A column written as the Congress faced defections in several states argued that the party needs a charismatic vote-winner and a fresh identity, rather than appeals to the legacy of Jawaharlal Nehru, if it is to stop losing legislators and workers.

The erosion

The column pointed to Karnataka, where 16 Congress legislators resigned and pushed the government into crisis, and Goa, where 10 of the party’s 15 MLAs moved to the ruling BJP. It traced the trend to the 2019 Lok Sabha defeat, in which the Congress won 52 seats, only slightly better than its lowest-ever tally of 44 in 2014, after which 12 of its 18 MLAs in Telangana decided to join the ruling TRS. It said the party faced an unprecedented leadership crisis after Rahul Gandhi stepped down as president, taking responsibility for the defeat, with several general secretaries, national secretaries and state unit chiefs also quitting.

The writer compared the situation with 1997-98 under Sitaram Kesari, when the drift was halted only after Sonia Gandhi took charge in March 1998. She went on to become the first woman Leader of Opposition, rallied the opposition against the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government to win in 2004, retained power in 2009 and ran the government through Manmohan Singh for 10 years. Now, the column said, the Gandhi appeal no longer works, even with Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka all holding senior posts.

Reasons offered

• The party cannot attract voters: despite its 2018 victories in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, it kept just three of their 65 Lok Sabha seats, as the BJP, helped by the RSS, recovered within six months.
• Members who sense defeat are looking for better prospects in a growing BJP that has welcomed them. The column warned that defections could reach other states where Congress governments are fragile, including Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, and noted leaders switching to the BJP in Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand, all due to vote within months.
• Most social groups have deserted the Congress for regional parties or the BJP, and the BJP has also taken the middle class, leaving it reliant on minorities and a section of SC and ST voters.

The prescription

The column said the party’s first task is to settle its leadership question, and the next is to rebuild its identity with programmes aimed at young and aspirational voters, since invoking Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi no longer inspires them. To recover, it argued, the Congress must show that it is a credible alternative to the BJP.

What happened next

Rahul Gandhi resigned as Congress president in July 2019, and Sonia Gandhi became interim president in August 2019. Mallikarjun Kharge was elected party president in October 2022.

See also: Indian National Congress | Political leaders

Originally published on 18 July 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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