I come from a family of Congress supporters; today I feel betrayed

I grew up in a family that had been loyal to the Congress through two generations. I remember how my grandfather cast his vote diligently in favour of the party till he was 83. We lived in Assam, which has had the Grand Old Party ruling the state for the longest time.

To touch upon the history briefly, Congress ruled in Assam from the early 1950s to the late 1970s consecutively, until Golap Borbora of the Janta Party became the first non-Congress chief minister in 1977, and remained in power for barely two years until the state witnessed its first brush with President’s Rule in 1979, in the aftermath of the Assam Movement against illegal immigrants.

Barring two tenures by the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP)-led coalition - first, from 1985 to 1989, and then, from 1996 to 2001 - Congress continued to rule the state as the single largest party. This was until this year (2016) when the BJP came to power for the first time in the state, under the leadership of Himanta Biswa Sarma. 

My grandfather was a die-hard Congress supporter and stood for the Gandhi family in any political argument, as passionately as he’d speak in favour of the East Bengal team playing against Mohammedan Sporting in a football match.

I remember how he’d emerge out of the polling booth and quickly signal to his family to vote for his favourite party by flashing his palm at them.

If the Congress-nominated candidate he had voted for lost the election, he'd begin by accusing every family member of dissent, and then curse the whole constituency of turning blind to the custodians of secularism and democracy, the party of the marginalised and the common man. 

On certain occasions, we also saw him going to bed without eating anything due to sheer disappointment. Such was his loyalty. While people living in Assam continued to suffer from corruption and misgovernance, our family, unfazed by the noise around anti-incumbency, continued to vote for the Congress.

My grandfather passed away in 2005 but the legacy of voting for the Congress continued. My family remained a Congress supporter until 2014 when they realised they were done with the party. How long could they be manipulated by a surname?

The 2014 Lok Sabha verdict made the Congress significantly insignificant in the political map of this country. Obviously, the age-old supporters had decided to shun their love for the party in order to usher in development and progress.

With elections scheduled in five states next year (2017), including Uttar Pradesh, the Congress appears busier than its competitors. Sadly enough, from the patent road shows to kisan sabhas, the Congress hasn't planned anything extraordinary to clinch the state verdict this time around. And UP is supposed to be the most ambitious bet for the party. 

This time, the Congress looks fiercely desperate to win the UP battle. Sadly, their poll strategists could at best belt out another predictable election slogan "27 Saal UP Behaal". The slogan itself prompts an obvious question: the Congress has been in power at the Centre for the longest time. What good has it done for the nation? 

Therefore, what appears is that the Congress hasn't learnt anything from its mistakes. 

As someone who still sees tremendous potential in the Congress, I have three suggestions for the party to save itself from meeting an untimely demise: 

Make Congress a party of youth and not the Gandhis

It is high time the party dropped its image of promoting dynastic politics. By making the three Gandhis the faces of the party, the Congress has projected itself as a party of the "first family".

Why can't the party pick five young national leaders as its torchbearers and project them as the future leaders of the country? Sachin Pilot, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jitin Prasada, Naveen Jindal, to name a few, can be the poster boys of the party.

Identify local leaders

In the recently held 2016 Assembly elections, the Congress lost all states except Puducherry. The reason behind the dismal performance was the absence of strong leaders at the regional level.

For instance, the party high command's love affair with former Assam CM Tarun Gogoi lasted so long that young leaders within the party felt demoralised.

Former Congress leader Himanta Sharma joined the BJP and registered a historic win. Had the party identified Sarma as a potential leader, the story could have been different.

By nominating Sheila Dikshit as the CM candidate in UP, the party seems to be going down the same road again. Though Sheila is known to be a highly successful CM, her introduction to UP's political landscape looks forced.

The party must sincerely identify, mentor and nurture leaders at the regional level in order to turn its fortunes in states.

Communicate effectively. Use social media

In the era of digital media, the Congress has strangely been reclusive and never communicated with the masses effectively. A closer look at the party's Facebook page makes it appear like an RSS-bashing platform. Where is the dialogue happening with the masses?

The party has to take cues from the BJP and the manner in which they clinched the deal in 2014, by not just being present on social media but being in constant touch with the masses. It is never too late to learn from ones competitors.

No Congress supporter ever imagined that the party will land up where it is at present. It took several decades before the party finally paid the price for its aloofness and complacency, leading to a total disconnect with the common man. How hard is it for party strategists to identify the gaps, find remedies and begin fixing them?

Or is it that the leadership has already accepted its fate and made peace with the fact that the Congress is finally withering away from the political landscape of the country, and subsequently from the hearts of those who believed in the party, just the way my grandfather did?

Also read: Why Congress is declining