They have been pursuing this tactics notwithstanding the Rahul model, which has proved to be a flop. Congress has faced with serious reverses during his stewardship. It is also a bare fact that the euphoria created around Rahul’s model and his charisma has already died down. It failed to have a lasting impact on the party. Even the younger leaders in the state are no more hopeful of revival of the party under his leadership. No doubt the Congress drew a blank in as many as 19 states and union territories in the Lok Sabha election steered by Rahul, the situation was worst in Bihar.

The Congress, which earlier had 9 legislators in the assembly, could win only 5 seats in 2010 after implementation of Rahul model. The organization is virtually in a moribund state. But these ebullient middle rank leaders continue to project him as a leader better than Sonia. There is no denying the fact that arrival of Rahul on the political scenario has predictably given rise to enthusiasm amongst the rank and file. The local cadres and leaders nursed the belief that the party was headed for better times. The youths of the state who had earlier shunned the party responded to their young leader. But soon this euphoria evaporated. The party was back to the square.

What happened during the first-phase of the ‘Kisan-Mazdoor Nyay Yatra,’ set off from Bodh Gaya on March 20 and concluded in Patna with former Union Minister and senior party leader Jairam Ramesh joining it, simply exposed the façade of Rahul’s reforms and promoting leaders of younger generation. Congress leaders participating in the march were attacked by some disgruntled party workers at Makhdumpur, en route Patna, which left at least six of them injured. The cadres were unhappy over the organizational restructuring and changes by the state president Ashok Chaudhury.

Earlier the leadership had given out that the second phase would begin in the second week of April. The padayatra, named “Buddha to Gandhi” March, is supposed to cover a distance of 350 km. But so far no apparent initiative is noticed. In fact a delegation of 24 party leaders instead of calling on Rahul Gandhi, met party president and registered protest against. Chaudhury, a Rahul protégé. The differences in fact had surfaced on the occasion of Holi, when two groups came to blows at the State party headquarters.

The acrimony prevailing in the party obviously had an adverse impact on the mission of the yatra which was organised to highlight the Modi government’s attempt to make changes in the clauses of Land Acquisition Bill “to favour the corporate houses” and curtailment of funds in UPA’s flagship MNREGA programme. The party miserably failed to reach out to its target groups, the peasants and the agricultural labourers. It also could not lift the sagging morale of party leaders and workers.

Choudhury’s actions might have been showing the flickers of rejuvenating the party but the fact remains that it could not even consolidate the initial gains. In initial years Rahul had received hero’s ovation from the same people who were earlier not ready to look beyond Lalu Prasad-Nitish Kumar-Ram Vilas Paswan. But now this new crop of cadres and leaders are nowhere to be seen. The leadership needs to answer: Where they vanished? What had happened to them?

Factionalism and infighting are the old malaises that inflict the party. Rahul’s ascendance had given rise to new hope that a moribund organisation can get back into shape if it has a sincere leader to look up to. But it proved to be too short. Still, the party does not appear to have learnt from its past mistakes. It remains plagued with rampant factionalism and bitter infighting, with nobody showing any serious intent to rebuild it. In the past 25 years when the party allowed itself to be dictated and dominated by Lalu, Congress leaders lost political will to assert and remained content playing second fiddle.

As partner of the coalition government headed by Lalu Yadav’s wife Rabri Devi, no Congress leader ever dared to question Lalu over any of his decisions. It is a sad political commentary that the party which ruled the state for several decades, is now reduced to a five-member team in the 243-member state assembly. It cannot walk without a backward-caste crutch.

It is great irony that the Congress had to put up with such humiliation in Bihar. This situation primarily owes to failure of the Congress leaders to hold on to the party’s mass base and more than that to identify with the aspirations of the rural proletariat, the base of the party. The Congress leadership only allowed a spineless leader to emerge in the state and literally perform the task of the manager of an estate. In absence of a capable peoples’ leader Congress had lost its roots not only in Bihar but in the entire cow belt. Absence of a true popular leader witnessed a shift in the support base too. The traditional vote banks of the Congress which covered the Muslims and the Dalits had gone to RJD.

During these years the Congress leadership did not nurse a leader who can lead the party and catapult it as phoenix. The state leaders were satisfied with the freebies they received from Lalu and now Nitish. Rahul must understand that his half-baked notions and ideas are not going to resurrect the Congress. He had to unleash the forces of social change. It does not require the party to be in power. One thing political aspect ought to be analysed seriously. The dalits and Muslims though had shifted their allegiance to Nitish and Lalu, the fact remains that they are still untapped social forces. The way both the leaders have been desperately striving to reach out to them and win them over to their sides makes it clear that these sections are looking for their true savior. What is significant is that they have not converted to Hindutva. They still believe in secularism. Unfortunately the secular forces like RJD, JD(U) and Congress have left them at the crossroad. Interestingly Lalu Yadav had usurped the role of the Congress as the saviour of the Muslims. But even the Muslims know that it is a façade. Nevertheless for their survival they rallied behind him.

Its alliance with the RJD dealt a huge blow to its attempts to regain its past stature in the state politics. It was often dismissed as an ally of the RJD. Though it made a valiant bid to contest the polls on its own in later years, it could never make the electorate believe that it was capable of forming its own government. At no stage Rahul tried to seriously address the poor. People have ceased to look at the Congress as an independent political identity. The party needs to weigh its options with caution. If it is really serious about regaining its lost political glory and make a comeback it must reach out to the rural poor and downtrodden who still perceive it as their savior.

The middle level leaders instead of splitting the party on mother-son loyalty line should strive to identify the Congress with the aspirations of the people. In a globalised India this has acquired a complicated character. While the Congress needs the burgeoning middle class, it cannot dump the rural poor. If Rahul really intends to emerge as the future leader he should have to do the balancing act. The fact cannot be denied that it is he who had alienated the urban middle class and forced them to court the BJP. A supposedly ubiquitous approach would not do good to the party.

The real issue before the party leadership ought to be how to repair the damage that has been inflicted on it by the electorate. Little doubt the Congress top brass has failed the party. Rahul’s obsession with 'internal democracy' has simply harmed the party. Unfortunately the Grand Old Party is facing its worst-ever crisis and there is possibility in vision that the dictum of democratisation will help the party in near future. The middle level leaders should be more pragmatic than pursuing the policy of sycophancy.

Ten years of Rahul’s experiment with the IYC and NSUI has not produced a single leader of national or state stature who could claim to lead the party. The earlier Rahul learns the intricacies and collateral implications of the class politics, it is better for the Congress. (IPA Service)