At the foundation day ceremony of the Indian National Congress toward the end of December last year, party president Mallikarjun Kharge asserted that the Congress, as an ideology, would never die. At the same function, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi described the Congress as “the voice of India’s soul,” a force historically aligned with the weak, deprived and hardworking sections of society.
These were powerful declarations and in many ways response to a discomforting truth that veteran leader Digvijaya Singh had recently articulated. Singh, speaking both on social media and later in the Congress Working Committee, suggested that the party could emulate the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in rebuilding its organisation. His remarks came at a time of repeated electoral setbacks, the latest being the rout in Bihar, which once again laid bare the feeble organisational skeleton of the party.
Kharge may be right that ideologies do not die easily. But political parties do. The lesson from the decline of the Left is stark. When ideas lose organisational muscle, they retreat into classrooms. If Congress wants to remain more than a chapter in history books, it must move beyond nostalgia and moral posturing and begin the slow, disciplined work of rebuilding from the ground up.
A section within the party now believes that slogans, roadshows and moral assertions are no substitute for deep structural rebuilding. Rahul Gandhi’s high-decibel campaign around “vote chori” may energise supporters online, but elections are won by booth strength, local credibility, trained volunteers and sustained contact with voters. Bihar exposed precisely what Congress lacks, presence on the ground.
This is not a new diagnosis. In 1998, when Digvijaya Singh was Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, the Pachmarhi session had already identified core problems that the party had lost its social base in North India, coalitions were becoming inevitable, and Congress was failing to attract ambitious youth and competent professionals. More than Twenty-five years on, little has changed. If anything, the gaps have widened.
Unlike the BJP, Congress today lacks a cultural, social and economic ecosystem that nurtures loyalty and produces leaders organically. The RSS has built schools, shakhas, training centres, service organisations, ideological forums and disciplined cadres for nearly a century. It did not contest elections but created a parallel civic and cultural universe. The BJP benefits from this reservoir.
If political rivals have developed a successful model, there should be no shame in learning from it. Ideology alone will not sustain Congress. Marxism lives in textbooks, but Left parties have nearly vanished from the Indian political map. Congress risks a similar fate if it remains content with rhetoric.
No election is won at television studios or through social media hashtags. The BJP invests systematically in booth workers, page in-charges and micro-level databases. Congress requires a simple, disciplined structure of committed volunteer responsible for every 50–60 households, trained in voter outreach, grievance recording, and mobilisation. This means long-term training, not temporary election-time contract workers.
Many Congress workers are unable to articulate what the party stands for beyond generic secularism. The RSS trains cadres through study circles, camps and literature. Congress, too, needs schools of political training, not to create blind loyalty, but to create informed leadership grounded in constitutionalism, social justice and democratic values. Without conviction, organisation becomes hollow.
Congress historically built its coalition around farmers, workers, lower middle classes and minorities. Today, it appears unsure of its economic message. Programs that speak to jobs, MSMEs, urban housing, farmer income stability and welfare delivery reforms must be sharpened and explained by local leaders. A party that does not speak concretely to aspiration loses relevance.
Youth Congress and the students body NSUI have weakened drastically. Younger faces are often used only for optics and discarded when they threaten existing hierarchies. Congress must create clear ladders of progression from campus to higher levels. Regular internal elections, transparent criteria and mentorship programs would allow talent to emerge organically.
Congress historically thrived when it connected with social reformers, cooperatives, trade unions, farmer groups and cultural associations. Re-establishing relationships with grassroots movements on issues of environment, labour rights, women’s safety, digital privacy, and education can help re-anchor the party in everyday life, beyond election season.
In the era of social media, narratives do matter. Congress often reacts instead of setting the agenda. It needs disciplined spokespersons, region-specific messaging, and a research backbone that anticipates attacks rather than merely responding. Equally important is communicating success where Congress governs as visible governance builds credibility
The BJP’s rise took decades (including the era of its predecessor Bharatiya Jana Sangh). The RSS invested quietly, without instant electoral returns. Congress, accustomed to power, still looks for shortcuts. Organisational rebuilding requires a social infrastructure outside the political party. They did exist in Congress universe once but now all in a state of decay.
(Sidharth Mishra is an author, academician and president of the Centre for Reforms, Development & Justice)
