Is the great disintegration upon Congress?

Senior Congress leaders feel much of the organisational problems stem from Rahul Gandhi’s reluctance to officially lead the party. Rahul, according to them, is having his say and preference in every organisational appointment, yet he is unwilling to own them up.

Even as the Grand Old Party gears up to celebrate its 137th foundation day on December 28, hiccups and disquiet have gained momentum. The big question doing the rounds at 24, Akbar Road is whether “Janatadalisation” of the Congress would begin. The reference to ‘Janadatalisation’ is how the erstwhile Janata Party and Janata Dal split into dozens of splinter groups between 1977 and 1991. While some regional players like the Samajwadi Party and the RJD emerged as powerful breakaway factions, the parent organisations faded into oblivion.

The Congress story is not as dismal yet. However, Harish Rawat’s distress call, Ghulam Nabi Azad’s attempts to emerge as a key player in Jammu and Kashmir [without the official party support] and Captain Amarinder Singh’s move to float a new ‘Punjab Lok Congress’ indicate that it is just a matter of time before ‘A, B, C, D’ of Congress disintegration kicks off with each breakaway group, much like Trinamool, NCP, and YSR Congress, using the ‘Congress’ tagline.