Congress ought to be reborn to meet newer challenges

History is going to repeat itself. The situation in India is if not similar but closer to the political       scenario of the seventies when anti Congressism was the trend of that turbulent period. The only difference is in the seventies unemployment and corruption were the main issues whereas today the main issues are price rise and corruption. Corruption has been a common issue from the day we got our freedom from the British rule. And sadly, Congress has been seen synonymous to  corruption. The present crisis of the central govt. stems from the very fact that the year 2011 has been the year of major expose on corruption in which the judiciary has played a pro-active role without which it would have been difficult to expose the high level of corruption in the govt. machinery. An average citizen feels bewildered at the magnitude of corruption levels at the top level but fails to see the strong link between corruption and the price rise which is hitting the common man the hardest. If we analyze the cause for this state of affairs we may find the root cause in the basic structure of the Indian National Congress which has ruled the country for at least forty five years or more. So, quite naturally the people put the major blame on the Congress for the corruption which has been institutionalized in the country. Anti Congressism stems from this very fact although my Congress people may  not agree. So, there should be a basic rethinking in the party if it has to play a positive role in the development of the country. The challenges before the country is enormous and our capacity lacking in most of the directions. The coming millennium is going to be that of Asia no doubt,  but are we prepared to face the challenges which this new opportunity offers us? China is fast ahead of us and has been able to surpass us in economic as well as defense preparedness. Billions of rupees are being swindled by the wily politicians and the common people are deprived of the bare necessities of life. Elections are fought on the basis of caste and religious feelings with the might of money and muscle power. The Congress  governments at the center and the states have done little to mitigate the suffering of the common people. Hence the need of the hour is for the Indian National Congress to go in for a deeper and objective introspection as to what went wrong with the governance which has led to this state of things. Actually, the ruling party at the center should muster the courage to accept the truth without any bias and then come with a concrete plan to face the challenges lest it be too late.  In fact the main malaise in the Congress and its other offshoots like the NCP is that the parties are filled with sycophants who are using the party’s platform to garner rich harvest. They have little faith in the ideology which the party professed even during Late Sm. Indira Gandhi’s time. Although she too was surrounded by sycophants like late Dev Kant Barooah and so on but her vision and strong determination prevented her from being used by her sycophants. Internal democracy have to be established in the party and more younger generation of youth leaders with clean image ushered in to bring a new face of the party. The gen next is eagerly looking at the dynamic leadership of Rahul Gandhi who inspires the average citizens. He should by bringing the younger elements in the party fold also focus on a section of matured and conscious intellectuals who are not inclined towards a particular ideology but whose personal integrity are impeccable. At the same time the Congress at present should not depend on personality cult as this cult may have helped to garner votes but is not going to do good to the nation in the end. People are becoming aware very fast and they know what is good for them and they are not going to be fooled for all the time. Hero worship may be gainful immediately but in the long term it is going to do more harm than good as the current political situation warrants us to see. Truth however bitter should be faced and that will no doubt give dividend in the end. The Congress and even its offshoots like the  NCP and the TMC should give  a call of let a hundred flowers blo