Will Rahul Gandhi’s resignation resolve the crisis of Congress Party

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Congress President Rahul Gandhi has ultimately resigned. He had resigned immediately after the massive defeat of his party during the general elections but the loyalists in the party dragged the issue too long hoping that he would be persuaded to take his resignation back but they failed. Rahul tweeted his lengthy letter to his party and to the general public. He thanked his party workers and felt proud of the Congress party yet felt that somebody has to take the responsibility which starts from the top. “ “Rebuilding the party requires hard decisions and numerous people will have to be made accountable for the failure of 2019. It would be unjust to hold others accountable but ignore my own responsibility as president of the party.”

There is no doubt about the fact that Rahul campaigned from the heart though it needed a bit more strategy and flexibility. He never realized that ‘chowkidarchorhai’ slogan and Anil Ambani was given Rs 30,000 crore by Modi in his bank account, went a bit far ahead and became totally monotonous. While there is no doubt that NarendraModi and his party fought this election on all front including absolutely undignified assault on the Gandhis and his great grand- father,JawaharLal Nehru, Congress leadership failed to counter it. Rahul did not bother to question Modi’s record on minorities particularly Muslims along with the incidents of mob lynchings as well as loss of jobs in the government sector. Rahul became alone when he took on Modi and Ambani directly as his party colleague refused to follow his line. The fact of the matter, all the political commentators who had known Congress and Rahul’s father Rajiv, know it very well that Ambanis benefitted from Gandhi family the most. Kapil Sibol, Abhishek Singhavi, P.Chidambaram as well as former President Pranab Mukherjee were considered to be too close to Ambanis hence Rahul’s attack became useless as his party people themselves were not convinced about Ambanis.  In his resignation letter Rahul talks about this ‘aloofness’ when he says that  ‘ We fought a strong and dignified election. Our campaign was one of brotherhood, tolerance and respect for all of India’s people, religions and communities. I personally fought the prime minister, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the institutions they have captured with all my being. I fought because I love India. And I fought to defend the ideals India was built upon.  At times, I stood completely alone and am extremely proud of it. I have learned so much from the spirit and dedication of our workers and party members, men and women who have taught me about love and decency,”

Fact of the matter is Rahul’s attack on Modi itself was not always dignified. His discomfort with Hindi is clearly visible where many times his sentences about Modi crossed that limit of decency. Like ModiBhakts, the secular bhakts too don’t understand these issues. Secondly, I will disagree with him wholeheartedly about the issue of minorities and marginalized. Why should the minorities and marginalized come along with him if he has no agenda for them. I had written many time, that Rahul Gandhi must not forget the Nehru mantra and read and re-read his speeches. If he has no time for that, he must listen to them, particularly issues of SanghParivar and its hate agenda, the last interview of Nehru with the foreign journalist, before his death in 1964. Unfortunately, Rahul’s advisers persuaded him not to even take the name of Muslims in his conferences. Rather, Congress leaders went overboard in claiming him a Shiva Bhakt and donning janeu which was completely farcical. You don’t need to show your janeu to fight against the SanghParivar. They cant ask AkhileshYadav orMamta Banerjee or even Jagan Reddy about this. Secondly, Janeu itself is about caste supremacy and deny the right to wear it by the majority of the Bahujans who are counted as Hindus in the census. A majority of the Bahujans are denied dignity and human rights in the caste structure. Rahul Gandhi’s speeches had nothing to offer for Dalits and Muslims because of the fear of the ‘Hindu’ backlash. It happens because of ambiguity of ideas otherwise who could say that the circumstances today were not that vitiated and dangerous as during the partition when Nehru fought with his might against the attempt to create a Hindu theocratic state in India. The ambiguous ‘love’ that he often invoke is nothing in the absence of substantial take on against the hate project s of the Sanghparivar particularly against the Muslims.

