of invincibility to Gandhi family members will be felt outside the geographical boundaries of Amethi.

The spectacular show by the Modi-Shah duo has put a question mark on Rahul's leadership. But the Congress' course corrections have often been mere tokenism and less about transparency in order to insulate the top leadership. With PM Modi's unrelenting attack on dynastic politics the party will be under tremendous pressure to act and show that it is actually serious about remaining in business. 

Another old-hatter Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh known for being critical of Rahul's ways earlier, hit out at Navjot Singh Sidhu. Amarinder fired the salvo: "Navjot Singh Sidhu wants to become CM... His going to Pakistan and hugging Pakistan Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa cost the Congress dearly... the party should have taken disciplinary action against him..." he said. Trouble for Rahul doesn't end here. Then the comparisons with the BJP's stalwarts is only going to get more sharper and unsparing that will make the unease and discontentment within the party only grow louder.

India’s oldest political party was limited to just 51 seats, marginally improving from its worst ever tally of 44 seats in 2014 with a 19.3% vote share. To make matters worse, for the second time in a row, the party will not be able to claim the position of the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, falling short of the minimum requirement of winning one-tenth of total seats, or 54 seats, in the Lower House.

After 2014, everyone kept talking about how Congress is facing a leadership challenge. People and particularly party workers hoped that they will do much better this time. But that did not happen. Post this result, the questions on Rahul Gandhi will grow. From a leadership challenge in 2014, this has become a leadership crisis in 2019," said Sanjay Kumar, director at the New Delhi-based Centre for the Study of Developing Societies.

Party leaders, however, said that it will be a while before voices of dissent come to the fore from within the party to question the leadership. “People will either desert the party or not question the leadership. If not the Gandhis, then who?" a senior party functionary said, requesting anonymity. Senior party leaders were also wary of the fact that many Congress top guns lost from their seats, and this would have an impact on the party’s state units. 

According to analysts, the larger challenge, or crisis as they put it, will be to accept that the party needs to reinvent itself to adapt to the new political realities.
“Frankly, Congress has multiple challenges and that is not restricted to this election alone. The internal differences in the Congress spilled out into the open on Saturday, with the dissenting group, or the ‘G-23’, in a show of strength held a rally in Jammu ostensibly to felicitate Ghulam Nabi Azad on his retirement from Rajya Sabha but clearly challenging the party leadership. The party leadership has reacted cautiously and not commented about the possibility of disciplinary action against the participants. The senior Congress leaders including former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Anand Sharma, Kapil Sibal, Manish Tewari, Raj Babbar and Vivek Tankha in addition to Mr. Azad. This is the first collective, public appearance of the group that in August last year, had written to the interim president Sonia Gandhi urging her to ensure “full time” and “visible” leadership. 

Congress leadership has remained mum about renominating Mr. Azad and the G-23 members find themselves sidelined within the party. Mr. Azad speaking at the rally said he may have retired from Rajya Sabha but he has not retired from politics. One of the sharpest speeches came from senior Congress leader Anand Sharma, who said: “A party can give a designation and rank, but not every person occupying the designation, necessarily becomes a people’s leader.” Mr. Sibal, in a metaphor, said to fly an aircraft one needs an experienced pilot, but for the aircraft to function well, it needs an engineer for its upkeep, adding that Mr. Azad can play both the roles with ease. 

Stating that Mr. Azad was a leader who knows the ground reality of the Congress in every district of every State, Mr. Sibal said, “We were saddened when we realised that he is being freed from Parliament. We didn't want to let him go from Parliament... I can't understand why is Congress not utilising his experience.” 

“All of the persons who are in Jammu and have spoken, are senior, highly respected, and well regarded members of our party. We are proud of having them in the party and I believe they are equally proud to be members of the Congress. They are part of the Congress family,” However, he countered Mr Sibal’s comments about the party not “utilising” Mr. Azad’s experience. Without naming Mr. Sibal, he said that such comments betray a lack of knowledge about the contemporary history of the Congress. “We are proud and he (Mr. Azad) is proud that he has held the Congress flag afloat for more than seven terms — two LS and four in RS for nearly 40 years in Parliament. We are proud and he is proud that party president Sonia Gandhi nominated him as Jammu and Kashmir CM. From Indira Gandhi’s time onwards, he has been a respected central minister for over 30 decades,” Mr. Singhvi said. He said, it would be amiss if he doesn’t recall Mr. Azad’s role in the party over the years. As a parting shot, Mr. Singhvi said, “Gently and respectfully, the best contribution to the Congress would be, to get active in the various campaigns ongoing in the five States which are going for elections.” 

