Amitava Mukherjee
The irony that emerges from Rahul Gandhi’s resignation letter is the fact that he is still to realize or chooses not to realize the basic reasons behind Congress’ marginalization in Indian politics and has indirectly accused a section of the party leadership of not cooperating with him in his fight against Narendra Modi and the RSS. In his resignation letter Rahul rued the fact that at times he stood completely alone and dropped another interesting jibe, perhaps aimed towards some senior leaders of the Congress, by saying that powerful people always tried to cling to power in India but Congress’ fight can only be carried forward by relinquishing the desire for power and waging an ideological battle.
In a way his resignation letter can certainly be explained as an expression of his tussle with a host of senior leaders of the Congress as Rahul Gandhi has clearly asserted that numerous people will have to be made accountable for Congress’ poor performance. As per information, although resignations took place at state or district levels of the party many senior leaders, firmly ensconced at the capital, have chosen not to take into note Rahul’s message. However what the outgoing Congress president failed to realize is the fact that these leaders and the lion’s share of the party functionaries at the state,district and sub division levels are products of the culture of sycophancy and family rule that took over the Congress after the party split in 1969.
Three factors have worked behind Congress’ marginalization in Indian politics- adherence to family rule, failure to realize and then adjust with the changing Indian social dynamics and a complete misjudgment of the evolving nature of Hindutva that the RSS is now propagating. Gone are those days when Congress could boast of leaders like Morarji Desai,Kamraj Nadar, Atulya Ghosh, Nijlingappa etc. who commanded solid grass root supports. Even Jawaharlal Nehru was frequently confronted by them within the party and the Parliament. This internal party democracy was finished when Indira Gandhi split the party and instituted a family line of succession. Congress was swarmed by fortune seekers who danced to the tune of slogans like ‘ India is Indira, Indira is India’. If Rahul turns a bit introspective he will realize that this culture of family rule has helped him too to become the party president.
The second factor concerns the Green Revolution and the resultant economic empowerment of those who now constitute the middle level castes or the Other Backward Castes(OBC) in the Indian caste hierarchy. While the Congress banked on upper castes like the Brahmins,Rajputs, Bhumihars etc for rural domination particularly in the Hindi heartland, the middle level castes switched their loyalties, even at the beginning of the Green Revolution, to some regional outfits like the Bharatiya Kranti Dal in the 1967 election. That the OBCs have now become a very important contributing factor behind the marginalization of the Congress is an accepted fact. Congress failed to pick up the social signal. Vishwanath Pratap Singh, the Janata Dal Prime minister did recognize it and he implemented the recommendations of the Vindheswari Prasad Mandal Commission’s recommendations.
The third factor that has made Congress’ position pitiable is its inability to read between the lines the RSS’ new programme of ‘ Maha Hindutva’. A fundamental change has occurred in the mindset of the Dalits, so long a principal electoral prop of the Congress, in vast swaths of the Hindi belt. They now put more premium on getting economic benefits rather than on social justice. Sensing this change RSS has put to operation its idea of Maha Hindutva which means bringing all sections of the society under one umbrella. As a result large numbers of Dalit groups are understood to have voted for the BJP in the last Lok Sabha poll..
Before the 1969 split Congress was basically federal in character and there were always space for regional leaders. For this India witnessed towering state level chief ministers like Bidhan Chandra Roy in West Bengal, Gopinath Bardoloi in Assam, Sri Krishna Sinha in Bihar, Sucheta Kripalani in Uttar Pradesh, Kamraj Nadar in the then Madras etc. Indira Gandhi destroyed this federal character and made the Congress a unitary family oriented institution. As a result it gradually lost touch with ground realities. A classic example is its ambivalent attitude towards the burning issue of infiltration of foreign nationals in Assam and several north eastern Indian states.
Congress is in deep crisis. Rahul Gandhi’s letter of resignation and its spirit has hardly been able to capture the reasons that lie beneath the sorry state of affairs in the party.
(The author is a senior journalist
and commentator.).
feedbackexcelsior@gmail.com
Follow our WhatsApp channel