File photos: (Left): Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi. (PTI) (Right) Prime Minister Narendra Modi (r) meeting the former Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh and erstwhile Congress President Sonia Gandhi, in New Delhi, Nov. 27, 2015. (PIB)

The 134 year old Indian National Congress is struggling to find its feet after its second embarrassing electoral defeat and 77 days of dithering and eventual failure of the Congress Working Committee to come up with a consensual non-Gandhi president that, after Rahul Gandhi resigned from the top chair on moral grounds barely 20 months after his coronation, roped in Sonia Gandhi to don the mantle of interim President.

The choice of the Nehru-Gandhi parivaar (family/dynasty) to lead the party over a galaxy of prominent leaders—Malikarjun Kharge, Mukul Wasnik, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Captain Amrinder Singh, Kamal Nath, P. Chidambaram, Shashi Tharoor, K.C. Venugopal, Randeep Surjewala and Ahmed Patel, and young turks such as Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia, Sachin Pilot, Mukul Deora and Deependar Singh Hooda, in violation of voters’ sentiments and ethos of democracy, betrays the inability of the Congress to move beyond the Gandhi surname to keep their flock together, and substitution of processes and ideology with writ of veterans, who despite successive failures would continue with the Congress tradition of cutting stalwarts to size to keep the focus on Gandhis, thereby accentuating the loss of identity of the party, even in the face of a commanding Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), fortifying its hold on the national paradigm by successfully aligning its political language with the collective aspirations.

For Sonia, this would be her second stint, the earlier one having lasted 19 years when her party twice reigned at the center and multiple times in a bunch of states, more so on the basis of her deft maneuvering of electoral alliances rather than her party’s performance or its’ grassroots base.

Known to spring surprises, beginning with her reluctant initiation into the Congress fold, when she braved challenges to her foreign antecedence and language barrier to eventual dominance of the country’s political tarmac, this time hence her skills will be put to a never before hard test.

The magic of her stewardship will need to prevail in resuscitating the party, widely considered to be on the verge of extinction, calling for fresh organizational elections to pick a regular Congress president which critics say would either be Rahul Gandhi or Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, stitching up a viable, alternative narrative ahead of assembly elections, shoring up coordination with other opposition players and the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance), and providing a spirited, yet credible opposition to a triumphant BJP led NDA that in two months of savoring a historic electoral mandate has shot up several notches in popularity ratings on account of its fulfillment of one of its three core political promises – revocation of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K)’s special status, and bifurcation of the state.

A watershed event in post-Independence history, it left the already tottering Congress leadership stunned and threw up detractors and defectors, further propelling regional parties to draw up separate equations with the BJP.

Running like headless chickens as the Congress fumbled and floundered on the landmark bills as some leaders broke from the party line of terming the abrogation as unconstitutional to throwing their weight with the BJP in the name of national interest, as if sensing the public mood, a section fished out issues with merely the process, and one even questioned if Kashmir is an “internal matter or under the jurisdiction of the United Nations,” much to the embarrassment of the party, all of these reactions lending credence to the view that the party is anti-integration and pro-Pakistan.

Ironically, the nation is aghast at the shadowy nature of “silence of Sonia” on this vital issue and Rahul Gandhi firstly quoting “false, sensational, unverified information on situation of the Valley,” sourced from foreign based media that invited strong refutations by the Srinagar and state police who have stated that “no untoward incident has occurred, not a single bullet fired, restrictions have been lifted temporarily at select locations, Eid celebrations took place peacefully and Independence Day rehearsals are in full swing,” and then sparring with the Governor of J&K, Satya Pal Malik, by putting innumerable conditions to his acceptance of the Governor’s invite to personally observe the situation, and that which stands withdrawn as of now.

In contrast the Supreme Court has refused to intervene in the orders of the BJP-led government till normalcy is restored in the state as, since the announcement of the abrogation in the state the imposition of Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure bars the assembly of five or more people, all forms of communication have been banned, many known leaders are under detention, and heavy contingency forces have been deployed to thwart any sinister plans by jehadis and separatists with support from Pakistan.

Though, this did not prevent the likes of Shah Faesal, an ex-public servant, to incite violence against the Indian government, or Pakistan to launch a high impact cyber-warfare – spreading malicious and fake news against India’s security and integrity on Twitter, or pro-Pakistan television channels to air interviews of Pakistani senators and former Pakistan High Commissioner tarnishing the credibility of several organisations and Indian persons by labeling them as Pakistan-sympathizers, “ones who could be roped in over the Kashmir issue.”

In light of the dynamics of today’s politics, the time has arrived for the Congress to fix an exact expiration date for the Gandhis to prove their viability to the party, failing which they may as well undergo split into factions that may, perhaps, hold the germ of future political behemoths.

Here’s wishing a very happy Independence Day greetings to all our Indian readers, Jai Hind!