IndexAbstractIntroductionRole of reputationLoss of capacity - reputation of Congress:Effect of behaviorReputation of Gandhi's opponentEffect of narratives about INC and Rahul GandhiNetworkParty cultureConclusion : References“Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” by Abraham LincolnSay no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Abstract Many studies have been conducted to explore how reputation hinders/encourages the growth of private companies. But very few articles have explored the importance of reputation, narratives and network in a political party/organisation. This article will explore how loss of reputation played a major role in the decline of the Indian National Congress (INC) – an Indian political party – and how the superior reputation of BJP leader, Narendra Modi, helped his party win elections consecutive. The article will also analyze the importance of narratives and networks in a political organization. Introduction The Indian National Congress (INC) was founded in 1885 to fight British imperialism in South Asia. From 1947, when India gained independence, to 2014, the INC has governed India for a total of 57 out of 67 years. Since independence, most of the INC presidents and prime ministers of the Congress come from the Nehru – Gandhi family – Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. From 2004 to 2014, the Congress governed India for two consecutive five-year terms, with a non-Gandhi, Dr. Mahmohan Singh, as prime minister. However, during this period Sonia Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi's Italian wife, held the presidency of the INC. Until the 1999 federal election, no party other than Congress had ever completed a full 5-year term. So it would not be an aberration to say that till the 2000s, India was a one-party democracy, dominated by the INC. In 2011, Rajiv Gandhi's SON, Rahul Gandhi, was projected as the Congress' next prime ministerial candidate. Around the same time, BJP, India's main opposition party, elected Modi, to run against Rahul Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi has proven himself to be someone unrivaled with the political acumen, rhetorical skill and administrative experience of Narendra Modi. Modi has 15 years of experience governing the wealthy Indian state of Gujarat. The BJP has built a strong narrative to dent the reputation of Rahul Gandhi and it has proved to be a huge success due to both the campaign and behavior of Rahul Gandhi. In 2014, the INC, under the chairmanship of Rahul Gandhi, faced a humiliating defeat at the hands of BJP and Modi. Indeed, in that election the Congress party secured only 44 of the 545 parliamentary seats, the lowest tally in its history. In 2019, although the BJP did not do a great job, it did not improve its performance much, winning 52 of the 545 parliamentary seats and recording its second lowest score in history. But Modi's first term between 2014 and 2019 was not great, in fact India's unemployment rate stood at a 38-year low; there was a growing agrarian crisis; and SMEs were killed due to demonetisation. Although the opposition, under Rahul Gandhi, fought vigorously on these failures, its electoral performance did not improve much, the Congress managed to win only 8 additional seats, thus ensuring its second historic defeat. So how did the INC deal with crisesexistential issues arising from being a hegemony just a decade earlier, because the Congress was unable to take advantage of the failures of the BJP government. Role of Reputation For any organization, whether for profit, non-profit or political party, reputation is very important. Reputation is of two types: ability and character reputation. Capability reputation deals with an organization's ability to get work done, while character reputation deals with an organization's perceived goals and true intention. Even for any political party, reputation is both organizational and individual. Organizational reputation means that reputation is collective and the evaluation of an organization's ability to do good is based on its characteristics and qualities. Another reason why reputation is very important is perfect information: since people cannot see the behavior of the organization and its characteristics, they use the cues left by the company and its staff form a perception of the organization and this perception is subject to behavioral biases. .Loss of capacity – reputation of Congress: The INC has lost both – capacity by elevating Rahul Gandhi and perceived nepotism and character due to numerous corruption scandals. Since 2009 the Congress government has also been involved in various scams including two of the biggest scams ever in India - the 2g scam and the coal scam. The 2G scam explains the discrepancy in licensing of 2G spectrum which costs the Indian exchequer more than 20 billion, and the coal scam which costs the Indian exchequer more than 10 billion. Both of these scams have received widespread public attention and the Prime Minister has been directly linked to both. Furthermore, the economy also suffered a slowdown between 2011 and 2014. Although the economic slowdown was due to the sharp increase in oil prices, the