NOT (E) THE QUESTION ON WHO RULES
Congress Leaders of Keralam has to look beyond their
assertive political games, instead will have to silently accept the concerns
and calculations of the national leadership.
The present tussle for power has its own bearing in the political future
of the party. If the High Command is forced to concede to local pressures and
equations, it would defeat the
aspirations of the party to take over the Raisina Hills in the near future.
For the past 15 years, after every election, it has become a routine for AICC General
Secretaries in charge of the states
tender their resignation, accepting the responsibility over the failures in the assigned states. Very few among the General Secretaries are fortunate to remain
unaffected by the outcome of the elections. The second in control and command
of the party, next to the Party President would always remain intact in the
same position. In recent times Ahmed Patel, and after him KC Venugopal are two
names in the line to be counted.
KC , as the General Secretary of the AICC is commonly known
in the party circles, KC Venugopal, for
him the party leadership has again deviated from dictated policies to let him stand in the
elections for a second time.
While the stalwart of Congress in Keralam, K Sudhakaran,
along with MK Raghavan and K Suresh were denied party ticket to the Legislative
Assembly, the High Command seemingly relied on the declared party policy
of not to permit sitting members of
Parliament in another election. While the tenets were flouted for KC ,
the tall man of Kannur, K Sudhakaran was more than hurt. He had done more than what any other student
leader and Youth Congress leader can stake claim in the party, for having put all
his youthful energies to valiantly fight against the hard-core cadres of CPI
M to stabilize Congress in Kannur
District.
Fortunes of KC took a new turn when Ashok Gehlot had to cut short his tenure
to 7 months as the General Secretary in
Charge of Organisation to take over the
Chief Ministership of Rajasthan. He had
ensured that his close confident, KC Venugopal as the successor in the party in
2019. The very next year Ashok
Gehlot nominated KC to Rajya Sabha leading to a high voltage
drama of allegations on Poaching of MLAs and finally resorting to resort politics.
After such a high-profile development during Covid Pandemic, two
years later AICC heeded to the wishes of KC Venugopal in 2024, to resign from Rajya
Sabha and to contest from Alappuzha, the Venice of the East.
The controversial decision of the party costed more than what could be anticipated then. In the by
polls, the Seat KC represented from Rajasthan was taken away by the BJP.
Further, cross voting in Himachal
Pradesh reduced the number further to 27
in the House of States .
Again in 2026, when KC has staged
a comeback to the Venice of the East. to be elected to the State Assembly . More than the party can it be seen as a
political engineering by No. 5, Sunehri Bagh Lane?
KC has laid to rest the questions on a divide over the next
occupant of the Cliff House. Ramesh
Chennithala, the then young vibrant KSU
leader and Chairman of the College Union was handpicked by K Karunakaran.
Ramesh Chennithala, too climbed the ladder from the Kerala
Students Union like VD Satheesan, the
outgoing Opposition Leader. VD Satheesan has a track record of winning over many of the seniors through his
strategies, and had become an icon of Congress in Kerala during the past 10
years of Left Democratic Front rule. .
Political Observers in the National Capital have turned their
eyes to the undercurrents of the big man KC Venugopal slipping into the small
state of Keralam. After becoming the
General Secretary of the AICC in 2019, he rose to be the second in command to Rahul
Gandhi after the departure of Ahmed Patel. Known for his role in keeping
out the old stallions of the party leaders, is alleged to be the brain behind keeping out veterans
like Ghulam Nabi Azad and G 23 and Digvijay Singh out of access and decision
making.
Whereas, the fortunes and resources of the Congress party is weakening
day by day, leadership tussles in Karnataka do not seem to do anything much
good for the party. The platform of Bengaluru is becoming feeble day by day.
MUDA allocations, Valmiki Corporation and the fiscal crisis in Karnataka could
not add much to the resources of the
party. Revanth Reddy of Telangana is facing a similar situation in the fiscal
management of the state and will soon prove to be another burden for the Party
High Command.
The only other government of Himachal Pradesh of
Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu is also facing political instability.
At this time, the Central leadership of the Congress needs a
strong anchorage committed to 5 Sunehri Bagh Lane and 10 Janpath. Telangana became
misquoted as the ATM of AICC . It can be ascertained that Keralam was the
only hope in the recent assembly elections. The party had exhausted quite a
lot. Under the existing situations, fundraising has become a tough task for the
party, which is yet to recover from the seizures of Income Tax, roll back
of Electoral Bonds and the spending for 2024 elections. Congress
has a history of funding at local level
and the major share came from the business lobbies at the centre. Indira
Gandhi had as ensured that party brigades at the grass roots are taken care
properly.
By the 1970s, the liquor lobby had become a powerful
enterprise of Political funding. Prohibition in Gujarat and Maharashtra trickled
off new investments in other states, illicit trade and smuggling made quite a
few wealthy unknown, who ballooned the pockets of political leaders. Then came
the emergence of the Sugarcane lobby, which worked closely with the
political system leading to some prohibition relaxations in Maharashtra. The
fate of political parties in the major states came under the grip of the
Sugarcane lobby to a great extent. The situations became so complex that
Socialism had to be inserted in the constitution to avert the trap of corporate dominance in policy
decisions, taking cues from the pre-constitutional political situations into
considerations.
