Photograph of VT Joshi

THE CONGESS SAGA:
SECOND SACRIFICE NEEDED


Author - VT Joshi


"So, none of you know the reasons for the decline of Congress rule in UP and Bihar etc."—a cartoon in The Hindu showing kid-in-shorts Rahul sitting on the table on a raised platform in a classroom, lecturing to a large group of old Congressmen made to stand on the bench. It is a telling comment on Rahul Gandhi's address to the AICC session, admonishing the party veterans, at the 82nd Congress plenary session at Hyderabad on January 22, 2006.

Cartoon from The Hindu
Reproduced from The Hindu, January 25, 2006

Mercifully, he rejected the crazy, sycophantic clamour for his elevation to a prized post in the party though he left none in doubt that he would not hesitate to do so before long. The reason for deferring it was no doubt laudable enough—to learn the rudiments of politics to which he is a novice. Such realization of his own shortcomings is admirable if it is not too short lived.

Like his mother, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, who gallantly renounced the prime ministership of India not long ago, Rahul would do a yeoman service to the nation if he reflects deeply and helps to rid the Indian polity of the canker of dynastic rule, smacking of a feudal order, aptly called in some circles as "Feudo-democracy". Some may dismiss this plea to the mother-son duo as naïve. But it is heartening to note that the all powerful mother, when asked by the media, turned down the claims of "youngsters" for entry into the Manmohan ministry, saying "they have to wait". It is unfortunate that some of the prominent national newspapers appear to vying with one another to campaign for anointing Rahul Gandhi. The Times of India, for instance, organized a "survey" and came out with the claim that 52 percent of the 1300 respondents "feel that Rahul would make a better leader than Sonia". What is sought to be conveniently ignored is that 48 percent reject the preposterous idea.

In the Indian political business family interests have virtually replaced ideals and ideologies in almost all the parties. The latest instance, though slightly different from the common run, is the "son stroke" in Karnatak, Kumarswamy defying his father veteran Deve Gowda, a former prime minister, to become chief minister in cahoots with the BJP, long condemned allegedly as a communal party. Whether in the Left or Right parties, the list of father–son (or daughter) duos holding the country to ransom is formidable. To wit: Bal Thankeray –Uddhava, Mulayam – Akhilesh, Karunakarn – Murlidhar, Karunanidhi – M.K.Stalin, Murli Deora – son Milind, (the late) Biju Patnaik – Navin, (the late) Rajesh Pilot – Sachin, (the late) Sunil Dutt – Priyanka and so on. Laloo – Rabri husband-wife team is a class apart for usurping the CM seat in Bihar and the whole nation looking askance at the fraud for 15 years.

The history of the Congress party in all its shades and shapes has long been a saga of struggle and sacrifice. From the early days of the independence movement in the last century millions of people have sacrificed their life and limbs and lost their all to free the country from alien bondage and usher in an era of independence for the generations to come. The political emancipation of India from slavery under the British rule preceded by centuries of invasions and loot is yet to be followed by economic freedom and eradication of poverty of millions of toiling masses in this vast land of a billion people.

It is against this background that the grand old political party of India held its 82nd plenary session in Hyderabad and passed all too familiar resolutions which are far from being a new path breaking exercise. The most significant development on the national scene in recent years is the evolution of a new leadership of sorts in the congress party, a party once thought to be doomed in the wake of new political, economic and social forces across the vast, complex and complicated country whose manifest diversity amidst unity makes it truly a "nation of minorities".

Amidst this welter of confusion and instability has risen the stewardship of Mrs. Sonia Gandhi despite the "calumny" of foreign origin. Of which legions of her detractors made a song and dance not long ago. Her evolution as a political leader is almost a phenomenon after her halting, faltering, hesitant, terribly uncertain foray into public life from the shadow of being an extremely private person.

POISE AND APLOMB

There was ample evidence of her eminence in the two interviews she gave to two popular television news channels recently in which she deftly handled a bewildering variety of posers with poise and aplomb. And, indeed, with a measure of civility that is increasingly becoming a rare commodity in contemporary politics of this country.

It is obvious that Mrs. Gandhi has derived her strength and poise from one supreme act of renunciation – her spurning of the prime ministership of this great country after not only conclusively proving but also demonstrating that it was within her grasp. This one single act, with great determination and resistance in the face of the countrywide genuine as well as sycophantic clamour to the contrary from hordes of her party men, must go down as part of the saga of sacrifice in the annals of the congress with its rich past and hopefully bright future. It was an exemplary sacrifice, which brought lustre both to the party and the person in no small measure.

Yet it must be conceded that it was an incomplete act. For in the public perception it has come "not without strings attached". It is however unfair to accuse her, as many have done, of doing what she did out of a sense of "dynastic service", if one may say so. It is inconceivable that dynastic ambitions, so typical of the Nehru-Gandhi clan, were upper most in her mind when she boldly renounced the prospect of becoming the second most powerful woman prime minister of India. Her dogged determination was there for everyone to see on TV channels when she announced it. The scene and the situation prevailing at the time do not warrant such an assumption. Her place in history is assured. However her indisputable sacrifice is only a half way house to absolute fame and glory.

THINK BIG & ACT BIG

Temptations are sure to come in the light of the subsequent political developments on the national horizon. It is not without reason that many regard Dr. Manmohan Singh as a "regent" to keep the PM seat warm for the "son", the daughter having apparently stepped aside. It is now for Mrs. Sonia Gandhi to rise to the occasion again and conclusively disprove it.

Sonia Gandhi with son Rahul and daughter Priyanka

It is time for her second sacrifice in the service of the nation she has adopted so wonderfully well as her own to the dismay of the battery of sectarian and communal adversaries. If she summons courage to resist the new pressures with the same dogged spirit and determination she displayed in May 2004, it will not go waste. She will be amply rewarded by the teeming millions of this ancient land for helping to rid it and its polity of the all-pervading dynastic perversions that are taking roots far beyond the Nehru-Gandhi family.

MOTHER AND SON DUO WITH A DIFFERENCE

Through shining example again she can prove through practice, rather than precept, what we all want to believe –- that the "accident of birth" does not fetch undue political and related rewards, and that the Indian polity and its political leaders are capable of rising above mundane considerations. To achieve such a noble mission requires no mean sacrifice, no mean renunciation. Contrary to persistent press reports and disturbing signals, Mrs. Gandhi has so far resisted the impulse of inducting Rahul into the working committee or AICC as its general secretary and much less into the Manmohan Singh ministry. No amount of argument citing the excuse of "democratic demands and democratic elections" to pave the way for such a denouement will justify it. Nor will it wash in the public eye. Mrs. Sonia Gandhi has to leave Rahul alone to find his own path in whatever field he chooses. In course of time, may be even in politics but only after a decade or so. It is not easy for a mother to do it as it is a tall order. But one believes that Sonia Gandhi is not an ordinary mother, and has the proven capacity and capability to think big and act big -- and to outshine her illustrious mother-in-law.

It is gratifying that she and son Rahul have not so far fallen a prey to sycophantic pleas of party men at Hyderabad. It must be hoped that they will not (repeat not) for all time, and set a new example of "Mother--Son duo with a difference" in the murky politics of the country. It will enhance their stature further.



VT Joshi
30 January 2006



VT JOSHI (1925-2008) worked for more than fifty years as a journalist. He retired from THE TIMES OF INDIA in 1989. During 1985-89 he was the Special Correspondent of THE TIMES OF INDIA in Pakistan. His books "PAKISTAN: ZIA TO BENAZIR" and "INDIA AT CROSS ROADS" (co-author GG Puri) were widely reviewed in both India and Pakistan.








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