Can Bharat Jodo Yatra revive Congress in Assam?

By the time this piece is published, the Congress party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra (BJY) in Assam would be passing through Guwahati. While Mr Rahul Gandhi marches onwards to Kashmir, many Congress units of states that do not lie in his route are organising their own marches. The Assam Congress’ Yatra could also be seen as part of such an effort. Not only Assam, but the former Congress president’s march leaves out the entire north-east.

 

Like Mr Gandhi, the Assam Congress’ Yatra reiterates the charges of pursuing communally divisive politics and failure to control prices against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. And by doing so, the party hopes to be able to rebuild its rapport with the people of Assam.  

 

While much is being talked about the main BJY, how far can the on-going march in the state help the state congress to revive its fortunes?

 

Just looking at the Yatra’s roadmap reveals one of its first shortcomings. For a programme that aims to reclaim India’s unity, the route through which Assam Congress would march leaves one wanting more.

 

All the 6^th schedule regions of Assam – Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) and the three hill districts are left out and so is the Barak Valley. Either by design or incidentally, what this implies is that those very regions that bear a legacy of having a fraught relationship either with the Indian state or Assam have been ignored. While the autonomous district regions have a history of separatist politics, the latter has been the site of lingering linguistic tensions.

 

The Yatra would have acquired greater symbolic relevance for Assam’s masses if the state Congress could weave its message of unity, harmony and fraternity into an appeal for preserving and celebrating the composite character of the state by travelling to its diverse cultural regions. But it is bewildering that such a possibility did not occur to the organisers.

 

Politically as well, the Congress’s electoral prowess has severely eroded in those regions. A cursory glance through the state electoral history reveals how the party’s popularity has dwindled in those stretches leading ultimately to its rout in 2021 assembly elections. As such, the Yatra could have been used by the state Congress to rebuild its traction in those stretches.

 

Another region where the march would not spend much time is Assam’s North Bank. This is inspite of Congress putting up one of its poorest performances in that region during the last assembly elections. Not just that. The region also housed a few constituencies of the Deori Autonomous Council (DAC) elections that recently went to polls.  

 

This brings up another issue. One of the ways in which BJP could deepen its grip over Assam, especially so far as the tribal regions are concerned, is by gaining control of the various autonomous councils in the state. Over the years, the Congress has been pushed out of these bodies one after another.  

 

Instead of creatively using the Yatra to put up a vigorous campaign that sought to recover some lost ground, the state Congress leadership almost gave up on the polls. Despite the DAC also covering part of his own constituency, even the state party president did not campaign for the polls. Other senior leaders also hardly devoted much time to the campaign.

 

  The state leadership could have easily scheduled the rally after the elections. Undertaking two massive political programmes parallelly, in two different ends of the state, has only put further pressure on the party’s already strained human and financial resources. Nothwithstanding such considerations, the leaderships’ enthusiasm for the rally also reflects how it struggles to set its political priorities in order. But what else could be expected from the state leaders?  After all Mr Gandhi also found it more worthwhile to continue with the Yatra instead of turning up to campaign in the crucial Himachal Pradesh polls and is still unsure about heading to Gujarat.

 

 

Also, if the Congress wants to revive its fortunes in Assam, it would need a much more powerful narrative than the Yatra’ shackneyed rhetoric of secularism and economic well-being.

 

And one of the crucial ways by which the party can evolve such a narrative is by forging a new cultural politics. That would be its best bet if the Assam Congress has to step out the political whirlpool it finds itself in. While its overtures to Bengali Muslim backed All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) triggered a backlash from Assamese Hindus, on its own it cannot hope that Muslims, who are influential in about two dozen seats would consolidate behind it. At the same time, without broad Muslim support it cannot hope to achieve political wonders in the state because growing polarisation mean Assamese Hindus are also unlikely to consolidate behind it, atleast over the short-term. At the same time, by way of adopting a hard line Assamese centric stand during anti-CAA protests, it has alienated Bengali Hindus while at the same time, the party has hardly anything attractive to offer to tribal minorities.

 

To forge the kind of cross-cutting social coalition that can bring back all of these groups into its fold, Assam Congress would therefore need a much more imaginative narrative. For it has to be able to reconcile deep-seated anxieties that many of these communities have for each other and pave the way for creatively evolving a different genre of identity politics.

 

If Assam Congress’ troubles appear to be complex, then the Yatra seems to adopt quite a surface level approach towards their treatment. In other words, it is doubtful how far its messaging would be able to either bend entrenched attitudes or win hearts?

 

Finally, the Yatra distracts focus from the organisational crisis that Congress faces in Assam. In many ways, this is one of the main sources of Congress problems, not just in Assam but across the country.

 

In the last few years, while the BJP has expanded its network in Assam upto the booths, the Congress grassroots organisation has been rampantly eroding. District Congress bodies as well as the various frontal organisations also appear to have lost vigour and fresh thinking and are engulfed in factional fights most of the time. At the same time, the state committee, instead of reconciling these challenges and leading from the front itself appears indecisive and divided. With an unwieldy state committee that comprises over three-dozen functionaries, led in turn by a president and multiple working presidents and the attendant factionalism and sycophancy it fosters, this is just what can be expected. Add to this, the quite believable allegations of compromises made while distributing tickets and a more complete picture emerges regarding the colossal organisational challenges confronting the Assam Congress.  

 

The next Lok Sabha elections are due in around two years. As such, the Assam Congress could have perhaps made better use of time by focusing on these tangible organisational issues instead of devoting so much of its energies to the Yatra. For as shown above, neither does it have a strong symbolic appeal, nor is it present in regions where the party needs the most attention or does it help evolve a more imaginative politics. Assam Congress’ Yatra thus scores not very satisfactorily in most of the counts for which political parties generally undertake such outreach programmes.

 

The writer is a doctoral student at the Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University.