““There was a very great keenness on the part of our rank and file, or at least a large section of it, to leave the Congress, even before the British had been driven out of the country. And some of these leaders were going along with them. My position was, rather, very moderate on this because I had decided for myself that I wouldn’t leave the Congress until the British had left the country — and, you know, for obvious reasons because I felt that the freedom fight would be imperilled, and second, Mahatma Gandhi. That is why, after the death of Mahatma Gandhi, and the departure of the British, I just lost all interest in this question of whether to leave the Congress or not. They all decided”. – Dr Ram Manohar Lohia, Interviews to Paul Brass at his residence in New Delhi on July 31 and August 5, 1967
The exodus from Congress continues. After stalwarts like Kapil Sibal, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Ghulam Nabi Azad, now former Andhra Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, Anil Antony – son of A K Antony, former Defence Minister and Congress and CR Kesavan, Great Grandson of C Rajagopalachari deserted the Congress camp. There is nothing new in political leaders changing their party affiliations. The Congress party has seen many splits since its inception. The reasons given by these leaders, for quitting their long association with the grand old party, need a deeper analysis.
Ghulam Nabi Azad spoke about growing ‘intolerance’ and the lack of a robust and transparent internal democracy in Congress. Lack of internal reforms and elections is the common reason every congress leader talked about. An unelected working committee runs the party; unaccountable people are part of the coterie. So, the Gandhi scion who has been maligning our democracy daily, even on foreign soil, failed to introduce internal democracy in his party.
Party’s unwillingness to contest the elections with serious strategy and organisational strength is the natural result of the undemocratic functioning. The alliance with the corrupt and dynastic forces cements negative perceptions about the party. The non-serious leader of the party holds all other actors, ranging from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to the Adani group, responsible for the ruptures except himself. He is not ready to face the repercussions of the irresponsible accusations made and attacking our institutions for the same is a more worrying factor for our democracy.
Another set of allegations made by the ex-Congressmen is ideological. The Congress under the Gandhi family has been compromising with the ‘national interest’, whether Article 370, development policies or foreign and defence policy choices. The recent BBC documentary episode and Rahul Gandhi’s heroics in London have also become disturbing points for the patriots within the Congress. His foreign visits and meetings are also under scanner. The party has geographically lost its pan-India presence, sacrificing the ‘national’ part of its ideology. This tendency to consider self and the family above nation is the most concerning part that emerges from this series of the exodus.
In the name of Bharat Jodo Yatra, the Congress scion made irresponsible statements while associating with the members of the breaking-India forces. He raised the issue of linguistic nationalism with anti-Hindi comments, did photo ops with the urban-naxals, insulted freedom fighters like Veer Savarkar, toed the Chinese line on the border issue and did theatrics with his sister Priyanka to vitiate the atmosphere in Jammu-Kashmir. Since he has assumed the leadership role, the alienation of traditional Congress workers is directly proportional to the fringe Communists’ influence within the party.
Rahul is free to consider the Congress party as his fiefdom and ruin it. The old Congress echo chamber may continue to wait for his coming of an age. None of them has the right to play with the nation’s unity and integrity to secure a dynast’s future. The former Congress leaders coming out of the Congress are opting for ‘nation first’ over ‘family first’ is the real message of this the Congress exodus that dynastic sycophants would not like to accept.
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