The chairman of the All India Congress Committee (AICC)’s professional wing and technology and data cell, Praveen Chakravarty, had triggered a controversy ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections by stating that the debt situation in the DMK-ruled state was “alarming”. He had then faced heat from both the DMK, a key Congress ally, as well as a section of his own party. There was also a buzz that he along with some other Congress leaders had sought an alliance with superstar-turned-politician Vijay’s TVK for the elections while pitching for a share in power.With Vijay scripting a stunning electoral debut for the TVK which is poised to clinch Tamil Nadu, Chakravarty speaks to The Indian Express on a range of issues related to the outcome of the current round of the state Assembly polls. Excerpts:AdvertisementHow do you see the Assembly election results today?Overall, I think there seems to have been generally a mood for change everywhere. Now the mood for change has taken different shapes and norms. In some states it has gone to the other alternative that was available. In states like Tamil Nadu, it has gone to a completely new party. But the overall sense is that there is a mood for change and just disenchantment with the current political status quo.The BJP’s electoral juggernaut seems to be unstoppable. After limiting the BJP to 240 seats in the Lok Sabha in 2024, the Opposition somehow has not been able to capitalise on that. It has since lost elections in several states, including Maharashtra, Haryana, Delhi and Bihar. And now the BJP has retained Assam and conquered West Bengal. How demoralising is this for the Opposition as a whole?I have been a very strident advocate for change both within political parties as well as the Opposition as a whole. And, it really keeps coming down to that. Unless we change and are ready to discard the past and embrace fresh ideas, fresh people, fresh leaders, fresh narratives, fresh styles… (But) we are constantly being held back by our past. And that I think is a big problem. And I hope it is really high time we take this lesson and learn it.Can you elaborate on this change?Change in everything, right from our political strategies such as alliance in Tamil Nadu to a change in our narrative, to a change in our style. I can only speak for the Congress party. I am not speaking for the INDIA alliance. We need a somewhat fresher kind of people making decisions at the party level, at the senior most party level. We just need to have some more freshness in the party in everything, be it decision makers, be it narratives, be it political strategy. Tamil Nadu is a great example of what it shows. The same old tired narrative of ‘we’ll announce some schemes, we’ll give some money to voters, we will get this, we will get that…’ – that is not going to cut ice anymore.AdvertisementSo the Congress and Opposition need to reinvent themselves?It needs freshness. It basically needs to open its windows and allow some fresh air inside. Right now they are all operating in stuffy rooms, operated by the same people for the last two, three decades.How do you analyse the Tamil Nadu poll outcome, which seems to be a kind of watershed moment?The Tamil Nadu outcome is a very resounding message of what we saw somewhat in, say Nepal or Bangladesh or Sri Lanka, which is the younger generation saying that enough is enough, we want a change. In some sense it’s not very dissimilar to the Punjab 2022 verdict, but it is much larger. How else do you explain 80, 85, 90% of people below the age of 40 saying it is not about caste, it is not about our geography, it is not about our ideology, It is not about who our parents voted for, it is not about whether you are giving some cash for women’s schemes. We want a new politics. And here is someone who is coming and offering something new. We don’t know whether it will work out or not but we are prepared to give him a chance.There was recently a debate within the Congress on whether the party should continue its alliance with the DMK. Do you think the Congress should have tied up with the TVK?I had no doubt in my mind, which is what I have been maintaining for the last nine months: Had the Congress and TVK come together, it would have been close to a two-thirds majority in Tamil Nadu. We would have won Tamil Nadu and we would have won Pondicherry. Please understand what was the lost opportunity. Had we won Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry with the TVK alliance…we have won Kerala, we are already in power in Telangana and we are in power in Karnataka – we would have dominated the south of India and that was the opportunity that we lost.Why did it happen?Again, there is a need for some freshness in thinking. Freshness in ideas, freshness in political strategy. It cannot be so-called senior leaders who have already had their benefits, ensured their families have also enjoyed and continue to kind of call the shots based on what they have experienced 20 years ago.you may likeWas it a decision primarily pushed through by the state Congress leadership? There is a talk that Rahul Gandhi was open to exploring the possibility of an alliance with the TVK.One thing is very clear. Everybody knows and agrees that if Mr Rahul Gandhi and Mr Vijay had come together on a platform…there would have been a wave across Tamil Nadu. He (Vijay) is extremely popular, which means it would have strengthened the Congress party. Mr Rahul Gandhi’s first and foremost goal is to strengthen the Congress party. He is not someone who is interested in positions of power for himself. So obviously he was very open to the idea of how to strengthen the Congress party. That’s all I can say.Why do you think it was a lost opportunity?I think it’s a lost opportunity because we have not had a generational change not just merely in the Congress as quickly as we should have had in terms of key decision makers in different positions. And I think that is what has cost the party because the Tamil Nadu election is a clear example of how there is such a stark age divide. People under 40 are on another planet. People above 60 are on a completely different planet. This is how the people are. This is how our voters are. This is how India is. How can a political party not reflect and adapt to this change? So I wish we had adapted better.Six states, including Uttar Pradesh, will go to elections next year. What do you think the Congress should do?Please allow freshness in ideas, political strategy, people. Please allow that. That is more important. It is much, much more important to show that the Congress is adapting to the changing India rather than being stuck in the past.