[The (late) induction of Priynka Gandhi, who had long been considered as the trump card for the party, in the organisational structure of the Congress goes to suggest that Rahul Gandhi will strain all his nerves to maximise performance in the forthcoming parliamentary poll. He very well acknowledges what's at stake.
Quite interestingly, the BJP nominee occupying the Presidential chair has termed the opportunity to vote in the coming poll as "once-in-a-century". Is it a Freudian slip!? Or just deliberate? <<The induction of Priyanka Gandhi into the formal structure of the Congress changes the chemistry of the electoral battle. Some regional forces have been loath to recognise the unalienable fact that only coalitions built around a national party have lasted a term. It’s time for them to accept that they have to work with Congress. All parties that seek to remove Prime Minister Narendra Modi from office must show higher purpose beyond guarding their turfs and/or seeking to expand them. .. What is missing in the coalition cauldron till now is a display of trust and good faith and a slogan for the future beyond defeating Modi. Conventional wisdom has it that Rahul Gandhi cannot be posited against Modi. But we could also remember that members of this family, from Indira to Rahul, have been ridiculed till a change in political tides. We don’t know if Rahul’s moment has come, but it is his chance to think beyond dynasty and arithmetic and search for ideas with moral roots. ... If the past holds the lesson for the future then only a national party can lead a coalition that can be dressed up as an attempt at genuine federalism. The sum of state elections can in theory deliver a numerical defeat to BJP. But unless there is greater cohesion between parties it can also result in a shaky regime, leading to another election where the vanquished ultimately end up victors.>>] https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/et-commentary/take-it-higher-priyanka-gandhis-induction-indicates-congress-will-not-take-a-secondary-role-lying-down/?fbclid=IwAR3F44vLRziWlaagBANjVMJyr0RiCyvIp8ZNnLqjrpRV4bKtJ17OBax_ptQ Take it higher: Priyanka Gandhi’s induction indicates Congress will not take a secondary role lying down January 26, 2019, 2:00 AM IST Saba Naqvi in ET Commentary | Edit Page, India | TOI The induction of Priyanka Gandhi into the formal structure of the Congress changes the chemistry of the electoral battle. Some regional forces have been loath to recognise the unalienable fact that only coalitions built around a national party have lasted a term. It’s time for them to accept that they have to work with Congress. All parties that seek to remove Prime Minister Narendra Modi from office must show higher purpose beyond guarding their turfs and/or seeking to expand them. The arithmetic of SP and BSP getting together in UP was potentially impressive till the Priyanka entry revealed that Congress had no intention of abandoning the dynasty’s home state. That creates confusion for non-BJP voters in UP and it would be best for parties to do the math again. Within the state, SP-BSP are still the main opposition forces with organisational roots that Congress lacks. Yet, at the national level, there are some advantages in projecting Congress as the pivot of a coalition. First, it does not create apprehension among big business that actually thrived in the age of former Congress PM Manmohan Singh. Second, a section of the middle classes has a pathological fear of subaltern or regional leaders becoming PM. What is missing in the coalition cauldron till now is a display of trust and good faith and a slogan for the future beyond defeating Modi. Conventional wisdom has it that Rahul Gandhi cannot be posited against Modi. But we could also remember that members of this family, from Indira to Rahul, have been ridiculed till a change in political tides. We don’t know if Rahul’s moment has come, but it is his chance to think beyond dynasty and arithmetic and search for ideas with moral roots. The principle of dynasty cannot be celebrated. It is however a reality in Indian politics, extending to state parties. To balance this out in a changing society, Rahul would do well to think of the big coalition template, the unifying idea, the joint slogan. One can argue that the most representative regime is a coalition that gives real clout to the people of all of India’s regions. Cooperative federalism is a potential slogan against the idea of strong central might. Political leaders could learn from the playbook of another BJP PM, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who spoke of what he called a “coalition dharma”. A common minimum programme was thrashed out and in 1999 pre-election seat sharing arrangements with allies. Figures such as socialist and trade union leader George Fernandes were pivots of the Vajpayee NDA. The UPA-I that followed in 2004 was also a coalition that would be successful enough to get voted back in 2009; with the central party, the Congress, getting more numbers. As the socialists once did, the Left parties too took positions determined by what they saw as the national interest that was at times at odds with their turf interests. That does not appear to be happening at this stage. Parties appear to be solely committed to their self-interest. Till now Congress too has not been able to occupy the high ground in giving space to other parties. The failure of Congress and BSP to come to any arrangements in assembly polls in Karnataka and the three Hindi heartland states, leads to the question: how do the two parties share power in the future if they cannot share seats in the present? The fault-line between BSP and TMC is particularly confounding as leaders of both parties have apparent PM aspirations. The recent TMC rally in Kolkata reinforced the imagery of confusion that suits the BJP narrative. Questions arise from the acts of some regional leaders: even if TMC sweeps Bengal, how does Mamata Banerjee abandon office in her volatile state, where BJP’s constituency is growing? The Mayawati project is interesting as there is great symbolism in a Dalit woman making it to the top office. But this leads to counter mobilisation as well. If the past holds the lesson for the future then only a national party can lead a coalition that can be dressed up as an attempt at genuine federalism. The sum of state elections can in theory deliver a numerical defeat to BJP. But unless there is greater cohesion between parties it can also result in a shaky regime, leading to another election where the vanquished ultimately end up victors. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to greenyouth+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send an email to greenyouth@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
