01-01-2021 The Asian Independent

www.theasianindependent.co.uk ASIA 01-01-2021 to 15-01-2021 9
India will have to move to collective
federal spirit beyond one man one
party one MARKET one FAMILY
When the focus of the country’s
intellectuals, activists, journalists
should be on the immediate challenge
before us particularly the issues of
agrarian sector and farming communities
who have been protesting against
the three farm bills, ‘liberals’ and ‘seculars’
seems to have now been obsessed
with the Gandhi family. The fulminations
of Ram Chandra Guha, an elite
brahmanical secularist, against the
Gandhi family will neither help secularism
nor democracy. The best, it will
help the BJP and Hindutva who he
claims to despise so much. And Ram
Chandra Guha kind of people are more
dangerous and do more damage to democratic
polity than Arnab Goswami and
his ilks could as their ideological traits
are well known and they are committed
to that.
I am not here to speak about the
decline of Congress but if you do an
honest analysis of the situation, it is not
merely Gandhi family, it has to do a lot
with political debate getting highly poisonous
and intoxicated in the past twenty
years. Sonia Gandhi faced a hostile
‘intellectual class’ along with the Sangh
Parivar related to the issue of her birth.
After the formation of UPA-1, she tried
to lead it from the backdoor but played
mostly the role of a guiding force
reminding the government of the day,
its duties towards the citizens and some
of the best bills were passed in the
Parliament during that period.
When the Congress Party came back
to power in 2009 i.e. UPA-II, a large
number of BJP leaders had felt that
their political career was over.
Congress leaders too became too arrogant
to speak to their workers and files
would move at the speed of bullock
cart. The biggest failure of Congress
there was its mishandling of various
issues. Anna’s movement could have
been dealt with in a better way, followed
by Nirbhaya. The media had by
then turned against the UPA as communication
with the media and people was
the last strategy of Congress party.
The Telangana issue, the Land
Acquisition issue and then Anna and
Nirbhaya issue actually discredited the
government. Coal Block and other
issues of corruption and the Sangh
Narrative became more powerful. If
you see the leaders who were at the
helm of affairs doing all this were
Pranab Mukharjee, Kapil Sibbal,
Gulam Nabi Azad and P Chidambaram
were in most the committees formed by
the government and its responses. Will
these leaders take responsibility for the
downfall of the Congress. Manish
Tiwari was the Minister for Information
and Broadcasting but look at his contribution.
Nothing. He was arrogant
enough to not fight the election. They
only felt that they had no responsibility
towards the party. Who brought the
FCRA changes shrinking the NGOs and
civil society work. It is Chidambaram.
Today, Congress need civil society
when the government has made the
laws more stringent but you can not
blame Sonia Ganhi for the same. The
problem is that Congress never did an
analysis of its governanace model in
UPA I and II. It should have actually
done a performance check and monitor
their work. Today, those who faiiled
Congress shamelessly are actually tell
us how they are ‘concerned’ about its
decline. Question is whether merely
Gandhis are responsible for this or there
is a collective failure. It is the Congress
politics which believed in personality
cult as they got benefitted from it but
India is changed now. Modi phase will
remain for some time but will not work.
It is working because it is a combine
effort of many things. Congress must
learn that India is now aspiring for a
truly collective federalism and only that
spirit will take us further. Even at the
regional level parties will have to
democratise more.
Congress’s decline started in the
1980s and I have written about it many
times. It is because India is going federal
and regional aspirations are coming
up and none can stop it. States don’t
want a decision to be taken at the center
and India will have to develop better
mechanisms to develop a cordial relationship
among the States. Secondly,
since emergency time and with the
notoriety of Sanjay Gandhi, Congress
was being despised by the minorities.
The Delhi’s 1984 riots and Congress’s
continuous defence of those participating
in the alleged riots alienated a big
number of Delhi’s Sikh population.
Rajiv Gandhi’s Shah Bano Act,
Narsimha Rao’s failure to protect
Babari Masjid and subsequent riots
alienated Muslims from the party.