public perceived the same thing due to the lack of administrative capacity. Effects of Behavior Most of the Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, led an extravagant lifestyle. Rahul Gandhi's favorite hobby is flying. He has also gained a reputation for holidaying abroad in Europe/South America. During a discussion in parliament on farmers' suicide, Rahul Gandhi was spotted on a chartered plane somewhere in Europe. This kind of behavior has created a perception among people that Rahul Gandhi is an elite, who does not care about the masses. Also, Rahul Gandhi suffers from an adverse selection problem or lemon problem: Lack of information about a person/product makes people underestimate/overestimate the product and this is where multiple perceptions come into play. Reputation of Gandhi's opponent Unlike Rahul Gandhi, Mr. Modi, has proven his ability by serving as the Chief Minister of Gujarat for 15 years, during his time as the Chief Minister he has earned a very positive reputation of ability to transform Gujarat in one of the most developed provinces of India. Since Gandhi is yet to prove his reputation for ability, whatever he proclaims against Modi – like lack of job creation, agrarian crisis, people are not likely to take him seriously. They assumed that the real reason for Modi's lack of performance was due to external factors such as slowdown in the global market or the poor state of the economy during the Congress regime itself. Effect of Narratives on INC and Rahul Gandhi There are not many things more important in politics than the power of narratives. This is partly true because of the human tendency to depend heavily on rhetoric andfrom narrative to understand the world around us (White 1980). While any two politicians may claim to share the same opinion, the rhetoric they choose may allow people to perceive them differently. The internet and social media have only increased the importance of storytelling. Indeed, Hilary Clinton lost her election mainly because she failed to create a personal narrative that could inspire voters, which her opponent, Donald Trump, chose to do very well. Attracting people's attention is not easy, so the message must be repetitive and simple. Trump chose repetitive phrases such as “Let's make America great again”; “Let's build a wall; He repeated these repetitions again and again, thus creating a strong bond with the voters. Similar to Trump, Modi has an extraordinary rhetorical ability and an impeccable talent for narratives that give him a magical connect with the masses. Modi also uses powerful terminology like “I was a tree seller”; “I was born and raised poor, so I know what a poor country wants. Modi made people see him as one of them and as someone who would definitely represent them. Furthermore, BJP and Modi successfully delegitimize Rahul Gandhi by successfully framing him as a rich prince who doesn't understand the world, and is only in politics because of hereditary. He was called "Papu", which means innocent boy or stupid person. Papu has been used by all BJP leaders for over a decade in both parliament and social media. BJP's electrified IT cell left no stone unturned to make Rahul Gandhi a 'Pappu', and soon Rahul Gandhi was turned into memes, jokes and fake news. The BJP has also successfully framed the Congress as a party of corrupt elites which has no concern for the poor of the country and has a very strong WhatsApp base – through which the party's message, both truth and fake news, has been propagated. The success of the BJP's propaganda was aided by Gandhi's poor rhetorical skills, as he made many misunderstandings during public rallies. In fact he once stated publicly that “poverty is just a state of mind”. In fact, even an organization like ISIS publishes a report on its achievements – Keeping Cadres Motivated/Gaining Legitimacy. But the INC has no such strategy to keep cadres motivated. Network“For to everyone who has, more will be given, and there will be abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away." Matteo effect. A political party and its leader are expected to have a strong social network. Political parties must have a strong network with various stakeholders, such as media personnel, companies, coalition parties. Personal network and reputation dramatically increase a politician's ability to attract political campaign finance. The network is of two types: closed network and open network. Reputation in closed networks is formed based on perception, which some may not be true. If the leader's reputation within the network is not good, he or she may lose credibility with alliance partners and party members. According to inside information, Rahul Gandhi has earned a reputation within the party of being someone who doesn't listen and has a short attention span. One of the prominent Congress members from the North East, Himantu Biswas, left the Congress for the BJP because while she was seriously discussing future loss of the Congress, Rahul Gandhi was found playing with his dog. Closed Networks – Media club, Rotary, Freemasonry, Delhi Gymkhana club and Confederation of Indian Industry would be examples of closed networks. Furthermore, a/325804;