HVK Archives: Dishonesty, thy name is Congress
Dishonesty, thy name is Congress - The Free Press Journal
M V Kamath
()
22 August 1997
Title: Dishonesty, thy name is Congress
Author: M V Kamath
Publication: The Free Press Journal
Date: August 22, 1997
'On one point and on one point alone, one can be in agreement with the
Congress. Coalition governments can never function in Delhi. We need a
strong Central Government for preserving the security and integrity of the
nation. But Kesri must be told that it is beyond the Congress to provide
the necessary strength. A party which has to ask Sonia Gandhi to lead it is
inherently weak.'
Irrespective of one's political sympathies for any party, what respect can
any one possibly have for a party whose president openly grovels before
Mrs. Sonia Gandhi and literally wishes to hand it over to her? What
exactly are Mrs. Sonia Gandhi's credentials?
Admittedly she is now an Indian national though by birth she is an Italian.
One does not cavil at her Italian ancestry any more than Americans did who
took Henry Kissinger's German ancestry in their stride. Kissinger became
Secretary of State, the second most powerful job in the United States.
Indians are not any less liberal. But having said that, what are Mrs.
Gandhi's qualifications to lead the Congress Party? Has she ever in the
past travelled throughout the length and breadth of the country, even as
her mother-in-law did, to acquaint herself with the problems of the people?
Has she ever been elected to any party post? What training does she have
to guide and pilot the fortunes of the Indian National Congress? And yet
here is Sitaram Kesri pleading with her to "give new direction to the party
and help the organization to a new path". It is a most extraordinary plea
the like of which has never been heard in all these years. What is even
more shocking to see is the delirious response of Congressmen attending the
plenary session of the party, to the presence of Mrs. Gandhi among them.
And this at a time when not far away from the venue of the Congress
session, Mamata Banerjee was addressing a crowd of over five lakh strong to
loud applause. It would seem that within the Congress the slave mentality
still persists. One suspects that had Lord Louis Mountbatten's daughter
Lady Pamela decided to live in India, Congressmen would have anointed her
as their President. As it turned out, Sitaram Kesri showed he was willing
to fall at Sonia Gandhi's feet. What else can it mean when Kesri says:
"Soniaji, do what you want. Lead the nation. This country is yours". Is it
any wonder, then, that Indians worshipped Queen Victoria when she was
crowned Empress of India and people sang hosannas to her? The Indians in
1857 must have said words exactly similar: "Victoriaji. Do what you want.
Lead the nation. This country is yours". Queen Victoria took the words
literally. She took India.
Fifty years of independence have not taught us a thing. We still want to be
slaves. If there is one think lacking among Congressmen it is
self-confidence. And self-respect. Kesri's appeal to Sonia Gandhi is ample
testimony to that fact. That a great party like the Indian National
Congress which offered fight to the mighty British empire should now come
to such a low point that it should offer "the country", no less to an
Italian bahu to he saved leaves one sick and disgusted. The pretence of the
Congress to save the Scheduled Castes from "misery and exploitation" is
phony, to say the least. The entire top brass of the party, comprising
1,075 AICC delegates could not elect a single Scheduled Caste or a Backward
Caste person to become a member of the Congress Working Committee. To save
face Sitaram Kesri may now co-opt a couple of them. But that is not the
same thing as being elected by common consent. It is all very well to say
that the Congress Party will "under no circumstances' support or align with
the BJP "or any other communal combination" as that would go against the
basic tenets of the party. That is the party's privilege but may one ask it
to make a slightly deeper study of its own policies to see to what extent
it has itself implemented its prescribed philosophy?
There is something pathetic about a party to evoke the assassination of
Mahatma Gandhi and imply that the assassin belonged to a group associated
with an earlier avatar of the BJP, in order to win the voters' sympathy
today. Let me recall the political resolution passed by the Congress in
the plenary session. Says it in part: "The most disquieting feature of the
new political phenomenon is the fact that the rabidly communal feelings
injected into the body politic of this country motivated a misguided young
man to assassinate the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, all in the
name of service to the country..." What the resolution says implicitly, but
dare not say explicitly for fear of being sued for defamation is this: (a)
That the RSS, it was, which introduced rabid communalism in the country (b)
That one Nathuram Godse was a member of the RSS (c) That Godse, "motivated"
by the RSS, assassinated Mahatma Gandhi (d) That, therefore, the RSS is
responsible for the assassination of the Mahatma (c) The RSS today controls
the BJP and is "acquiring a tighter grip" on the party (f) By that reason
the BJP is equally guilty of assassination of the Father of the Nation,
Ergo, the citizen must not vote for the BJP. The Congress Party's logic is
hard to understand. In the first place it shows cowardice. It is afraid to
spell out what it wants to say and has to take recourse to inuendos. That
is gutter politics. The Congress knows very well that no less than Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel had to exonerate the RSS after extensive investigation
had been undertaken. It should also know - if it does not know already that
no less than Jayaprakash Narayan had praised the patriotism of the RSS.
