Over the past two decades and especially in the recent past, neither Rahul nor his Party has seemed to be in control of any narrative worth its salt, or has appeared to effectively reinforce any existing narrative, or has looked to pounce and seize upon a developing narrative, or has successfully built a new meaningful narrative of its own, or for that matter, has reshaped a narrative that has already been there, into an effective one, on ground. Outcomes over the past two decades bear testimony to this assessment.
All Rahul and his Party have been doing thus far is deploying the old, conventional, hackneyed, & dated modus operandi which holds - any reasonable connect or relevance with the realities on ground, or which has the required utility or effectiveness in today's dynamic, fiercely competitive & ever evolving political landscape. It is a shame that the oldest national political party with a pan India presence and its top leader cannot successfully build one new effective pan-India narrative that reflects the dynamism of changing socio-political landscape and which resonates with the hopes & aspirations of masses.
There are reasonable chances that the voters might still have had rejected the narrative built by Rahul and Congress Party but what, if people would have put a stamp over their narrative, even for once. People, at least, would have started considering Rahul and his Congress as a credible pan-India challenger to the formidable BJP-Modi combine. Also, the crucial TINA narrative may have faded away over time and which would have provided some semblance of credibility to the opposition space. But that wasn't to be and given the present inertia, it isn't likely to happen in the near future.
A 24 X 7 X 365 effort on ground - leveraging technology & social media platforms for being the people's voice and for targeted messaging like nobody else, deploying real time communication means on ground to keep information channels open for two-way exchanges, continuously & persistently highlighting & communicating incumbent's failures, countering incumbent's targeted messaging & narratives, deftly & maturely navigating the political maze to chart out the right course, micro-targeting the most marginalised & the deprived communities and joining hands with them to address their specific issues & concerns, shaping new social alliances with the sub-alterns to help them find their voice & to address their aspirations, building & empowering party cadres from booth level & up, engaging & revitalising cadres on ground through periodic meetings & assigning them regular political work, establishing sustained emotional connect with diverse sections of the society by raising issues of their day to day existence & upward mobility, leading from the front on a daily basis, being accessible & visible on ground wherever & whenever the Party needs, periodically monitoring & following up with party workers on ground for desired political outcomes & results, building & empowering teams of local state/district/block level leadership and allowing them to grow & thrive, having the right blend of talented and grounded youth & experience in the leadership set up, etc. - were all required to create such a possibility.
All that effort & diligence have been woefully missing in the political work that reluctant Rahul and his Party in perennial drift, have been able to put in, thus far. Rules of the erstwhile elitist & dynastic political game in India have lost considerable utility & leverage, as politics itself has significantly transformed over time, especially in the Hindi belt and in battle ground States. And so have the rules of real politic & of the political chess board. The Challenger needed to be in sync with the demands of these changing times. There was no other way to go about it but to breath, drink, eat, walk, talk, sleep & live politics - day in & day out, if one wanted to step in as a Challenger to the formidable all weather Modi-BJP-Sangh combine. For people not used to the grinds of life and not in sync with times, all of these, could be a tough ask, for sure. But then, if alertness, resolve and hard work matches the intent & goal, then, one can aim to cross such hurdles and can live up to the task.
Further, in order to shape up, frame & present a credible counter narrative and option before a diverse, youthful and aspirational nation, the Challenger and his Party needed to grasp and understand the various hues & shades of incumbent's political work and messaging, deep enough. It was critical to not only know the Modi-BJP-Sangh combine and its strategies but also to comprehend finer nuances and granular details of the diligence & level of preparedness that the combine offered to people. It was imperative for Rahul & his Party to read, observe & analyse not only the written & the visible but also the invisible & the unwritten. Only then, they could have proactively & effectively matched the nature, scale, intensity & effectiveness of effort, discipline, granular work, efficiency, resources & nimbleness that the incumbent's massive political machinery deployed on ground.
It is well known that the ground realities of society, economy & politics have completely changed since the '90s and they continue to evolve with time and so have the rules of political discourse & engagement. Thus, any narrative that could effectively challenge the incumbent's narrative, had to reflect the complexities & the dynamism of ground realities and that which provided a voice to peoples' evolving aspirations. Also, no "one size fits all" narrative could work everywhere. Each Region/State in the country has its own contradictions, specific issues and evolving socio-political realities & challenges, on the ground.
