Sigh, the INDIA alliance party seems over even before it started. It reminds me of a friend in school. He had got his parent’s permission to do a house party. Over the next few weeks, he planned the whole thing – music, food, decorations, invites – to make it the best party ever. Unfortunately, one week before the party, we had a class test in school. My friend did badly, and came last in class. That’s it, his parents withdrew permission for the party. The party was over even before it started.
The same seems to have happened to the grand INDIA alliance, with its main partner Congress getting a beating at the recent assembly elections. The party is over even before it started.
Contrast this to barely a few months ago, when there was excitement in the opposition. The Congress had won Karnataka assembly election, defeating the BJP. The opposition came together, and gave themselves an acronym called INDIA. Masterstoke! The clever wordplay itself was seen as some sort of victory. As if naming yourself INDIA meant you won India! One wonders why they didn’t name themselves WORLD or THE SOLAR SYSTEM. Anyway, the INDIA name recieved some traction. Group photographs of various party leaders on stage followed. With so many people, it resembled a class photograph, though without the school uniforms. Surely so many people coming together will cause a major dent to the BJP and the NDA alliance, many thought. Next, the INDIA alliance boycotted 14 TV news anchors. That trended for a while and kept them in the news. Opinion polls for the upcoming assembly elections in the North showed the Congress winning several of the states.
Momentum, breeze, wind, storm, wave – was it finally happening for the Congress and INDIA? Elite supporters of the opposition alliance on X began premature celebrations.
Congress bolstered its social media game. They finally figured out clever memes. The INDIA grouping said the BJP is on the defensive, particularly when heavy BJP stalwarts arrived in the Northern states for the assembly elections.
MP, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh – there was a good chance Congress would win them all. Credit was already being given to the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Sadly, it all came to a grinding halt. The BJP put the brakes on these opposition dreams, by winning not one, not two but three out of the three northern states. BJP won where it was already in power. It won where it was not in power. Congress had no excuse. The Congress did win Telangana, but its these big Northern states that decide the game for the Lok Sabha elections. Even in Telangana, the BJP improved its seat count and vote shares, results of which will be seen in the coming years.
Typically, when this happens, there is a predictable plethora of columns giving advice to the Congress (yours truly is also guilty as charged, have done 5 advice to congress columns in the past!). After Crypto, stock market trading and dropshipping courses probably the most popular course online is ‘Lessons for the Congress.’
Hence, this column will not add to the already flooded unwanted advice for the Congress. For it is not the paucity of advice or lack of clever strategy that is making the Congress lose again and again. The Congress has all this knowledge. However, rhe BJP and its leadership has something else that Congress doesn’t. It’s called junoon, or passion. This is what gives the hunger, drive, grit and hustle that one needs to outcompete others. The Congress leadership just doesn’t have that strong a junoon. Where every election, every rally and every polling booth is important. Where the planning is for the future, not just the immediate gratification or victory. Where the right advice is taken, no matter how difficult it is to execute. Didn’t the entire country tried to tell Congress to make Sachin Pilot and Madhav Rao Scindia the CMs of Rajasthan and MP respectively in 2018, when Congress won those states? Had they had managed these two leaders better in 2018, don’t you think the results could have been different in 2023? But no, the Congress felt it knew it all. It just didn’t bother to connect with the masses, where the youth wanted a younger leader as CM.
The Congress is happy with less. It is happy to have some elite support on social media, some praise in English from English speaking people and an occasional state victory here and there. All this is enough to whet its appetite.
Quite unlike the BJP, which has quintessential, omnipresent hunger for every election.
Hence, there’s absoutely no more election winning advice for the Congress and the INDIA alliance. The Congress and INDIA alliance are beyond advice now. They are perfect. The only suggestion is to learn to enjoy life. Make the most of being in the opposition. Develop productive hobbies. Get into fitness, look after yourself. Do cardio and strength training. Watch some good shows on OTT platforms, listen to podcasts and read good books. Travel. Eat good food. Fall in love. Look after your family. Keep making the memes. Impress the elite. Learn to be content and be happy with less. There’s more to life than winning a general election. Winning is kind of overrated anyway. Meanwhile, let the other side win the elections and run the nation. You just enjoy the ride!