Ever since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rose to power in the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, the Grand Old Party of India, the Indian National Congress (INC), has increasingly resembled an old wine in an old bottle.
Prevaricating on leadership issues, hollowed out by factional battles, and plagued by an insipid, uninspired, even outdated, brand of politics, the Congress is in serious danger of slipping into gradual oblivion. The events of the last few weeks have only accelerated the Congress’s decline and nothing but a systemic overhaul can help restore its beleaguered fortunes.
Dominating the news cycles for the past fortnight, the unravelling of the political game of thrones in Rajasthan has emerged as definitive proof of what is wrong in the Congress today. Irrespective of whether Sachin Pilot joins the BJP, sets up his new party, or is somehow cajoled to continue playing second fiddle to chief minister Ashok Gehlot, it is clear that the Congress has been grossly incompetent in dealing with one of its brightest members.
Following a shattering defeat for the Congress in Rajasthan in 2013, Pilot had played an instrumental role in reviving the hopes of his party in the state, as it came back to power in 2018, with Pilot as deputy chief minister in the Gehlot government. In a country where consensus along the political spectrum is habitually elusive, few can question the dynamism, vision, and assurance that Pilot has shown to consolidate the Congress’s presence in Rajasthan.
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