Congress is desperate, can't look beyond Gandhis

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh's call for a major surgery in his party in the wake of its drubbing in the recent state elections has set the cat among the pigeons.

Party general secretary PC Chacko advised Singh not to raise these issues in public, but in the party forum, in an attempt to discourage others from speaking out in the open.

However, Digvijaya Singh's remarks, made during an exclusive interview with India Today TV, reflect popular sentiment within the party in favour of strong and immediate remedial steps to arrest Congress' decline.

While Digvijaya Singh was quick to emphasise the point that he was not holding either Sonia or Rahul Gandhi responsible for the party's dwindling political fortunes, but was asking them to perform the surgery and apply the corrective measure. "I've called for surgery not for changing the surgeon. Sonia Gandhi is my president. She is my leader and she must perform the surgery," said Singh.

The prevailing sentiment in Congress is one of deep concern and disquiet, bordering on desperation about the party's future. The rank and file realises that the party is in a deep crisis, the answer in their view does not mean a change in the leadership but quick and decisive reforms.

What they are looking for is a change in the functioning and not a change in the leadership. Most Congressmen realise that there is no real alternative to the Gandhis. "It will be stupid on our part to give up our biggest assets," says Mani Shankar Aiyar. His views are echoed by party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi: "We all agree there needs to be reforms. It's time to build not to talk of a leadership change," he says.

Part of the reason for that is the way the Congress party is structured, there is no alternative to the Gandhi family as far as the leadership question is concerned. 

They are the glue that keeps the party together, and that is why after every debacle, even those who talk of change, do not look beyond Priyanka Gandhi. 

Most of the senior leaders favour an early implementation of the recommendations made by the introspection committee that was set up in the wake of the 2014 debacle. 

The committee had recommended regular organisational elections, early distribution of tickets, both for parliamentary and for Assembly elections. It had also called for empowering state leaders and inducting fresh blood at all levels of the party.