Opinion: Politics has changed in four and a half years, but nothing has changed in Congress, these two pictures are proof

Bhopal: After a political tussle that lasted for five days, the Congress finally handed over the chief ministership of Karnataka to S Siddaramaiah. State President DK Shivakumar remained adamant till the end, but after Sonia Gandhi’s intervention, he had to settle for the post of Deputy CM. At the moment this matter seems to be resolved, but it is difficult to say anything about it with any claim about how long it will remain resolved. The picture of Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar with Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, prima facie, suggests that the tussle over the Chief Minister’s post has been resolved, but it is also proof that the Congress, despite all the claims of change, is getting more embroiled in it. And this is the biggest challenge for the Congress.

About four and a half years ago also a similar picture had come to the fore. Then assembly elections were held in Madhya Pradesh and after 15 years the Congress was in a position to form the government. Kamal Nath was the state Congress president and Jyotiraditya Scindia was the head of the election campaign committee. Both were contenders for the post of chief minister. Like Karnataka, after several days of upheaval, the Congress high command had decided to make Kamal Nath the CM. Scindia was not happy with this decision, but agreed to persuade Rahul Gandhi. After the verdict, Rahul had tweeted the same picture with Scindia and Kamal Nath as Kharge has done today. The message of the picture was also the same as it is today – there is unity in the Congress.

What happened after this is not hidden from anyone. Kamal Nath somehow managed to pull his government for 15 months. Then Jyotiraditya Scindia left the party along with about two dozen MLAs and the Congress government fell. Scindia along with his supporters switched to BJP and Shivraj Singh Chouhan again became the Chief Minister.

What happened in Madhya Pradesh four and a half years ago and what is happening in Karnataka today indicates that nothing has changed in the Congress in all these days. From where did the country’s politics reach in four and a half years, Congress president changed, many big leaders left the party, but the way of taking decisions is still the same. The condition of factionalism in the party became worse than before. The party leadership is still equally helpless in balancing the factions. To retain power, the party takes quick decisions which backfire in the long run. Then the power goes out of hand, the party has to lose even influential leaders.

This is the biggest reason for the backwardness of the Congress in comparison to the BJP, not only in the assembly, but also in the Lok Sabha elections. In BJP, the decision of the party leadership is final. Once a decision is made, everyone is bound to follow it. Whoever gets a chair in the Congress, instead of the opposition, starts settling his rivals in the party. This is what happened in Madhya Pradesh and the same fear is hidden in this picture of Karnataka.