The Congress’s inexplicable lethargy over the presidential poll

It is the opposition’s chance to show cohesion and ideological clarity

At the Congress party’s brainstorming session in Udaipur over the weekend, Rahul Gandhi created a flutter by suggesting that regional parties do not have the ideological clarity to take on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Janata Dal (Secular) in Karnataka has already reacted in strong words to Mr. Gandhi’s statement. But it is not as if India’s grand old party has shown any initiative in illustrating his remarks by action even though the perfect opportunity is already here: the five-yearly presidential election.

With just over two months to go for President Ram Nath Kovind’s term to end, it is a given that the BJP has the numbers in the electoral college to call the shots. It has enough legislators in Parliament and the State Assemblies as well as those of allies and friendly parties to install its candidate in Rashtrapati Bhawan, whether it be Mr. Kovind for a second term or someone else.

What is surprising is the lack of mobilisation by the Congress. It, of course, has little or no chance of getting its candidate to the top job. But traditionally, the presidential contest has been seen as a chance by the main opposition to make a political statement by its choice of candidate and to demonstrate its capacity to unite other parties around its narrative. Therefore, it is not the result but the fight itself that will matter. Opposition unity (or the lack of it) and the candidate will decide the intensity of the ideological battle and the contours of this contest.

It will not be easy for the Congress. Key opposition parties — especially the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), each for its own reasons — are not ready to let the Congress take the lead.

Threatened by the BJP’s expansion in Telangana, the TRS has only belatedly joined the opposition bloc. (In 2017, the TRS had supported the BJP nominee.) And now that it has taken a more strident stance against the BJP, TRS chief and Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao wants a bigger role for himself.

The TMC has repeatedly argued that in the last eight years the Congress has not registered a victory of similar proportions against the BJP as it did in West Bengal in May 2021. And therefore, the TMC feels it deserves to occupy a more prominent opposition spot than the Congress currently concedes.

The AAP has not declared any such ambitions. It is not particularly enthused by the battle of ideas since it will barely have any impact on its voter. Regardless, it would be happy to support the idea of a non-Congress-led opposition forum. For long the Congress has kept the AAP out of the opposition equations, often not inviting its leaders for opposition meetings. The reason is obvious: the AAP’s successes have come at the cost of the Congress in Delhi and now Punjab.