Congress must look at own history to address current ideological vacuum | The Indian Express

Congress must look at own history to address current ideological vacuum | The Indian Express

Written by Vanya Vaidehi Bhargav |Updated: June 24, 2019 7:55:27 am

The writer has a D.Phil in history from Oxford University. Her dissertation was on Lajpat Rai’s nationalist thought

Congress must look at own history to address current ideological vacuum

Undoubtedly, one major reason behind the Congress’ recent electoral defeat was its inability to communicate sincerely and coherently its nationalist ideology to voters, leave alone getting them to emotionally connect with it.

Today’s Congress appears to have forgotten what its core values were, and why they are still worth defending.

One can sympathise with the conundrum faced by the Congress after its resounding defeat. To meet the sticky charge of dynasticism, Rahul Gandhi must go, it is felt, but ejecting the family will remove the “glue” that holds its myriad factions together. Yet, the Congress needs to ask why it needs the family to hold it together in the first place. Does this not reflect an ideological vacuum? Rahul Gandhi claimed that he fought an ideological battle. A certain ideology crafted by leaders of our freedom struggle was indeed defended in the campaign. But not nearly strongly enough. The Congress failed its own history, its ideals, and ultimately the Indian nation. For this, it must assume responsibility.