On its 125th birth anniversary, the Congress put up a hoarding to focus attention on five leaders: Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Party president Sonia Gandhi’s love for the dynasty is understandable. But the limelight distorts history.
No doubt, Nehru was of the dynasty. But he loved all and did so much for the country that his imprint is still fresh on the institutions he built. A democratic, pluralistic constitution was his gift to the nation. He wielded all the power but never misused it.
The three others, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi have used the Congress as an instrument not of reform but power. They do not merit the distinction that Nehru commands.
Indira Gandhi has to her credit the suspension of fundamental rights and the detention of more than 100,000 people without trial. During Rajiv Gandhi’s regime the authorities and many Congress leaders connived at the killing of 3,000 Sikhs in Delhi. Sonia Gandhi presided over a meeting of top party leaders who exposed the country to the threat of balkanisation with the decision to create the new state of Telangana.
True, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia and Rajiv Gandhi’s son, is making waves. But putting him alongside Nehru gives us a peep into the thinking of the powers that be. It is unfair to him as much as to the party. He would like to earn his position and be judged by his performance, not because of his dynastic ties. By showing Rahul Gandhi at the head of five leaders in the hoarding presupposes his qualities of leadership which he has yet to prove.
Indeed, the Congress has come a long way from the days when it was founded in 1884. The person who converted the Congress into a people’s party was Mahatma Gandhi. The organisers could not help giving him prominence. But he was not in the hoarding which showed only the dynasty. Even otherwise, he would have been out of place except with Nehru.
Nowhere on the Congress radar does Maulana Abul Kalam Azad figure. A prominent leader in the national struggle who made many sacrifices, he has been practically forgotten by the party. His photo is seldom displayed at Congress sessions.
Over the years, the values of the Congress have changed. It was austere in its approach. Today the five-star culture has taken over. On corruption especially, there was zero tolerance. Lal Bahadur Shastri, mentioned the least in the present Congress set-up, made the Punjab chief minister resign because the Justice Das Commission held him guilty on a trivial charge. But neither Rajiv Gandhi nor Sonia Gandhi found anyone guilty for the Bofors gun scandal. In fact, Jharkhand’s Madhu Koda, who has apparently made more than Rs4,000 crore in less than two years, was the Congress nominee to head the government.
The Congress has also converted public functionaries into instruments to carry out the party’s orders. And they, the bureaucrats, have played havoc with the country.
But other political parties that have ruled at the centre and in the states are no better. They, too, have erased the thin line between right and wrong, the moral and immoral.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is most to blame. Its Hindu rashtra policy, dictated by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has tried to sink the minority communities in the sea of communalism in a country which is pluralistic.
The good news is that the BJP is going downhill rapidly. Its strength came down from 138 to 116 in the Lok Sabha election held last May. In contrast, the Congress won 206 seats in the 543-member house. The BJP and its allies lost in eight states which went to the polls last year.
The defeat is reportedly the reason why the RSS has taken direct charge of the party. Its leaders do not, however, want to face the fact that fundamentalism does not sell anymore. One fears lest the party should try to repeat what it did in Gujarat (state-sponsored killings) in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh where it rules.
The left is still licking its wounds. Its tally of 64 in the Lok Sabha has come down to a mere 16. A strong opposition has emerged in West Bengal and Kerala where it rules. The anti-incumbency factor may play a part in the defeat of leftist governments in both states.
Even otherwise, the youth which once provided the cadre to the communists, are more attracted by the corporate sector. In fact, the Maoists have come to be considered leftists. The communists are seen at best as radical Congressmen.
Regional outfits like Mulayam Singh’s Samajwadi Party and Lalu Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal are in a shambles. The only regional party that has won the state election is the Biju Janata Dal in Orissa. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu and Janata Dal (United) in Bihar have yet to pass muster. Mayawati, the Dalit leader who is UP chief minister, is losing her ground.
Therefore, there is no opposition party which can provide an alternative to the Congress. Its arrogance and that of its governments at the centre and in the states has violated the rule of law irreparably. The party has done very little to check food prices that have risen by 20 per cent in the last six months. The lower half is suffering the most. Power has corrupted the Congress. Absolute power may corrupt the party absolutely.
There has to be an alternative party committed to secularism and public welfare. A viable opposition is necessary in a democratic state so as to keep the government on its toes. India’s graph of clean administration and basic human rights is dipping. The more space the Congress occupies the less would be the attention paid to values. Dynastic politics is ominous.
The writer is a senior journalist based in Delhi.
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