Prakhar P Misra Political Editor 

The Congress party suffered a rout in the Lok Sabha 2019 elections and the big gloom over the party is more humiliating than the 2014 results with the biggest jolt in the hotly-contested Amethi seat in Uttar Pradesh. Firebrand Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Smriti Irani defeated Congress president Rahul Gandhi at his home turf, the traditional Gandhi pocket borough thereby taking the wind out of the sails of the Congress.
The impact of Rahul's shocking defeat, where huge victory margins have added the halo of invincibility to Gandhi family members will be felt outside the geographical boundaries of Amethi.

The spectacular show by the Modi-Shah duo has put a question mark on Rahul's leadership. But the Congress' course corrections have often been mere tokenism and less about transparency in order to insulate the top leadership. With PM Modi's unrelenting attack on dynastic politics the party will be under tremendous pressure to act and show that it is actually serious about remaining in business. 

Another old-hatter Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh known for being critical of Rahul's ways earlier, hit out at Navjot Singh Sidhu. Amarinder fired the salvo: "Navjot Singh Sidhu wants to become CM... His going to Pakistan and hugging Pakistan Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa cost the Congress dearly... the party should have taken disciplinary action against him..." he said. Trouble for Rahul doesn't end here. Then the comparisons with the BJP's stalwarts is only going to get more sharper and unsparing that will make the unease and discontentment within the party only grow louder.

India’s oldest political party was limited to just 51 seats, marginally improving from its worst ever tally of 44 seats in 2014 with a 19.3% vote share. To make matters worse, for the second time in a row, the party will not be able to claim the position of the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, falling short of the minimum requirement of winning one-tenth of total seats, or 54 seats, in the Lower House.

After 2014, everyone kept talking about how Congress is facing a leadership challenge. People and particularly party workers hoped that they will do much better this time. But that did not happen. Post this result, the questions on Rahul Gandhi will grow. From a leadership challenge in 2014, this has become a leadership crisis in 2019," said Sanjay Kumar, director at the New Delhi-based Centre for the Study of Developing Societies.

Party leaders, however, said that it will be a while before voices of dissent come to the fore from within the party to question the leadership. “People will either desert the party or not question the leadership. If not the Gandhis, then who?" a senior party functionary said, requesting anonymity. Senior party leaders were also wary of the fact that many Congress top guns lost from their seats, and this would have an impact on the party’s state units. 

According to analysts, the larger challenge, or crisis as they put it, will be to accept that the party needs to reinvent itself to adapt to the new political realities.
“Frankly, Congress has multiple challenges and that is not restricted to this election alone. The internal differences in the Congress spilled out into the open on Saturday, with the dissenting group, or the ‘G-23’, in a show of strength held a rally in Jammu ostensibly to felicitate Ghulam Nabi Azad on his retirement from Rajya Sabha but clearly challenging the party leadership. The party leadership has reacted cautiously and not commented about the possibility of disciplinary action against the participants. The senior Congress leaders including former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Anand Sharma, Kapil Sibal, Manish Tewari, Raj Babbar and Vivek Tankha in addition to Mr. Azad. This is the first collective, public appearance of the group that in August last year, had written to the interim president Sonia Gandhi urging her to ensure “full time” and “visible” leadership. 

Congress leadership has remained mum about renominating Mr. Azad and the G-23 members find themselves sidelined within the party. Mr. Azad speaking at the rally said he may have retired from Rajya Sabha but he has not retired from politics. One of the sharpest speeches came from senior Congress leader Anand Sharma, who said: “A party can give a designation and rank, but not every person occupying the designation, necessarily becomes a people’s leader.” Mr. Sibal, in a metaphor, said to fly an aircraft one needs an experienced pilot, but for the aircraft to function well, it needs an engineer for its upkeep, adding that Mr. Azad can play both the roles with ease. 

Stating that Mr. Azad was a leader who knows the ground reality of the Congress in every district of every State, Mr. Sibal said, “We were saddened when we realised that he is being freed from Parliament. We didn't want to let him go from Parliament... I can't understand why is Congress not utilising his experience.” 

“All of the persons who are in Jammu and have spoken, are senior, highly respected, and well regarded members of our party. We are proud of having them in the party and I believe they are equally proud to be members of the Congress. They are part of the Congress family,” However, he countered Mr Sibal’s comments about the party not “utilising” Mr. Azad’s experience. Without naming Mr. Sibal, he said that such comments betray a lack of knowledge about the contemporary history of the Congress. “We are proud and he (Mr. Azad) is proud that he has held the Congress flag afloat for more than seven terms — two LS and four in RS for nearly 40 years in Parliament. We are proud and he is proud that party president Sonia Gandhi nominated him as Jammu and Kashmir CM. From Indira Gandhi’s time onwards, he has been a respected central minister for over 30 decades,” Mr. Singhvi said. He said, it would be amiss if he doesn’t recall Mr. Azad’s role in the party over the years. As a parting shot, Mr. Singhvi said, “Gently and respectfully, the best contribution to the Congress would be, to get active in the various campaigns ongoing in the five States which are going for elections.” 

Prakhar P Misra Political Editor