Rahul Gandhi Must Rediscover India

rahul gandhi 1

Rahul Gandhi has finally resigned. His resignation letter is a brutally frank one. In this letter he has confessed of being betrayed by his party mates and fighting a lonely battle. He has also pointed out the institutional takeover of the fascist Sangh Parivar. He also committed to work towards an inclusive India as a loyal party member.

In close scrutiny, Rahul’s resignation letter is a bitter condemnation of Congress party and its leaders, including himself. It lacks a vision. It doesn’t show a path forward for Congress party. One can not rebuild a party that faced electoral decimation from bitterness and self-flagellation. First of all it must admit its own faults. It must have ideological clarity.

Congress must first admit that it was its policies that opened up Indian Economy to capital forces, thereby creating neo-rich capitalists paving the way for Modi’s crony capitalism and also opening up huge income disparity between rich and poor. According an Oxfam study 1 % of India’s rich own 58 % of India’s wealth. In fact, Modi government didn’t bring any new policy changes, apart from the dastardly demonetization, in the economy. It simply continued with the policies of the previous Congress governments. Congress and Rahul Gandhi must, first of all, take a stand whether they stand with the 1 % or with the 99 % of the population.

Congress has always been a party of the upper castes. Rahul Gandhi didn’t change that path either. He claimed to be a janue wearing Brahmin Shiv Bhakt. Rahul and Congress must decide whether they stand for the upper castes, or for the majority of the dalits, bahujans and minorities. Congress’ constituency ie pandering the upper castes, has been taken over by the BJP unabashedly. Congress always took the majority of the population ie the minorities, bahujans, dalits and advasis for granted. With BJP taking over Congress’ ideology more effectively, Congress has to decide where it stands.

Federalism in India is facing grave threats from the fascist forces. If Congress has to be a party of inclusive India it must stand up for a federalist India which the founders of the Republic envisaged.

By quitting the presidentship of the party he has become a mere politician. Politicians are servants of the people. The greatest “protective gear” of the politicians are the loving public. They must win the love and trust of the people. Rahul Gandhi must do away with his ‘Z category security’ and be like just any other citizen of India. In the current political context any citizen of India can be lynched. If Rahul wants to be a servant of the people he must learn to be vulnerable like just any other citizen of India. Rahul Gandhi must remember that Mahatma Gandhi had no ‘Z category’ security, yet he won freedom for India.

In June 2017 Rahul Gandhi made a positive statement,

“We need to be ready to take on polarisation of Hindu votes in the upcoming elections. Let us be very clear and not opt for soft Hindutva. We should stand for the rights of the minorities without any ambiguity, even if it costs us votes,..”

In appreciation of his statement, Dr. P.S Sahni and Shobha Aggarwal of PIL watch group asked Rahul to take up a “A Padyatra From Kashmir To Kanyakumari”

They wrote,

“Sir, please come out strongly against this illegal ban on cattle slaughter. Kindly translate your verbal assurances to concrete actions. Undertake a padyatra from Kashmir to Kanyakumari against the illegal, divisive law and uphold the secular value that the Congress professes.”

Rahul Gandhi’s grandfather and the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, against whom Narendra Modi spoke most in his election campaign, wrote “The Discovery of India”. If Rahul Gandhi wants to build an inclusive India, he must rediscover India again. He must travel across India without his regular entourage and engage with people and their issues. Only by rediscovering India and its people can Rahul and Congress rise again.

Binu Mathew is the Editor of Countercurrents.org. He can be reached at [email protected]


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