Stalinist influence in the party decisions was concealed as
high level intelligence strategy,
engineered through a one-man operation. With no clues and evidence at hand
against the socialist adoptions, unrest among some leaders reached new heights by the mid1950s leading to the
formation of the Swatantra Party . The new party gained popularity, from 18
seats in 1962, the number became second to INC in the 1967 general
elections reaching 44 and a good share
of the 35 independents in support. Jan Sangh too gained nation-wide
acceptance sending 35 members to the Lok Sabha, the signals were strong
enough for Indira Gandhi to foresee a political debacle in the making. She
dismantled the funding apparatus of the Swatantra Party and to some
extent clipped the royal patronage of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh
as well.
Situations favoured the business lobby to step in and to
become a key player in the policy decisions of the Government.
The growth in the Agricultural production promoted licensing
of Rice Exports led to the formation of another lobby.
The global
energy crisis worsened and the oil shocks led to the nationalization of the
petroleum sector by the early 1970s. Soon, the political system developed
strategies to attract foreign investments in Exploration and production. In
1979 licensing of exploration blocks to international players in Oil and Natural
Gas began. Together with a shift in the import policy, in less than 20 years,
the Indian synthetic Textile and Petroleum segment gathered enough
strength to influence the political decisions.
During the
Janata Party regime, Onion trade became a powerful trade lobby with market
control over the prices. Casting shadows
over gold and silver, Onion became the main commodity of theft and robbery. With the soaring onion prices, average Indian
kitchen lost the flavour, fragrance and taste. In no time, Sugar also
became unaffordable followed by the scarcity of Kerosene and the market
pressure suffocated the country, The stage was set for the return of Indira
Gandhi. General Elections of 1980 was nicknamed as the ‘Onion’ ,
‘Kerosene’ and ‘Sugar’ elections. Indira Gandhi also failed to control onion
prices.
Most of the
present generation may be unaware about the reaction of M Hidayatullah Chairman
of Rajya Sabha, when Lok Dal leader Rameshwar Singh wearing a garland of Onion
raised the concern on Onion price hike, The Chairman of the House raised his
face and wondered what the member would be wearing when the prices of shoes and
tyres. The question of Hidayatullah faded in the echoes of laughter in the
house; many did not realize the gravity carried in what appeared to be sarcasm.
All India
Congress Committee, the Indian National Congress today stands at the same podium,
when the post-election decisions of Keralam shifted from the state capital
of Thiruvananthapuram to Indraprastham. The trend in the Congress party
was started around 1966-67 by Indira Gandhi, to assert her leadership and
authority.
Without
consulting the party leaders and Congress Working Committee she took the
decision to devalue the Indian Currency; this led to the abolition of Gulf
Currency notes for Arabian Countries. Many strong supporters of Indira Gandhi
expressed displeasure and moved out. The debacle in the congress stirred the
party and the process of disintegration started in 1967. In the elections to
the state assemblies, the Communist Party of India returned to power in Keralam
and DMK in Madras State (Tamil Nadu). In Uttar Pradesh, the Samyukta Vidhayak Dal -SVD a
coalition of Samyukta Socialist Party, Bharatiya Jana Sangh and Jan Congress
broke the track record of the Congress in the big state.
If it was Choudhary Charan Singh in UP, it was the
turn of Mahamaya Prasad Sinha in
Bihar. He turtled the power that Congress enjoyed for decades after
independence . Coalition governments of various parties including the
breakaway faction of Congress, Socialists, the Communist Party of India and
Bharatiya Jana Sangh formed the Government. In Orissa, the coalition Government
was led by Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo of the Swatantra Party and Orissa
Jan Congress .
Further, the troubles for the Congress took an unpredicted turn in the 1967 General
elections - rift between the Party
President and the Prime Minister widened, Ten Point programme became the bone
of contention in the Jabalpur AICC session of the year and the Delhi
Session in the next year. In the 1969 session at Faridabad, the differences between the Government and the Party
became exposed. Party leadership raised voice against the socialist approach
and protested against the state getting involved in the trading of food
grains and other reforms. The divide in the Party led to a volatile situation in the Bangalore
session of AICC in 1969. “Stray Thoughts” of Indira Gandhi did the work that
she had anticipated. Soon , Morarji Desai was stripped off from the
Finance Ministry and the Nationalisation of banks was brought in.