Political parties can't operate in silos. They obviously need to be continuously alert of the signals emanating from the field and have to be well cognisant of the diversity of changing needs & demands from the ground, so as to prepare and effectively address & respond to those challenges, in time. Politics that is dated is no politics. It is as dynamic and complex, as is human life. Diverse and competing human needs & aspirations for actualisation & assertion are increasingly at work in today's political firmament. Various kinds of social & economic forces and influences are in play, at any given point in time. All kinds of competing equations and political contradictions are at work on the ground and those have to be addressed and managed in time. Unless one is proactive, alert, aware and cognisant of such factors and of their possible impact on the political fortunes, one is bound to miss the bus and to be left behind. More importantly, it's about developing sustained emotional connect with such diverse & competing electorate and also about successfully generating a positive lasting perception, to create a vibrant support base, for any political party.
Therefore, the mantra for prevailing in this political battle, remains, as universal, as it can be. However, the road to redemption is extremely tough, demanding, ruthless, unforgiving, and complex. Despite the challenges of the task, it's still doable as there are individuals & parties which surmount such adversities. No reinventing the wheel is really required, as there are no superhumans involved in this game and it ain't a rocket science, either. It's all about plain common sense (political sense is nothing but this), being proactive & diligent, knowing the pulse of people, being alert and keeping eyes & ears open, being connected & engaged, comprehending competition well, working hard & smart, giving voice to people on ground, being genuinely inclusive, taking everyone along, exercising maturity & balance, allowing & empowering organic growth of leadership in the field, being hands-on, having talent & experience around and of course, leading by example.
Also, import of symbolism in politics & political messaging can never be understated as it carries a lot of weight in establishing a direct emotional connect with people and in directly conveying political messages without much ado. In a socially & culturally sensitive society, the reach & impact of symbols & symbolism can be wide, vast and lasting, in a very short span of time. Nothing impacts people's psyche as much as, a timely & correct act of political symbolism, as it directly resonates with people's emotions & insecurities, in no time. Symbols leave lasting imprints on the minds of people and if also matched by substance, they can prove to be absolutely decisive in the battle for peoples' hearts & minds. No wonder, symbolism remains an extremely powerful tool in politics and in political messaging as it can change people's perception & views overnight - much to a politician's advantage or to the opponent's disadvantage, without the person doing or conveying much. Of course, Symbolism works well in combination with application of common sense (political sense), with right timing and with supportive substantive political work, in order to keep reaping sustained political dividends.
Smart politicians & political parties successfully employ symbols and symbolism, to a great desired effect, for their immediate and/or future political advantages & dividends, as they understand its utility well in creating lasting powerful imprints on the psyche of their targetted audience. In politics & political messaging, usage of symbolism to one's advantage, at the right opportunity & time, is an Art in itself. Modi-BJP combine has perfected this Art, over time, and as a result, it has reaped huge political dividends, over the years. Rahul and his Party have an absolutely woeful track record in this space, too. Both he and his Party have proved to be no match to the Modi-BJP combine, in the use of symbols. However, this Art could have been learnt & imbibed by observing those, who have discreetly & successfully used it for huge political dividends, in the past.
This is now very much visible that incumbent's political challenge has so far proven to be too much for the reluctant Rahul and for his drifting Party. They just don't appear to have the mojo left in them to fight it out as a credible opponent to the incumbent or to impact the political scene in any significant way. Both Rahul and his Party, at best, have appeared clueless, confused and somewhat lost in the drift. More importantly, they either seem to not realise what they are missing or appear too reluctant to shed their old habits to change. It certainly appears to be a case of a caged victim of one's own past.
Both Rahul and his Party have continued to practice the dated 'Congress way' or 'Congress ism' which hasn't led them anywhere, in recent times. And the most unfortunate part is that despite repeated and massive electoral setbacks, Rahul and his Party don't seem to even realise or accept that the old 'Congress way' is now redundant and that major gaps exist in his leadership and within the Party's ecosystem. Neither do they appear warranted or worried enough to be seriously attempting to arrest the slide in their fast dwindling support base, which has continued unabated before their eyes. It's strange that they fail to even analyse and learn from their weaknesses & setbacks. Accepting the weakness is the first step towards redemption, as they say. Also, when has hoping against hope been a good tactic or strategy. No wonder, their downward slide has continued, unabated.
