Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, May 16: The Congress is again at the receiving end over Rahul Gandhi’s remarks at the party’s Udaipur conclave with most of the opposition parties, including its close allies, asking the grand old party to “reconcile with the reality.”
Considering that the Congress party’s electoral performances had been continuously going downward as reflected from the recently held assembly elections in various states followed by local body polls, the regional parties have advised the Congress to come to terms with the reality that it no longer dominates the Opposition space.
Most of the regional parties on Monday sharply attacked the party’s former national president Rahul Gandhi’s statement at the just-concluded “Chintan Shivir” of the party in Udaipur that the regional parties would never be able to put up a fight against the ruling BJP and RSS because these parties “lack the ideology.”
At a time when regional parties have held the BJP back in several states, even as the Congress has failed, one of its own allies, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), said: “It is Rahul Gandhi’s self-assessment and he is entitled to his opinion, but who gave him the authority to comment on ideology? How are we running the party without any ideology?”
The JMM and Congress run a coalition government in Jharkhand. Party spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya said: “The fact remains that it is these regional parties on which the Congress is dependent for a fight or a win, be it the JMM in Jharkhand or the RJD in Bihar.”
Speaking at the Chintan Shivir, Rahul said the Congress was mounting an ideological resistance to the onslaught of the RSS, unlike regional parties which “lack an ideology” and “have different approaches.”
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), another Congress ally, also called Rahul’s statement “bizarre and unfortunate.” RJD MP Manoj Jha said had the former Congress president been mindful of the outcome of poll fights against the BJP, he would have realised “the ideological and electoral commitment that is brought by such regional outfits, which he said do not have the capacity.”
Jha also repeated RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav’s advice for the Congress: “There are 220-225 seats where the BJP and Congress are in a direct fight. The Congress should leave the other spaces to regional parties and settle to the idea of a co-traveller.” Leaders of Congress ally DMK preferred not to comment on the issue. Several indicated they were waiting for the party leadership’s stand to speak.
Recently, another ally, CPM, had said it was the Congress that had a crisis of ideology as it was flirting with “soft Hindutva” and was unable to take on the challenges posed by the BJP. CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, who is considered a votary of the Congress, said at a party conference in Kochi: “Compared to the past, the Congress today has been considerably weakened. And many in the BJP and the RSS do not see the Congress as a major threat. Because, any of its leaders, at any point of time, can leave the party to join the BJP.”
The Trinamool Congress (TMC), the ruling party in West Bengal, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the ruling party in Delhi and Punjab, which have dealt the BJP severe blows with more than one defeat, were more blunt. TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev said “bereft of a narrative, face and organisation”, it was the Congress that was handing over seats to the BJP on a platter, in places where the two parties are in a direct fight.
“We are not contesting every seat, but the BJP is strong wherever the Congress is the primary opposition. The BJP has not been able to defeat M K Stalin (Tamil Nadu), Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), or for that matter Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy (Andhra Pradesh), to name a few. In that sense, the BJP is happy to have the Congress as a national party because it suits them. The reality is, the Congress is unable to defeat the BJP,” Dev, who quit the Congress in August last year, said. The TMC has drifted away from the Congress after once having been a constituent of the UPA.
AAP asks how the grand old party thought it was in a position to fight communal forces, given that it remains beset with infighting. “Even in states like Madhya Pradesh, which voted the Congress to power, its candidates put themselves up for sale. The party has no presence in major states like UP and Tamil Nadu. And what is national and regional? For years, it has been a junior partner to parties like the SP, DMK,” AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said.
Talasani Srinivas Yadav, a senior leader of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and a minister, said: “Rahul Gandhi should first consider the condition of his party all over India and then make such comments… Their status has been exposed in the Uttar Pradesh election results.”
Refusing to come on record, a leader of the YSR Congress Party (formed after a split in the Congress) said: “Did we not decimate the Congress, which is a national party, in Andhra Pradesh? If we can take on one national party, we are strong enough to take on any other national party. The Congress is in no position to decide who can fight the BJP. In fact, we think only regional parties can oppose the BJP.”
BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty said: “The results that regional parties have been showing in their respective states is evidence enough of the efficacy of these parties. From Delhi to Kerela, regional parties are being trusted by the people and given more and more responsibilities.” The Congress’s slow eclipse showed “it is itself fighting an ideological battle”, Mohanty added. “In all probability, Rahul Gandhi was in a mood to joke. They should first evaluate themselves properly, then cast aspersions either on national parties or regional parties. The problem with the Congress right now is, it is unable to evaluate itself.”
RJD”s Manoj Jha noted that Rahul’s own statement ran contrary to the declaration adopted by the Congress at the Chintan Shivir about keeping options open for alliances with “like-minded parties.” Jha said regional parties were strong in a majority of Lok Sabha seats in the fight against the BJP, and the Congress should settle to be “co-travellers” and let them be in the “driving seat” in over 320 of the 543 parliamentary constituencies. This is a point RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has also made, he noted. “These kind of statements have no traction with history,” he said.
Jha said it was the RJD which was at the receiving end of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attack during elections as it was at the nucleus of the electoral and ideological fight against the BJP. From RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav to Tejashwi Yadav, hundreds of RJD leaders and workers have suffered due to the party’s ideological commitment in the fight against the BJP, he claimed.
