BJP Throwback Photo Triggers Congress Leadership Crisis in 2025

Spread love

Digvijaya Singh’s praise of BJP–RSS discipline triggers a political storm, revealing how coterie politics and disrespect for seniors have hollowed out Congress from within.

By NIRENDRA DEV

New Delhi, December 28, 2025 — The writing, as they say, is crystal clear on the wall. The Congress organisational crisis 2025 was meant to be addressed through grand corrective measures meet. Instead, it was a single social media post—and an “old BJP snap”—that ended up tarnishing the entire exercise.

Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh, once regarded as a political guru to Rahul Gandhi, dropped what many within the party now see as a truth bomb. Sharing a throwback photograph of a young Narendra Modi sitting on the floor near L.K. Advani, Singh praised not the BJP’s ideology but its organisational culture. His caption—“This is the power of the organisation. Jai Siya Ram”—did more damage to Congress than a dozen BJP attacks could have managed.

To understand the weight of this moment, one must recall Digvijaya Singh’s past. During UPA-I and UPA-II, he wielded enormous influence. From pushing the controversial “saffron terror” narrative to making indefensible remarks such as referring to Osama bin Laden as “Osama ji,” Singh symbolised an era when appeasement politics thrived and internal dissent was muted. Yet, back then, he enjoyed both clout and immunity within the Congress ecosystem.

What has changed in 2025 is not merely Singh’s tone, but his position. For the first time, the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister appears sidelined—watching from the margins as a party he helped shape is now run by tight-knit coteries surrounding Rahul Gandhi and, increasingly, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Singh’s post was less about Modi and more about a culture of respect and hierarchy. In the BJP–RSS ecosystem, a karyakarta learns patience, discipline and deference before rising. In contrast, Congress today is repeatedly accused of sidelining veterans in favour of inexperienced loyalists. From Jyotiraditya Scindia and Himanta Biswa Sarma to Shakeel Ahmed after the 2025 Bihar polls, the exit list is long—and telling.

Rahul Gandhi’s leadership is now under sharper scrutiny than ever. Rough estimates suggest he has presided over more than 90 electoral defeats in the past decade. The narrative of “youth leadership” rings hollow when the BJP appoints a 45-year-old working president, while Rahul, at 55-plus, remains the party’s central pole.

The controversy has also reignited whispers about Priyanka Gandhi’s future role, unsettling a party that has officially projected Rahul as its prime ministerial face since 2013. Remarks by leaders like Imran Masood praising Priyanka as a decisive alternative only deepen the perception of internal drift.

In the end, Congress organisational crisis 2025 is not about one photograph. It is about a party unable to reconcile hierarchy with democracy, legacy with performance, and loyalty with competence. Digvijaya Singh merely held up the mirror. The reflection has rattled the Congress.

(This is an opinion piece. Views are personal)