Also, Rahul's moving away from Hindi heartland to Waynad seat and the persistent uncertainty over the leadership in his Party have not only sent wrong signals but also have considerably reduced Rahul's relevance in the region's dominant political discourse. Neither has this inertia helped his Party's cause in the cow belt. And, it could never have. Hindi heartland's political space has regularly been shrinking for Congress over past decades and today the crisis for Congress has assumed existential proportions in many of these States. Credible, mature & wise satraps of regional parties, as fighting alternatives to the Hindutva bandwagon, in their own respective backyards, have seized & pounced upon the opportunities coming their way and have proved as a bulwark to the saffron surge in many ways. These regional satraps have continued to strengthen and expand their hold over the Opposition (to BJP) space that Rahul and his Party have either continued to concede or have failed to capitalise upon. Today, Rahul and his Congress have to understand that the ground under their feet is fast slipping away. And their downhill slide is not slow. Therefore, they just can't operate as the old Congress Party anymore. They need to wake up to the ground realities and do what it takes, to start functioning and behaving as a formidable Opposition party in order to win people's favour back and become the peoples' voice that they clamour for. For that, they would first need to believe in themselves, that yes, they can do it, before people start believing in them.
In fact, ideology in today's competitive politics has considerably lost its sheen & substance although its jargons & masks still remain popular & in wide use. Ideological base & rhetoric of successful political parties don't seem to drive or match the political decisions and political action, on ground, anymore. The ideological debates, these days, appear to be more confined to the academic circles, to the drawing rooms and amongst the chattering classes on TV. Ideological utility, perhaps, is now overhyped & exaggerated, in the political space. In any case, ideology, if static, inherently carries an element of redundancy and, if left to its own, can become dated & much irrelevant, over time.
Practitioners & followers of ideology, in real politic, must be open and pragmatic enough to be cognisant of the need to constantly adapt, shape up and marry aspects of their ideology with the changing & evolving times - competing needs & aspirations of people, popular ethos & morality, evolving complexities of identities & traditions, demands of inclusive welfare, equity & economic redistribution, social equality & justice, national interest, global influences & headwinds, etc - by means of sustained political work on ground and by establishing lasting emotional connect with the people.
The fact that Congress Party and Rahul continue to be perennially lost in their own thing and have repeatedly failed to get their act together is certainly a bad news for democracy and for the nation, to say the least. Strong Opposition is an imperative, for any vibrant & mature democracy. Good news is that Congress still has a nationwide presence, is a national party - albeit in broken pieces, and can still be politically relevant as it proclaims to reflect the nation's constitutional values, ethos & morality, albeit in much weakened & skewed form & substance. However, legacies in politics only help, thus far, if they are not backed up by relevant vision, dynamism, due diligence, and necessary care & caution, over time.
In order to be a credible & viable nationwide Challenger for people's hearts & minds, today's pertinent need is to not only have a mature leadership that walks & talks politics and means business but also to have enough able, informed, committed, inspired, patient, proactive & energetic foot soldiers on ground who can be the voice of the people and who can adopt, embrace & imbibe the evolving realities on ground, in their responses - timely & meaningful political action, well crafted communication and thoughtful service & cooperation.
The fact that politics, on ground, is an extremely complex act with so many competing and contradictory forces and demands, all at work at the same time, is an understatement. Politics is as driven by ethos & popular morality, as it is, by people's competing needs & aspirations, and both are always extremely dynamic in nature. Social realities, aspirations, consumerism, global influences, pace of life and fierce competition for resources & opportunities, in this age of communication, do not allow a common man to survive with dignity, on just the promises of ideals & ideologies. Being pragmatic and real, is the way to survive, in today's dynamic & fiercely competitive ecosystem. The common man is wise enough to learn and understand this fact of life and so is the street-smart politician who can read the pulse of common man, well, before others do, and who has the ability to put wind in the sails of the common man's aspirations.
After all, it's all about being alive & kicking in the moment that differentiates the winner from a loser. The sooner the shortcomings, the reluctance, the confusion, the ambiguity, the predicament, the complacency, and the sense of entitlement are shed, the quicker the clarity, the purpose, the moorings & the mojo, would be found. Given the high stakes involved, anyone else would have already considered allowing change & hope, a certain chance back into the mix, and that too, on yesterday basis. Politics, remains the art of the possible. And redemption there, ain't rocket science, either.