The failure of the Congress Party in
handling the Mandal Commission issue
properly resulted in erosion of faith by
the Dalits and OBCs. Narsimha Rao
government’s attack on reservation and
rabid ‘liberalisation’ did its work further.
Congress had lost all the major
segments which brought it to power.
These segments, Muslims and Dalits
had left with the Congress. Farmers
voted according to their zones. There
were many Congress leaders during
Indira Gandhi’s time which hailed from
these communities.
Uttar Pradesh and Bihar changed in
the post Mandal era. It was these two
states which were giving Congress the
biggest power but since 1989,
Congress’s ground completely lost
from this region. It is no doubt that BJP,
Jan Sangh and RSS are organisations to
protect the interest of the Brahmanical
Social Order but most of the Savarnas
supported Congress as they felt it could
keep their ‘interest’ safe. It was committed
to that but after the Mandal
report, the Savaranas understood it
clearly that Congress cant protect their
interest and slowly started shifting to
BJP. Congress however, never learnt
any lessons and continued to attempt to
woo SC-ST-OBC Minorities on one
side and refusing to build a strong independent
leadership from these communities.
The fact is if Congress had
Mandalised itself then many of the current
day ‘dissenters’ would not have
found a way to go to Rajya Sabha. It
would have been people who have
linked with the community and public.
Now, these ‘liberals’ who are mostly
coffee table friend of many of the ‘dissenters’
feel that Sonia Gandhi and
Rahul Gandhi are responsible for this
ignore this vital fact that the power
games with in Congress are so powerful
that a leader like Arjun Singh who was
far superior to many including Pranab
Mukherjee, the highly eulogised man,
got isolated because he was considered
to be ‘eyeing’ for the prime minister’s
post. Even when he was given a relatively
lightweight Ministry of Human
Resource Development, it was he who
fought for the reservation issues in
higher education and ensured it was
implemented. It was Arjun Singh who
went to Ayodhya after the Babari
Demolition despite Prime minister
Narsimha Rao not enthused by his visit.
The brahmanical lobby within the
Congress has been upset because Rahul
Gandhi has been trying to implement
those changes. It has to be understood
that no single leader can make any
party victorious. BJP is not winning
elections just because there is a Modi
and his carefully crafted image but
because of ‘well oiled’ party machinery,
money, ED-CBI and their shameless
misuse as well as various other factors.
Congress also engaged in dirty tricks
during its hey days but Sonia Gandhi
and Rahul can’t be blamed for that.
To say that Gandhi family has
become the biggest threat to democracy
and its survival is a new low in the public
discourse. Tomorrow, you will say
Mayawati is the biggest threat to Dalit
rights or Akhilesh the biggest threat to
rise of farmers. If Congress party has
become a private limited company, as
Ram Guha says, then all those intellectuals
should join hands and form a new
party with Congress dissenters.
Obviously, BJP would love that. This is
not the time for such ridiculous arguments.
Chandra Shekhar remained lifelong
in politics and could become
prime minister for a short period. Atal
Bihari Vajpayee became prime minister
in mid 1990s while he was in politics
since 1960s. Most of the old veterans
became ministers and chief ministers
after one to two decades and even if
they have not become Prime minister or
chief minister, none ever questioned
their legitimacy. Can’t Gandhis be in
Politics ?
The way Ram Guha was saying
things it looked like he wanted Gandhis
to leave India to ‘protect democracy’ ?
What a joke ? How can you decide
about someone else. Why are the liberals
so bothered about a party they never
liked. The ‘ideological’ mind of Ram
Guha says that many ‘good people’ left
Congress and joined ‘BJP’. If they were
good looking then I don’t mind but if
they are truly secular, they won’t join it.
