VIEWPOINT
AMITABH SHUKLA
On Saturday, Congress president
Sonia Gandhi visited different places in Haryana to get a firsthand account of
the damage which unseasonal rain had caused to the farmers. Earlier, she was in
another BJP-ruled State
This is the first time the
country is discovering the aggressive street-fighter instinct of Sonia. After
the death of her husband Rajiv Gandhi, she preferred to sit and introspect at
10 Janpath for a long time even as PV Narasimha Rao as Prime Minister
consolidated his hold over the party and the Government.
In the Atal Bihari Vajpayee
regime, though she was the Congress chief, she hardly thought of taking to the
streets to lodge protest of any kind. During the Manmohan Singh regime of a
decade, there was no question of opposing his policy as she was the one who was
the architect of most of the policies — beneficial or disastrous.
What is all the more perplexing
is that all this is happening when her son and heir apparent Rahul Gandhi has
disappeared in thin air, allegedly doing introspection of some sorts. No one in
the party or outside knows where is the 44-year-old who has been forced by the
Congressmen to carry the burden of the party even though he is least interested
in the job.
After a series of disasters, now
the Congress leaders have started privately admitting that Rahul is more of a
“burden” than a torchbearer of a legacy of the 130-year-old party. They are
sort of stumped by the tantrums of the Gandhi scion, not knowing his mind, his
political plan and now don’t even know his whereabouts. Some want his so called
“Introspection” to last for 2-3 years so that the damage which he has already
inflicted on the party is controlled.
Many now see a meaning in Sonia
taking to the street in Rahul’s absence. This was primarily the job of a young
Gandhi ready to take over the mantle of leadership from her mother in a party
where dynasty and only dynasty gets you the top job. As Rahul abdicated his
responsibility as the Congress vice-president, Sonia took over the role of an
aggressive Opposition leader to keep the party in reckoning.
This was also to show Rahul by
example that this is how the politics of Opposition is played in the country —
by taking to the streets and not holidaying in a foreign country. At least the
death of the Congress could be prolonged by this.
There is another motive behind
this. Sonia would continue to be the party chief for more time as she has been
warned by the old timers that disaster is writ large if Rahul is given complete
control of the party in April. The old guard, most of them close of Sonia,
wants the transition in a smooth gradual manner, the way it’s happening right
now. Rahul was first made a Congress MP, then a general secretary and
subsequently a vice-president.
They fear for the party the way
the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty functions. These leaders have made a
strong case for postponing the crown for Rahul at least for another two years.
“Till he becomes more patient, politically mature and does not run away to an
undisclosed destination at his whims and fancy,” summed up a senior leader.
Ironically, the issues which
Sonia Gandhi has raised to show her street-fighting abilities do not even
resonate with those who are apparently going to be the sufferers. She led the
Opposition march against Land Acquisition Bill and so far there is no
spontaneous demand from the farmers against the Bill. In Haryana, considered an
agricultural State, there has been no protest against the Bill nor has the main
Opposition party Indian National Lok Dal come out against it. In the Congress
regime itself, the State had come out with a sound policy on land acquisition.
In Punjab ,
considered the food bowel of the country along with Haryana, no one is bothered
as the State has a robust Land acquisition policy of its own. Many farmers in
the State prefer their land to be acquired by private parties or the Government
because of the hefty compensation which saves them from the humdrum of getting
engaged in agriculture where the returns are progressively coming down and
those practicing it looking for other rewarding vocations.
The Congress, it seems, has got
stuck in a time machine and cannot look beyond farmers as a constituency. It
has miserably failed to find issues to put the Narendra Modi Government in a
tight spot. Not surprisingly, even as an Opposition, it has egg on its face.
It raised the issue of political
espionage against Rahul Gandhi making a complete fool of it not only in
Parliament but even outside it. The Congress has an old habit in suspecting
espionage where none exists. Long ago, two constables of Haryana Police were
found outside the residence of Rajiv Gandhi and the party reacted by
withdrawing support to the then Chandrashekhar Government whom it was
supporting from outside.
Now a poor policeman went to Tughlaq
Road residence of Rahul to get some antiquated
form filled by his staff and running out of issues, the Congress tried to make
an issue out of it and looking for conspiracy theories. The party faced a
severe political embarrassment and if it continues to act like this, it will
become a laughing stock.
Coming back to Sonia Gandhi’s
march to Rashtrapati Bhawan, it was surely a sign of a leader who is not
thinking of a retirement any soon. It was also to re-establish her supremacy as
a leader amongst the non-Congress Opposition party. Already, the party is
working on a strategy to face the BJP by joining hands in Bihar ,
the next big State where Assembly polls are due later this year.
But clearly, she will have to do
much more to get her party back in reckoning. She will first have to clear the
air on leadership issue in the party and tell the party cadres and leaders once
and for all that she and not Rahul will be in command. Also, she will have to
rope in Rahul to work in tandem with him and not pull in different directions
as the current impression suggests.
Second, she will have to get a
new set of advisers and preferably they should be the young Turks of the party.
Gone are the days of arm chair leaders like Ahmed Patel, Ambika Soni, Janardan
Dwivedi, Moti Lal Vora, Ghulam Nabi Azad and others who keep looking at the
vacancies of Rajya Sabha and continue with the typical “coterie” politics,
which has since long become irrelevant.
Third, the issues which the
Congress chooses to highlight should be broad based. A party cannot limit
itself to issues of farmers or workers alone. The party has become a type cast
like the formula films of the 1970s and has to get out of this to get new set
of supporters and voters in the elections between now and 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
(March 23, 2015 )
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