Official candidate of the Party in the Presidential election,
Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy lost to VV Giri on the call of Indira Gandhi on
Conscience vote. The present-day fury of Rahul Gandhi against Adani and Ambani
and other dominant players in the private sector can be seen only as a fallout
and continuity in succession of the miscarriage
of ideological turns and twists in the Congress party, a consequence of
ideological split. Indira Gandhi in 1970 came up with her discontent over
the consolidation of wealth by certain communities and raised concerns over
poverty. The catchy slogan “Eliminate Poverty”- Garibi Hatao and
Eliminate injustice -Anyaay Hatao that had stemmed from the 1969 Bombay
Conference of AICC. And the campaign worked well in the backdrop of the
charismatic cult created by the triumph of Bangladesh Liberation.
The fortunes of the Congress party came to an unceremonious
end with the untimely and sudden end of Indira Gandhi. The craftsmanship of
Sanjay Gandhi had revitalised and mobilised a line of youth leadership at
grassroot level with his 20-point programme and after the departure, Indira
Gandhi, managed to keep alive the contingent force to her fold. The power
of the street took over the congress. After her, Rajiv Gandhi period noted for the
massive return to power in 1985, witness the the Doon School lobby took over the party, forming a strong fortification around 7 Race
Course Road. AICC lost its prominence and the party eventually was reduced to
the command and control of 10 Janpath by 1998.
The Congress leadership relied on the strong belief that an
alternative political system is a near
impossible situation in the country to take over New Delhi in the immediate
future. Protectionist role played to appease the Muslims and the psyche of
insecurity among the Hindus of the Hindi belt continued to strengthen the
belief on the congress as an impeccable political force.
After Indira Gandhi, Congress became a limited crowd of around an unchallengeable
leader with unquestionable obedience. Yet, the concealed weakness within the party
opened the way for defectors to move out and stage a comeback . The entire
political equation changed by the time PV Narasimha Rao demitted the
office. BJP became a powerful force , yet the congress tried to ignore the
situation.
Vajpayee staged return
to Power with all his might crushing down the deceptive politics played against his government in
1996.
Defeat of the BJP government in the 2004 elections remained a
question before the political observers in India and abroad. While the United
States and European nations showed shock, despite improved diplomatic and
strategic relationships, Pakistan showed concern over the goodwill and
roadmap of Vajpayee in resolving the Kashmir crisis. The market
behaviour at the fall of the NDA government, then pointed towards a different
story. The sudden reversal in the market after the name of Dr. Man Mohan
Singh as the Prime Minister of India seemed like a slip that went out of
control in the jubilation.
Though BJP could make some
inroads into the influential media around that time, the major players in the
mainstream media and regional media were leaning towards leftist and socialist
oriented politics. A beginning was made
when Rajiv Gandhi had initiated breakfast meetings with Journalists
and intellectuals, however, it did little help to him in holding on to power or
to overcome the public opinion of corruption charges. Atal Behari
Vajpayee was friendly to every journalist with the highest degree
of hospitality and humour. He never showed discomfort over any question
and he knew the art of turning the tables and if needed to turtle anything.
Sudden illness of Atal Bihari Vajpayee led to a slowdown in the political
dynamism of the BJP. So far, no concrete theory surfaced on the
poll debacle of 2004 and the engineering forces behind it. The
results of exit polls by Television channels and the actual poll outcome
went diametrically opposite. 250+ projection for NDA went in favour of Congress
led UPA Alliance and the 185+ assessment for UPA was the near figure of
NDA.
Well in advance, prior to the 2009 General Elections ,
BJP declared LK Advani as the Prime Ministerial Candidate. Yet, BJP
failed to overcome the calculated mistakes of 2004. Community and caste
factors surfaced again. However, the momentum of Bahujan Samajwadi Party in UP
began collapsing by 2012 paved the red carpet for Samajwadi Party, the social
base of SP made a steep fall with the adjustments for power between
criminal classes , warlords and business lobbies.
By 2012. the
neutrality and silence of Manmohan Singh Government adopting diplomatic
campaigns had laid the foundations of downfall. High handed media games
by some of the cabinet ministers, editorialising of news flared the discontent.
Situations were worse than in 1989. Anticorruption movement, and Nirbhaya cases
created heat waves throughout the country. Rahul Gandhi failed to take over the
government. Duality of lighting million homes in in Pakistan , hosting
childhood friends from the other side to 7 Race Course
Road, were hurting the sentiments of the
repatriates here. The green carpet under
the feet of the Congress leadership slipped off . The country looked for a
strong powerful leader as the Prime Minister and at the right time BJP launched
the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Much more remains unsaid. The Congress continues to be
a failure in upholding the political respect and the character as a powerful National
Party. Shifting from DMK fold will prove to be costly for the party in
the coming days. The idea of joining the Tamil Nadu Government is quite
clear. The Congress leadership of Kerala, VD Satheesan and Ramesh Chennithala
has to read the unwritten in political
analogies. KC Venugopal counts a lot at this juncture for 5 Sunehri Bagh
Lane , if not for 10 Jan Path.
KC Venugopal as the Chief Minister of Kerala is a political
need of the party, if the High Command is to take an alternate decision, it
will become costly for the future of the party and next five years for the
state.
The next Manmohan Singh in the making?
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