Besides, if the RSS is so "rabidly communal" why should it have rushed to
the succour of the victims of the plane crash near Delhi some months ago?
Did the RSS inquire whether, again, the victims of the Faridabad train
crash were only Hindus, before it rushed its volunteers to the crash site?
Where were Congress volunteers on these occasions? It is a cruel joke to
say that the Congress is represented in every city, town and village. It
is indeed remarkable then that when people are in distress, it is the RSS
which rushes succour, irrespective of the caste, creed or religion of the
sufferers.
The Congress resolutions reek of hypocrisy. The political resolution,
inter alia, says: "This Plenary Session puts on record its total support
for the proposal to ensure proper representation to the women in India in
Parliament and legislatures of the country..... But obviously only to
Parliament and State Legislatures, but not to the Congress Working
Committee. Not a single woman was elected by the 1,075 AICC delegates to
the CWC. Ambika Soni received 160 votes. Margaret Alva received 148 votes
and probably these votes were from women delegates. One feels like saying:
Dishonesty, Thy name is Congress.
The Congress has taken strong exception to the Leftist parties, for
aligning once upon a time with the BJP in the formation of governments. The
Congress has also charged the CPM government of West Bengal with wholesale
corruption. Does the Congress know that the CPM and the Leftist parties are
a major component of the United Front government? If the CPM is corrupt in
Calcutta, can it be clean in Delhi? If the Congress is so particular about
clean governments why is it supporting the United Front?
There is not a word about the Janata Dal which was till the other day
ruling in Bihar nor of the Rashtriya Janata Dal which is ruling die state
today. Yes. the CPM is corrupt and the diversion of hundreds of crores of
rupees to the personal ledger accounts of CPM Ministers needs to be looked
into by the CBI. But why isn't there a word about Laloo Prasad Yadav and
his alleged misdeeds? Terror stalks Bihar today. There is no law and
order in the state. The Hindu (8 August) reported that "Mr. Shahabuddin
has been organising a two-hour road blockade in Siwan everyday since August
2 and there is no one to protest against this." A CPM leader was shot dead
in broad daylight and such is the fear engendered by the RJD that,
according to the paper's correspondent, "there is no way a local person
would show you the way to the house where Chandra Shekar (the murdered
leader) lived with his mother before he was killed.... there is tenor all
around".
The Congress, however, is indifferent to the killings in Bihar which are
practically an everyday affair but the party is very insistent on the
President dismissing the Shiv Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra because of
the firing on a violent Dalit crowd in Mumbai. The shooting became
necessary. The killing is regretted by one and all. But it was not a
deliberate affair, whereas in Bihar killings are deliberate but no one has
suggested that the ruling party be dismissed in Patna. How on earth the
Congress can give its support from outside to the United Front government
when it detests the United Front as a unit and its component parties
severally, remains a mystery. Sitaram Kesri says he would like to raise
the national flag on the ramparts of the Red Fort next year in the belief
that the, Congress will win the next elections. That is optimism.
On one point and on one point alone, one can be in agreement with the
Congress. Coalition governments can never function in Delhi. We need a
strong Central Government for preserving the security and integrity of the
nation. But Kesri must be told that it is beyond the Congress to provide
the necessary strength. A party which has to ask Sonia Gandhi to lead it is
inherently weak. Every indication is that whether one likes it or not it
will be the BJP that is most likely to be voted into power in the next
general elections which, by all accounts, cannot be far away. They may
well be held in November this year or early in March next year. But it is
increasingly becoming evident that the people are fed up both with the
Congress mid the United Front which has failed on practically all fronts.
The best way for the Congress to show its honesty is to withdraw its
support to the United Front and precipitate fresh elections. What is the
party waiting for?
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