While talking to Kaushik Deka, Congress leader Ajay Maken demonstrated how the current crisis in Congress can be an opportunity for young leaders to prove themselves.
Why. Why does the Congress find itself in an existential crisis?
Undoubtedly, our election performance in the recent past has not been very encouraging. But it would be foolish for us to write. In the 2019 general election, we got 19.5% votes. How can you use the phrase “existential crisis” for the Congress when the BJP may have fallen to 18.8 percent in 2009 and returned to its current position? We are the oldest political party in the country, steeped in the traditional political style, which was quite successful at that time. But times have changed, the tools of democracy have evolved and the way of communication with voters has also changed. Personally, I think we were slower than our opponents in responding to this challenge over the past two decades. Moreover, if we look at the trends globally, the political parties with right wing ideology are winning. India cannot remain untouched.
Why. How do you see the future of Congress in the next few assembly elections and in 2024?
Whatever we have to invest to win the election, we invest. After all, it is an ideological battle. It is a quest to empower those who have been intoxicated by a totalitarian government on the strength of its majority.
Why. Many have criticized the issue of leadership in the Congress. He says that the Gandhi family is no longer relevant to the Congress. Can Congress have a non-Gandhi leader?
This question is prejudiced. Most of the Congress workers want Rahul Gandhi to be the president. Gandhians are our leaders because Congress workers have full faith in them and we believe that whatever happens, they will not compromise on the ideology of the party which really represents this great nation of ours.
“If we look at the trends globally, the political parties with right wing ideology are winning. India cannot remain untouched by such developments.
Why. What is the story of Congress getting a young voter to vote for himself?
Even if a young voter doesn’t want to delve too deeply into history, I would like to say only one thing. The Government of India under the leadership of Manmohan Singh and Narasimha Rao was exemplary. We liberalized the economy and later lifted 140 million people out of poverty. Be it the economic crisis of 1991 or the recession of 2007, we faced it. Now compare it with BJP rule. His response to inflation, price rise, rising inequality and economic uncertainty is polarization prompted by bulldozers, loudspeakers, hijabs and the Hanuman Chalisa. Polarizing the majority against the rest will have dire consequences, which the youth and future generations will suffer.
Why. The Congress hardly has young, emerging mass leaders in the states. Many of your contemporaries have left the party. Giants are well past their prime.
Adversity is the test of true leadership. Unfortunately, many of my contemporaries, whom our party recognized and developed over the years, left us to join a party with the exact opposite political outlook. However, the position we are in is an opportunity for the youth to climb the ladder.
Why. Instead of being the axis of opposition unity, the Congress is isolating the parties. Is it because of the ambition of their leaders or the arrogance of the Congress leadership, as they allege?
Parties like AAP and TMC help BJP win elections in different parts of the country. Outside their states, they contest elections to split the Congress vote.