As opinion polls predict the Congress party crashing to an all-time low in terms of Lok Sabha seats, a lot of party leaders must be asking themselves whether they could have done anything differently.
They may have yet been able to counter BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. A look at some of them…
1. Made Manmohan the fall guy: If Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is the king of 2009, then he is the pauper of 2014. But what if they had forced him to resign in 2012-13 and got in a fresh face?
What if they had made Manmohan Singh the President and Pranab Mukherjee the Prime Minister? Then what if they had gone ahead and sidelined all the tainted ministers and at least announced token probes into all the scams.
So with a retired Manmohan as President and an earnest Pranabda as PM, the ire of the masses could have assuaged somewhat.
There would not have been much of an anti-incumbency wave and it would be still possible to have a UPA3 backed by the Third Front.
If this had happened then maybe the Modi wave wouldn’t have taken off or wouldn’t have lasted for 2-3 years increase the government fell and snap polls took place in 2016-17. Of course this couldn’t happen because the Congress’ worst kept secret is that it’s all about the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty and nothing else.
However what if they had made Rahul Gandhi Prime Minister in 2013? Would he have fared worse than he is faring now? Would have made a difference had he announced token reforms and probes into scams.
History has shown that the electorate has been extremely forgiving when it comes to the Congress.
( Continued...)
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrives to cast his vote for Lok Sabha polls at Dispur in Assam
Image: PTI
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