An important point of Rahul Gandhi’s resignation letter is about the capture of institutions. I think this is very valid and must be on the top of agenda of all the political parties to protect them. The fact is powerful governments which included his grand mother’s as well as his father’s always demolished institutions. Modi has not invented anything new as he is purely following the guidelines of what Mrs Indira Gandhi did in 1975 and afterwards. Institutions collapsed. Modi has got the art of sophistry plus the middle classes which were victim of emergency are enjoying this modern emergency voluntarily as long as the Gandhis and their families be made responsible for all the evils and ills of India.

The issue of not merely EVMs but also of autonomy and independence of Election Commission is of great concern and essential for all the parties to protect their integrity and ensure that they remain autonomous. Rahul Gandhi said,  “”A free and fair election requires the neutrality of a country’s institutions; an election cannot be fair without arbiters – a free press, an independent judiciary, and a transparent election commission that is objective and neutral. Nor can an election be free if one party has a complete monopoly on financial resources. Rahul Gandhi said :”We didn’t fight a political party in the 2019 election. Rather, we fought the entire machinery of the Indian state, every institution of which was marshalled against the opposition. It is now crystal clear that our once cherished institutional neutrality no longer exists in India,” Rahul Gandhi said in the statement.”

Problem is that Congress Party since Indira Gandhi days were more a gang of power manipulators who ensured no fairness and success depended on your acceptance by the leadership. The monopoly of the leadership was so powerful that they could throw any one out and bring any spineless politicians in. It was said, that Indira Gandhi never wanted powerful leaders. Congress followed that pattern even when it was not powerful and the result is that today it does not have powerful leaders from states. Political parties in power try to manipulate institutions and that is not new to India. Ofcourse, when the government at the Centre were fragile coalitions, the same leaders pretended to ‘respect’ institutions. T N Sheshan, the first election commissioner who actually made Election Commission powerful not during the period of Rajiv Gandhi’s brute majority but when the phase of coalition had started in India. We cant forget how Congress appointed M S Gill, former Chief Election Commissioner as a Minister of State apart from Mr Naveen Chawla, whose closeness to Congress High Command was well known. So, destruction of institutions is not knew and Congress cant get away with the blame of diluting their importance but putting absolutely undeserving people in many of the autonomous bodies and Commissions, just because of their connections. As Rahul Gandhi says,

“The stated objectives of the RSS, the capture of our country’s institutional structure, is now complete. Our democracy has been fundamentally weakened. There is a real danger that from now on, elections will go from being a determinant of India’s future to a mere ritual,”

The question is why should our state institutions and apparatus not be made absolutely non political and completely dedicated to fair values of our constitution.. Why should they be either Gandhian or left or Sanghis. Why cant they be told to adhere strictly to the constitution, international human rights covenants and laws. Why cant the officers be made to read Annihilation of caste and the issue of untouchability, gender justice, caste discrimination as we are a society of caste hierarchies and that destroy our national unity.

The problem in Rahul Gandhi or liberal secular’s approach is that they wish to inform us that India has suddenly become illiberal as we were such a ‘great’ society in past as if the caste was invented yesterday only. The critique of RSS will only be acceptable if Congress which ruled for over 50 years too admit that there are leaders in the party who had soft corner for the SanghParivar and Hindutva. We have no issue with leaders who are believers, astiks or naastiks but the Congress party must admit that while till Nehru’s Congress, it has an ideological strength to fight against SanghParivar, Congress started tilting towards Hindutva after Indira Gandhi’s return to power in 1982. The party became an ‘adda’ of all the manipulators who wont shy away by creating artificial and alternative political leaderships. Bhindarwale did not emerge as a leader on his own but because Indira Gandhi felt he could counter the Akalis better than others. The Man Mohan Singh government’s free hand to Ramdev, Anna Hazare and ArvindKejriwal was with the same thought that it would destroy BJP but the fact of the matter is Anna’s movement crushed Congress’s dream like VP Singh in the 1990s. Today, the party is unable to mount an attack on Modi on the corruption issue because its own track record is abysmal and horrific. None would believe that Congress is a party of ‘honest’ secular leaders when likes of Kamalnath, Narayan Rane, Sanjay Nirupam, are around. There are many like them.

