HVK Archives: For democracy's sake, the Congress must not die
For democracy's sake, the Congress must not die - The Pioneer
Sudheendra Kulkarni
()
10 October 1996
Title : For democracy's sake, the Congress must not die
Author : Sudheendra Kulkarni
Publication : The Pioneer
Date : October 10, 1996
Mr Sitaram Kesri has played a master stroke by inducting
Dr Manmohan Singh into the Congress Working Committee.
It may well turn out to be a brilliant, albeit desperate,
last over sixer scored in vain by an almost discarded,
doddering old player with an inglorious record, who
suddenly rinds himself wearing the captain's cap of a
badly mauled and marginalised team. The master stroke
will not save the team from what looks like a humiliating
rout.
But there it is. On a tempestuous early October Sunday
afternoon, the newly elected captain of the Congress team
announces in his maiden Press conference that he has
brought on board the cleanest man in the party and then,
with tears faked or genuine rolling down behind his
bespectacled eyes, he hugs the ever unassuming bureau-
crat-turned-politician. Mr Kesri even hints that the
former Finance Minister is tipped for a more weighty role
in the party (CPP leadership?) than just being another
CWC member. Much of the media and the intelligentsia is
impressed. And you can hear the quiet clapping even in
Sangh Parivar's private circles.
The Congress party is taking so many daily beatings these
days that one Mr Clean being pitchforked into its highest
decision-making body makes no differences to its imme-
diate-term fate. The swamp of corruption and skullduggery
its egoistic, self-seeking and scheming leaders have
wallowed in all these years-as a result of which the
party has come to such a pitiable pass-cannot be cleaned
up by one upright man even if he is entrusted with key
leadership responsibilities. Such miracles do not happen
in politics.
And then, Dr Manmohan Singh does not even have the natu-
ral advantage which the original Mr Clean, late Rajiv
Gandhi had: The legacy of the Nehru-Gandhi family.
Everyone knows what happened to that image in less than
four years as Rajiv's prime ministership journeyed from
his sunshine speech at the Congress centennial session in
late 1985 to the murky minefield of Bofors in 1988-89.
Rootlessness, inexperience and that deadly character
trait of any young man who has not earned his success,
arrogant impudence, did him and the Congress party-in.
His successor as party president, Mr PV Narasimha Rao,
may have completed full five years in prime ministerial
chair, but he could not arrest the continuous decline and
decay of the Congress which started even before Rajiv's
time. Dr Singh's well-intentioned admirers should har-
bour no illusions that he, even in a more weighty future
role in the party, can reverse this trend in the absence
of a systemic churning process.
Yet, Mr Kesri's bold act has a significance which augurs
well for that much-awaited churning process. It shows
that the Congress is not dead yet. It is righting for
its survival. The sheer instinct to survive often makes
an individual or an organisation to think up a good
thought or do a good deed. And that, as history has
shown, is always the first step in defying death and
reviving oneself.
Today, as apposite as the question, 'Will the Congress
die?", is the related question, 'Should the Congress
die?". The answer to that has to be an emphatic "no".
One does not have to be a sycophant or a supporter of the
Congress to wish that the Congress should survive and
revive itself back to vigour. In the past few weeks,
this,writer has heard many voices Iii the BJP and the
rest of the Sangh parivar affirming that "the Congress
party should not wither away like this, it is not good
for the country".
Strengths of the party
The argument linking revitalisation of the Congress to
that of Indian democracy has much merit. Regardless of
one's subjective preference for any party, the survival
of any political organisation depends on three condi-
tions. One, is its message relevant to the times? Does
it strike a chord with the felt needs of the broad masses
of society? Two, is the message backed up by manpower?
In other words, is there a match between the ideology and
the organisation-the structure of committed leaders and
workers-that is meant to put it into practice? Three,
does the organisation have a tradition that instills
confidence among the people?
It can be seen that the Congress of today fares abysmally
on the second count, but not at all so badly on the first
and the third counts. Despite all its acts of betrayal
of its own principles and of the confidence people re-
posed in it in successive elections, the party is still
left with some virtues which neither its opponents nor
its honest but frustrated ranks should overlook. On the
ideological front, the original strength of the Congress
has been its national outlook: Its conviction that India
can be -governed with any degree of stability and effica-
cy only by taking all section of society along. That is
why, even in its worst days, the Congress has not been
associated with any particular caste, community or re-
gion, even though it has often played casteist and commu-
nal politics.
It is worth noting that while casteism has not sullied
the Congress image much, its appeasement of Muslim sepa-
ratism-not to be confused with pampering of Muslim masses
has harmed the party immensely. Indeed, its distortion
and perversion of the principle of secularism (under the
influence of the Left, which also distorted the principle
of socialism) Is the main reason why a marginal party
like the BJP could grow rapidly into a formidable force
that even toppled the Congress itself from its position
of primacy in the parliamentary elections of 1996. Had
the Congress, right from the time of Nehru and Indira
Gandhi, acted in a principled manner to counter Muslim
separatism (which caused Partition) and tried to bring
Muslim masses into the national mainstream, there can be
no doubt whatsoever that the BJP would not be where it is
today. The Congress can still recover some ground by
making amends in this crucial sphere.
The other original strength of the Congress message was
its pro-poor appeal, which the BJP even today lacks.
This may sound paradoxical since the Congress has adhered
to this promise more in its breach. But few can deny
that the party has gained in mass support whenever it
projected a pro-poor agenda. What this means is that
India is going to plump for any national party-it could
be the Congress, the BJP or any other-which fashions a
credible message that marries the twin themes of poverty
alleviation and economic reforms.
The path to Congress revival is paved by three precondi-
tions: Restoring secularism to its original Hindu mean-
ing; creating a new pro-poor, pro-growth agenda, and,
organisation purification to align its future with its
past. This task is beyond the capabilities of the Kesris
and Pilots. But even the smallest progress in this
direction, such as the induction of Dr Singh into the
CWC, gives hope that the dying giant can yet kick itself
back to life. And when the oldest political formation in
the country shows signs of revival, it is bound to exert
positive pressure on the political class as a whole. The
real winner in this healthy competition among parties,
which will stand in stark contrast to their unhealthy and
mindlessly confrontationist politics today, will be
Indian democracy.
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