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Rhetoric and reality

There is a tragicomic touch to the chorus seeking the anointment of Rahul Gandhi as Prime Minister-apparent. The young man is an advocate of inner-party democracy and it is his considered opinion that the redemption of the Congress lies in ridding itself of the ‘High Command’ culture, which concentrates power at the top. But the more the party’s first family stresses democratic values and distances itself from the direct exercise of power, the stronger it s attractions to loyalists and sycophants. The recent ‘Rahul for PM’ move is of a piece with the near-hysterical efforts made in 2004 to force the stewardship of government on Sonia Gandhi. The mother, whose refusal to become Prime Minister was an act of exceptional political self-abnegation, and the son have done well to throw cold water on sycophancy that has only strengthened the view that Congresspersons saw their party as being dynastically led. The first family should ponder over the future of an organisation that seems paralysed without a Nehru-Gandhi at the helm. It should reflect on its own role in fostering a culture so rooted in non-independence, deference, and family worship that it seems impossible to do things any other way.

Who the Congress fields as its prime ministerial candidate is its own business. Outsiders cannot expect to have any say in this. It is also nobody’s case that Mr. Gandhi must be denied the democratic right to pursue politics as a career. But when a party that claims to be democratic and inclusive practises unashamed dynastic politics, it must expect to get flak from all directions. Neither Mr. Gandhi’s public utterances nor his strategic manoeuvres inspire much confidence in his leadership capabilities. Consider the state of his party in Uttar Pradesh, which he desperately wants to win back. During the run-up to the 2007 Assembly election, the Congress, with Mr. Gandhi in the lead, worked for the unconstitutional dismissal of the Mulayam Singh government. On the campaign trail, he boasted that his family had divided Pakistan. Right now, he is leading a vicious charge against U.P. Chief Minister Mayawati in a misconceived bid to wean away her Dalit base. Ms Mayawati has worked diligently and broad based her approach to get where she is. The latest evidence of her political success is the Bahujan Samaj Party’s sweep of by-elections in two Lok Sabha and three Assembly constituencies. Rather than target a charismatic mass leader, the Congress general secretary should work at nurturing genuine talent from Dalit and other oppressed and non-privileged sections so that the Congress ceases to be a party of patronage offering lip sympathy to the downtrodden.

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