Roads are not closed for Rahul Gandhi. He has sincerity but his letter was more focused on the BJP which is right but we must admit that BJP did not won elections out of blue but worked hard whether at the social media, media, grassroot level or others. He is talking about funds but every body knows that when Congress was in power, it was the party enjoyed enormous funds from the industries. Once you have made them your enemies, they wont give you money. Congress should talk of electoral reforms but all its intentions look farcical when you see what they do in power as it was never part of their agenda. Party is still unclear of the EVMs. If the party feel that electoral process was compromised and we all agree to it, why did the party not come out with a clear stand and opposed the election results or asked for more proof. The party wanted to be in good books of the government and at the same time, never stood with people who were fighting at the cost of their lives. Rahul talks of GauriLankesh but how many time Congress party cadres really came in defence of them. Karnataka has Congress government but the investigation process was slow. Similar thing happened in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh where mob lynching incidents did not stop. In Madhya Pradesh, people are openly blaming Kamalnath for being inaccessible and worst than his processor Shiv Raj Singh Chauhan. Question, is leader like Kamalath sabotaged Rahul Gandhi’s arrival on the national scene ? When Rahul Gandhi is asking for accountability, why no chief minister of the three states resigned where Congress came to power. Why are they not taking responsibility as they were the biggest let down ? When they won, media reported that it was not the victory of Rahul but these leaders but when these states got wiped out, it is the defeat of Rahul and these netas are enjoying power.

We know Rahul Gandhi is alone as Sonia’s coterie does not want a radical congress which can take BJP or RSS head on. The brahmanical lobby in Congress still feel and it is true too, that at the end of the day, the people will only look to Congress when they are frustrated with BJP and hence they don’t want to antagonize their caste structure, dominated by the brahmins even when most of them are not voting to Congress. How can a party survive if it does not have ideological strength to fight against politics of hatred and division. Rahul Gandhi must explain as how many of the Congress leaders have spoken against politics of hatred and division. Can we really believe that today’s Congress leaders can speak with conviction of ideology on the issue of hatred and division?

I am not here to give advise to Rahul Gandhi but his resignation letter is an stricture passed against old guards of the Congress party, a majority of who are part of CWC and might have contested elections  several decades ago. When people suggest MotiLalVora to be the President of the party, then it reflect, how far Congress Party has gone away from people. When India is going young and aspiring, Congress party leaders are going the other way round and unable to see the warning. Congress need a collegium and ofcourse, Gandhis will remain at the helm of the party as they are the glue. They are the political family and perhaps know it well that after Rahul and Priyanka, no other Gandhi family member would be able to lead the party in near future. There is no ban on them but they will have to work really hard in the competitive environment.

At the end, I must say, the hypocrisy of Indians who worship dynasties everywhere are condemning one political family. The dynasty Gods, the dynast Rajas are the role model of SanghParivar but we don’t speak against them. The dynasty of businessmen, in cinema, in bureaucracy, in judiciary exist but we cant speak. ‘Vansh’ is the thing for which Indians are ready to die. Politicians are anointing their children and BJP has not done away with it except at the top but yes, that phase too will come when people will question. Rahul must focus on cleaning the party and lead the movement against hatred and division but before he start, he must read Ambedkar, Phule, Periyar, Gandhi, Vivekanand and Nehru. I can say, this will help him understand India well. He must learn to critique his own party. His Dadi might be his role model but she also destroyed democratic institutions. His father too bypassed norms of democracy and Rahul would do well to admit the faults of Congress party and build the party learning from them. He can do that by his suggestions and involvement in the party for which he need not to be the president or leader in Parliament. He can do that even without these positions but he must act fast as time is running out. Old guard waiting for Modi’s mistakes would serve no purpose as Congress need to provide alternatives and accept its own faults too apart from the achievements of India through our combined efforts, which is the power of inclusive India.

Vidya Bhushan Rawat is a social activist. Follow me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat twitter  @freetohumanity Skype @vbrawat

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Vidya Bhushan Rawat

Vidya Bhushan Rawat is a social and human rights activist. He blogs at www.manukhsi.blogspot.com twitter @freetohumanity Email: [email protected]

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