Congress Chintan Shivir: Nothing new …waiting for the magic to happen but it will not come any time soon.

Disclaimer: This is an independently written article by the author without allegiance to any political party, ideology or government. 

The grand old party (GoP) of India i.e. Congress completed its Chintan Shivir in Udaipur in Rajasthan under the hospitality of the Gehlaut government. The whole Gandhi family was present in the shivir from Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and Priyanka for all three days or so. Except the resignation of Punjab Congress leader Sunil Jakher the event went without any major flutter and was wrapped up with speeches from Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi exhorted party workers to not look for shortcuts and spend sweat for revival. He also reaffirmed his war with BJP and RSS on ideological grounds.

WE will not go into full version of what all transpired which can be read in the Newslink here –  https://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/congress-chintan-shivir-concludes-rahul-gandhi-remarks-udaipur-rajasthan-50-representation-to-minorities-calls-for-law-guaranteeing-msp-2022-05-15-776694

However, what is missing is a glaring omission that will put Congress nowhere in forthcoming elections. If the party is looking for magic to transform its chances then we are sorry to say it will not be coming soon. On the contrary, the party may have to further suffer in days to come. Taking an analogy from Human beings, when a person dies not only his physical body is burnt but the seven sheaths of cover that wraps this physical body also gets annihilated after the death. THis typically takes 10 to 15 days and hence the importance of ‘daswa and terwa ( 10 and 13 th day in Hindu system) . THis is necessary from an evolution point of view as a human being has to forget everything about his present life before taking a new avatar or else he may not be transformed with old memories. 

This is what is missing in congress. It has to completely destroy the present form and the inner covers to get transformed. It will not be able to compete with even the AAP party forget BJP. It is not been able to form a clear opinion on many critical issues. It is still vague about its position on Hindu Muslim, economics and foreign policy. We feel that that congres sis lacking good expert opinion on all these issues. 

It is still a far cry if the Gandhi family will be directly challenged and we don’t think there are any chances of that happening. Rahul Gandhi with all his serious and at times nonserious actions has not been accepted the way Arvind Kejriwal is. Sonia Gandhi comes only occasionally while there are clamors for Priyanka every now and then. The party has to think over this and try to do some image makeover for Rahul. If he cant then he must pave way for his sister to continue the Gandhi family hold on the party. 
The party could have also tried to align itself with the changing India. The India of the 70s. ..80s has changed and its a new India that is looking up. People are not fearful to raise their voices. Under the Modi government, Hindus are feeling confident and are willing to go extra mile to make themselves heard. The Muslim appeasement policy of congress during past decades stands exposed and is not serving its purpose. The congress of today belongs to neither the Hindus nor the Muslims. This is the main reason for its gross fall. Never parties like AAP, TMC, DMK, MVA have all challenged the stronghold vote bank of the congress. 

Therefore congress has to find its vote bank seriously. Who will vote for it and why ? Such questions were missing from the chintan shivir. What is the new offering on the table? How can it atleast get its vote from the regional parties and AAP. 

WE are of the opinion that congress must first try to get DELHI back from Kejriwal. The Delhi unit of the congress is today totally finished. There is no leader who is being heard or is in the media. It must also stop giving a shoulder to parties house it to fight against BJP. Instead, it must fight on its own no matter what. By working on the strategy that its more important to defeat the BJP tit has compromised and sacrificed a lot to the extent that its own existence is now being questioned. We have written about the same during past Delhi Legislative elections. Once you give space to someone in politics it is hard to get it back. 

The Congress party has to seriously think on all such issues. In its enmity with BJP it has lost its own base. Therefore to come back it has to start right form here. Fight the regional parties first and then challenge BJP. Until this is done we fear that the party may keep loosing till it becomes extinct. 

Chinatn Shivir or no shivir, will not make any diifference what so ever to the party exceopt enjoying the grand food and hospitality that goes along with it. 

Dr Asheesh Shah
with best wishesSamanvaya.org.in

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