Can Congress survive without dynastic leadership?

Can Congress survive without dynastic leadership?


Talk about Congress and it is like you are talking about the Nehru-Gandhi family. Yes, Nehru-Gandhi family and Congress talks goes together. People cannot imagine Congress without dynasty. However, time is changing. In this election, dynasty has crumbled. The 44 seats tally in General elections 2014 has raised the questions on the continuity of dynasty. Do you think Congress can survive without dynastic leadership?

Yes

• Congress doesn’t needs any dynasty support if it can look out for the right people to join its party.

• It is the people who have the power to change the structure of party. People form party, not party forms people.

• The past as well as present shows that the political parties who fail to keep pace with change set themselves for defeat. Congress was no exception.

• Congress was not the dynastic party from the start. It became a dynastic party when Indira Gandhi defeated Morarji Desai in internal elections. Before that time also, Congress survived.

• Congress failed to connect with the youth of India and that is the main reason why it lost in General Elections 2014.

No

• It is the Nehru-Gandhi family that has always stayed the lifeline of the Congress Party. It is the base of the Congress party.

• People cannot foresee the Congress party without the Nehru-Gandhi leadership as they were the ones who initiated a change in society.

• The past reflects that it was Indira Gandhi who brought the stability back into the Congress Party after his father’s death.

• Congress tried to appoint non-dynastic leaders like Narasimha Rao for the main leadership position. But instead of working in favor of party, it started to give place to the inner rivalries in the party.

• Nehru-Gandhi dynasty is the Congress umbrella identity. Snatch away the identity and it will be worse than the regional parties.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that Congress is known for its dynastic politics. But sometime it has to change. Congress is one of the biggest political party of India and it need to maintain its strength. A democratic country works well only when there is an equal and powerful opposition party. The need is to understand the weakness in its internal structure and come up with strong measures to heal the old wounds.
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    Discussion

  • RE: Can Congress survive without dynastic leadership? -Deepa Kaushik (05/28/14)
  • Rather than visualising Congress from the point of view of its members, if we try to perceive from the nation’s point of view; what we require today is an effective leadership. The congress needs a leader who could bind the party and its allies and impart the trust factor within the party members and its supporters.

    Be it the Gandhi-Nehru family or someone else, India is in need of effective corruption-less governance with effective policies. This could be possible only if Congress wins with majority without taking the support of the small regional parties. All this needs a good commanding and impressive leader who could portray the image of the party as a whole.

    The dynastic leadership has already shown its colours in the General Elections. If at all Congress wants to have the dynastic leadership, they need to wait for some more time, till the young Gandhi becomes a good player in the field of politics. There is no short-cut for the dynastic leadership, rather than the waiting time. Either Congress should hold its power with some good leader forthcoming and controlling the party or should remain out of the polls till their juniors get enough trained.

    To be precise, Congress can definitely survive without dynastic leadership, but the ball remains in their court whether they need the power for the party or the dynastic leadership.