RUMBLE IN CONG
   Date :15-Feb-2020

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THE Congress party’s ‘zero to zero’ journey in Delhi Assembly elections has left the internal split wide open. Voices of dissent against leadership and calls for total overhaul by senior members are indicators of a storm brewing within the Grand Old Party. By calling the Delhi debacle as an unmitigated disaster like coronavirus, former Union Minister Mr. Jairam Ramesh has nailed the present condition of Congress which is undoubtedly staring at irrelevance. Lack of ideas and shorn of a concrete ideology, the Congress party is sailing like a rudderless ship despite gains in some States. Delhi’s performance was an abject failure of the central leadership under interim chief Ms. Sonia Gandhi. The party was a reluctant starter, throwing in the towel even before the fight began. As General Secretary Mr. Jyotiraditya Scindia has been urging the think-tank, Congress needs to go beyond ‘the family’ and begin with a new thinking. Obstinacy of the old guard is a good idea in a show of loyalty but for a national future it is necessary for the Congress party to wake up to the reality.

SEEKING DETAILS
BY ASKING all political parties to upload details of pending criminal cases against candidates contesting elections on their website, the Supreme Court has made a landmark decision that will serve India’s electoral process in a healthy way. Issue of criminalisation of politics has been lingering for long in need of a logical solution. Criminal antecedents of candidates must be in public knowledge as it becomes a major factor for voters to make their own choice while electing their representatives. Making public all details regarding criminal cases will only help in strengthening the electoral democratic process as voters will get a chance to ponder over “all factors” related to the candidates in fray. One area of caution while making public all criminal cases of a candidate is verifying the authenticity of some cases that are filed merely out of political vendetta with an idea to malign an opponent’s image. A clear distinction between cases to be made public by political parties would add credibility to the entire exercise and also help voters.