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At a time when the Congress is showing definite signs of a revival of sorts after being in the doldrums since the crushing defeat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the party unit in Odisha paradoxically appears to be possessed by a death wish.
The debilitating defeat in Bijepur, a seat won by the party three consecutive times even in the face of the seemingly unstoppable march of the BJD in the rest of the state, was symptomatic of all that is wrong with the Congress. As is its wont, the party leadership took an eternity to decide on the man who would replace Subal Sahu, the three-time MLA who died on September 22 last year, as the candidate even as the ruling party was quick off the blocks roping in Sahu’s widow and naming her the BJD candidate well in advance. Even the BJP, the other major contender, had made its move well ahead of announcement of the by-election roping in former BJD MLA Ashok Panigrahi. The BJD and BJP thus had a head start over the Congress even before campaigning got underway.
Senior leaders of the party either stayed away altogether or campaigned perfunctorily, leaving Congress candidate Pranay Sahu to wage what effectively was a lone battle. This, as commentators noted, was a classic case of cutting the nose to spite the face. Worse still, Sahu had precious little financial resources to play around with in an election where the other two contenders were pumping in money like water. There were allegations that Rs 4 lakh out of the paltry Rs. 15 lakh made available by the party never reached him. That Sahu managed to poll over 10, 000 votes (even though he lost his deposit) despite all this was actually a minor miracle!
Prasad Harcihandan’s detractors in the party, who had hoped that the crushing defeat in Bijepur would hasten the PCC chief’s ouster, had the mortification of watching helplessly as the Congress high command rejected his resignation owning moral responsibility for the Bijepur debacle and all but announced its decision to persist with him at least till the next elections. As if that was not bad enough, new party President Rahul Gandhi struck the names of nine party MLAs off the list of AICC members on the eve of the party’s plenary in New Delhi, rubbing salt to the injured pride of the dissidents.
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Political observers see the decision to persist with Harichandan as an indication of the Congress high command’s larger plan of handing over Odisha to the BJD on a platter in the hope of securing its support in case of a hung parliament after the next elections. There is talk of a deal struck between the two sides to this effect. While such deal-making will always remain in the realm of speculation, it is obvious to anyone who cares that Harichnadan has been singularly ineffectual in galvanizing the party organization in the state. And while a change of guard at this stage may not change the ground realities in any fundamental way, persisting with him till the general elections is surely an invitation to disaster. The former minister and MLA from Satyabadi certainly began well with his ‘We, not I’ call when he took over in December, 2014, but he has lost his way in the last two years with almost the entire legislature party constantly at his throat.
Talk of the impending departure of several MLAs from the party – allegedly set to join the BJD - and the open revolt against Prasad despite the high command’s clear support for him is not doing any good to the morale of the party workers at the grassroots level desperately in need of some inspiration. The defiance of the party leaders even in the face of repeated warnings to desist from sniping at Harichandan also suggests that the high command is unable to strike fear – as it did in the past – in their minds.
A major reason for this could well be the fact that many of the dissidents, after years out of power and with little hope of coming back at any time soon, have already started thinking of life beyond the Congress and are possibly busy building bridges with the BJD. And keen to acquire every possible ‘asset’ ahead of the next election, BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik will only be too happy to rope some, if not all, of them. The exodus will render the Congress, the principal opposition party in the state not too long ago, an ‘also ran’ and set the stage for what would effectively be a straight fight between the BJD and BJP in the next elections – as was the case in Bijepur. Such a scenario would suit Naveen just fine as he seeks a fifth straight win in 2019.
What a pity it would be for a party that was the preeminent political force till the turn of the millennium!
(DISCLAIMER: This is an opinion piece. The views expressed are author’s own and have nothing to do with OTV's charter or views. OTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)