There is no doubt that Congress
remained a party of Brahmanical elite
which refused to change as per times
when Savarnas have ditched it. It still
feels that one day these caste Hindus
will return to it and ‘gaddi’ will be
reserved for them while still thinking
SC-ST-OBCs as foot soldiers of the
party which is not possible. The best
thing for Congress party would be to
keep changes as per regions. Stop
behaving as B Team of BJP bring new
faces and credible ones, give space to
marginalised and speak their issues.
Ram Guha said that Gandhi’s were
inconsistent and made ideological compromises.
Frankly Gandhi’s basic politics
have been above these but they
don’t want to be seen as anti Hindu.
Things have changed and poison is
more powerful today. Nobody could
ever dare to say Nehru as anti Hindu
despite his so strong secular credentials
but that was caste and being a ‘Pandit’
he was respected for his world view.
Indira Gandhi too remained powerful
but the Sangh narrative always questioned
her marriage etc. Rajiv Gandhi
actually liked by the RSS very much
and they supported many of his initiatives
but if Congress is feeling hollow it
is because the biggest strength of the
Gandhis have become the biggest weakness
of the party. The Gandhis worked
beyond narrow caste and communal
interest but today they do not have any
core constituency. Every leader has his
or her core constituency based on his or
her caste or other identity. Congress’s
Hindu identity has gone to BJP. BSP,
SP, RJD, DMK, Akalis, NCP, Shiv Sena
have their core constituencies and that is
why they are surviving. BJP is working
to snatch those core constituencies from
them. A non Yadav, chief of SP or RJD
or a non Savarna of the BJP would not
be able to attract or enthuse the core
constituencies in India.
The crisis of our democracy is different.
It is not Gandhis. It is that electoral
system which only helps the
‘dominants’. The day Dominants were
with the Congress, the system helped
the Congress and today all the dominant
forces are with BJP and it is helping
them. Secondly, India has changed.
People are aspiring for participation.
They need representation. Leaders have
to speak to people and good that Rahul
Gandhi is using social media which is
important. These are the only ways to
reach people apart from mass mobilisation
but the main point is that Congress
should become an umbrella organisation
for providing space to all the secular
social justice forces. Every
Congress worker and associate must
have a fierce commitment to democracy,
social justice and secularism. It
must respect collective spirit and federalism.
I can bet that BJP’s challenge
will only be met through collective federalism.
The attempt to ‘homogenise’
India for the purpose of helping one or
two corporations will fail ultimately.
Ram Guha has every right to critique
Gandhis but he can’t give them ‘ultimatum’.
India’s focus should be on fighting
for democratic polity and in collective
spirit. India aspires to become more
federal and that is why so many regional
parties are coming up. They will have
to show statesmanship and work
together. One man, one market, one
party show will fail. Expecting
Gandhi’s to do ‘miracle’
without
strengthening the collective spirit is
again looking for a ‘national’ figure to
counter Narendra Modi whose success
is not his own but a collective work of
so many forces, volunteers of RSS,
loyal media, loyal voters and now the
government machinery too but this is a
phase. This can only be countered by
collective federalism and inclusion of
the most marginalised and minorities in
the structure. So-called ‘national’ parties
will have to work along with other
regional parties on an equal basis and
give and take relationships. Ofcourse,
all forces must have a common minimum
programme. Fight is to protect the
idea of India as enshrined in our constitution
and Sonia or Rahul leaving the
space will not help the ‘secular’ forces
or democracy in India. Let them remain
where they are. Suggesting that the
Gandhis have become the biggest threat
to the survival of democracy is cleverly
changing the goal post from the ruling
party to the opposition which BJP
always wanted and Guha has only done
that. BJP and Modi have already made
media focus on Gandhis and Congress
and not on their failure to protect
democracy, minorities, SC STs and
farmers. Ram Guha has only added to
what Arnab Goswami and likes are
doing. Maybe Guha can tell us who is
his ‘ideal’ hero of the ‘seculars’ who he
think can lead the Congress party ?
Vidya Bhushan Rawat
is a social and human rights
activist. He blogs at
www.manukhsi.blogspot.com
twitter @freetohumanity
Email: vbrawat@gmail.com