Opinion: Kharge and hope for Congress

Being a Dalit will help Kharge strike a chord with the underdogs, who were once traditional voters of the Congress but who, of late, have switched to the BJP.

By Amitava Mukherjee

So far I have seen quite a few yatras in my life. Two of them have left permanent imprints in my mind. The first one was that of Vinoba Bhave – the respected Gandhian who had undertaken a tour of West Bengal in the 1960s. Although at that time I was a child, still I cannot forget the enthusiasm among the people and the respect they felt for Vinoba. That was yatra of a different kind, one really meant for the uplift of the common people’s life.

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Of Padayatras

The second one I remember was that of Chandrasekhar, the former Janata Party President, who in 1983 had undertaken his Kanyakumari to Delhi padayatra. Certainly not in the same genre as that of Vinoba Bhave, Chandrasekhar’s padayatra had reminded the Indians of some vital questions – emergency, authoritarianism, abrogation of human rights and all-encompassing poverty. It had a lasting impact. It contributed its might behind Chandrasekhar becoming the Prime Minister of India a few years later.

Today Rahul Gandhi of the Congress is undertaking another padayatra. I am leaving out the padayatra of Vinoba Bhave here because he was too gigantic and too saintly a person to have any comparison with mundane politicians. But let us consider the padayatra of Chandrasekhar. He had a definite goal. Indira Gandhi had come back to power and the ‘Young Turk’ of the Congress of the 1970s was trying to warn the nation of a comeback of authoritarian family rule. Congress sympathisers might dispute the word authoritarian. Well, Rajiv Gandhi had not certainly shown that trait of authoritarianism as her mother had exhibited. But Chandrasekhar was right on the other count. Family rule continued after Indira.

Party’s Intention

Now, what goal is Rahul Gandhi trying to fix before the nation’s mindset through his padayatra? The Congress and the media call it Bharat Jodo Yatra but in effect and in essence, it is a Congress Jodo Yatra because the party is falling apart.

Apparently, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress have spoken of the party’s intention to stand up to some evils – communalism, casteism, authoritarianism, etc. But those evils have been sapping the country’s vitality for a long time. So why is the yatra being undertaken at such a juncture?

It is because Congress is now in a crisis and it has to face several State Assembly elections soon. Mallikarjun Kharge, the newly elected Congress president, is a known Nehru-Gandhi family loyalist and it is now an open question whether this is a baggage for him or not. Quite some time back Makhan Lal Fotedar, another Indira Gandhi loyalist, had commented that the leadership of Sonia and Rahul will come under question from within the Congress. This has come true. Now the question remains: will Kharge be able to stem the rot?

This is Kharge’s biggest task and he must break away from the shadow of the Nehru-Gandhi family if he really wants to revive the Congress. However, Kharge has some points on his side. He is a Dalit and this will help him strike a chord with the underdogs of the Indian society who were once traditional vote banks of the Congress but who, of late, have switched their allegiance to the BJP. Kharge has told the Indian Express that he may not consult the Nehru-Gandhi family on every decision but would seek their ‘guidance’ and ‘suggestions’.

Kharge’s Biggest Task

Here, Kharge must try to rediscover himself. He must not have missed the point that Rahul Gandhi may have started a padayatra but he has not been able to put forward any alternative ideology that can present a worldview different from that so long proffered by the BJP.

About Sonia Gandhi, the less said, the better. The Congress had made an abrupt break with its past, right or wrong, under the Narasimha Rao-Manmohan Singh dispensation. History shows that it has not given the 137-year-old party any dividend. Ruefully, neither Sonia nor Rahul has been able to conceptualise any new idea. That Congress is now a rudderless organisation should cause no surprise to political watchers.

But Kharge has an advantage compared with other Congress stalwarts, close to Sonia and Rahul. The new Congress president has a trade union background and has experience in mass politics. In this sense, he is different from many of his colleagues. It can safely be said that if he can move independently then there will be space for him to act meaningfully.