On March 10, as the results of the assembly polls in five states poured in, legislators of the Nationalist Congress Party were attending the budget session of the Maharashtra legislature. They were shocked to see the scale of the Congress’s wipeout in Punjab and its poor show in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa.
The NCP has been the Congress’s oldest ally in national politics, but both the parties compete with each other to increase their reach and influence in Maharashtra. Responding to his ally’s rout, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said the Congress should not give up hope. The party had seen its worst defeat in 1977, he said, and bounced back in 1980 to come to power at the Centre.
“No defeat is permanent,” said Pawar. “The Congress leadership and cadre should introspect where its efforts fell short, where alliances should have been stitched in time, and how the organisation should be strengthened henceforth to take on the BJP.” The Congress’s lack of will to fight was shocking, said a senior NCP MP. “Now is the time for Rahul and Priyanka to hit the streets, tour all corners of the country, galvanise party cadres into action, and prepare to take on the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls,” said the MP. “Had I been with the Congress, I would have asked Rahul to go to Kanyakumari, seek blessings at the Swami Vivekananda memorial, and start a Bharat Yatra covering all Lok Sabha constituencies. Half of India is still not ruled by the BJP. Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Rajasthan are not ruled by the BJP. It is time to think about bringing leaders from these state together on a common platform, and prepare a common minimum programme well ahead of 2024.”
Citing the example of Goa, another NCP MP said the Congress should have allied with parties like the NCP and the Trinamool Congress to oust the BJP. The Congress, said the MP, could have come to power in Goa but for its inability to form alliances and prevent the division of opposition votes.
A section of NCP leaders in Maharashtra, however, wants to exploit the opportunity provided by the Congress’s rout. They feel that the Congress’s loss can be the NCP’s gain. A young NCP leader pointed out how the Congress fought the local body polls alone and came fourth in terms of the number of seats won.
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“Had they had some realisation of ground realities, they would have said, ‘Let's form a statewide alliance like the Maha Vikas Aghadi (the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress coalition that rules the state), and fight the BJP in local bodies.’ If you look at the outcome, you would see that the NCP is the number one party [in Maharashtra], followed by the BJP, the Shiv Sena and, lastly, the Congress,” said the NCP leader. “In our region, the Sena is so strong that our leadership has told us clearly that we have to play a supportive role. When we asked about the Congress, the leadership said that the Congress is not a force to reckon with in any way.”
But, said the leader, since the NCP is not strong in Mumbai, it would have to join hands with either the Sena or the Congress in the run-up to the municipal corporation elections due next month. “If the Congress gives up its foolish stand of contesting the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections on its own, our alliance would sweep the polls and the BJP would be in the minority,” said the leader. “So we hope that better sense prevails in the Congress.”