In 2004, when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) came to power a

fter eight years in the wilderness, it had as much to do with the failure of the
Atal Bihari Vajpayee government s India Shining project as it had to do with the
people s desire for the return of pluralism and tolerance. For in the six years of
the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, t
he Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and its affiliates had been active, though perhap
s not with the kind of fervour that is visible today. In the wake of its loss in
the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress, grappling with problems of identity, had
held a series of closed-door sessions that started in late-October 2014 where t
he party s top 200-odd leaders, divided into small groups, had debated the party s f
uture. One of the key areas under discussion had been the need to re-articulate
the party s ideology: roughly summarised, the conclusion was that the Congress mus
t remain pluralistic and inclusive without looking like a pro-Muslim party, and
retain the minority vote without annoying the liberal Hindu mainstream. Many mem
bers, however, felt that the party had tilted too far in favour of the minoritie
s. But today, with well-known members of civil society
including many distinguis
hed academics, writers, historians and filmmakers
speaking out, the Congress cle
arly sees this as an opportune time to seize the moment.
On Tuesday, led by party president Sonia Gandhi, Congress leaders marched from P
arliament House to Rashtrapati Bhavan to seek President Pranab Mukherjee s interve
ntion in checking the growing atmosphere of fear, intolerance and intimidation be
ing deliberately created by sections of the ruling establishment . Twice earlier t
his year, the party took to the streets: first, during Parliament s Budget session
as part of a 14-party delegation along the same route to protest against the Mo
di government s efforts to legislate a farmer-unfriendly land acquisition law; the s
econd time, to express solidarity with former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when
he was sought to be implicated in the coal scam. On both those occasions, too,
Ms. Gandhi led from the front. The party s State units and front organisations hav
e also organised padyatras and sit-ins, occasionally under Rahul Gandhi s leadersh
ip, largely on the controversial Land Acquisition Bill, but these have gone gene
rally unnoticed. As the Congress seeks to recover from its 2014 defeat, its effo
rts to make a comeback have been hampered as much by the delay in installing hei
r apparent Rahul Gandhi as the new leader, as the lack of clarity on whether it
needs to re-invent itself. The party s mobilisation of its rank and file has been
sporadic since its strength was reduced to a mere 44 seats in Parliament. But wi
th civil society rising up against growing intolerance, that has manifested itse
lf both in physical and verbal violence, the Congress feels that it may have fou
nd a launch pad for its return. To make a game of it, however, the party will ha
ve to articulate its core beliefs and play a leading role in banding together a
secular opposition.