The System And The Contender

The System And The Contender

Rahul  Gandhi’s maiden one-on-one interview with Times Now in 10 years as a politician, had nothing at all to say on the economy. Neither did Arnab Goswami ask him a single question on it. This is just the way the narrative has become, with political concerns overshadowing economic matters to such an extent that it is not even mentioned in such an elaborate conversation!

However, much airtime was devoted to making a distinction between centralised and  decentralised power, as in Congress is committed to empower people with legislation enabling RTI, Panchayati Raj, The passing of the Lokpal Bill and so on; and a presumptive BJP centralising power in the hands of one man.  

This is, of course, the kind of fantasy Rahul Gandhi routinely inhabits. Any act of parliament does need bipartisan or even multi-party support in a coalition, and the latest and vaunted Lokpal Bill could not have been passed without BJP support to be enacted into law. Besides, most drafted laws are refined in Standing Committees manned by MPs from various parties before they are presented afresh to be debated and voted on. So to lay sole claim to them on behalf of the Congress Party is a little silly.

Besides, it must be crystal clear to all observers that Congress in Government has always centralised power, and reduced the Union, State and Chief Ministers, let alone mere bureaucrats and other components of governance, into so many fawning courtiers.

In Jawaharlal Nehru’s time he was primus-inter-pares to such an extent, that others in his party were actually dwarfed by his stature, particularly after the demise of Sardar Patel; Mahatma Gandhi and Subhas Chandra Bose having already gone before. Nehru was democratic enough in instinct, as his copious correspondence on record suggests, and in his desire to nurture the nation’s fledgling institutions, but his natural aristocratic and British-bred hauteur tended to overawe his cabinet colleagues, and others.

But the blatant kitchen cabinetry was constructed somewhat later, under a congenitally insecure Indira Gandhi who had learned through hard experience to trust no one and never look back. She also mooted the concept of a ‘committed bureaucracy’, meaning the IAS and others should toe her line without demur. Having ruled India for 18 years, a little longer than her father, she certainly managed to mutate the Government machinery to suit her ways.

Sonia Gandhi, let us remind ourselves, learnt statecraft and politics at the feet of Indira Gandhi as more or less manager of the Prime Minister’s household. And so the centralisation of power has continued unabated, and the extra-constitutional NAC closely resembles the advisory group around Mrs India Gandhi. The only others, privy to every decision taken, are members of the immediate Gandhi family, including Rahul Gandhi.

The very term ‘High Command’ epitomises the Congress Party, and is the apex and fount of all power, both in the Party and in the current Government. Nothing is sanctioned without the High Command’s approval. Not a leaf moves without the High Command being made aware of it. So what is an RTI, or Lokpal Bill, or an empowered Panchayat, compared to this kind of centralisation of power?

As for the BJP, announcing a prime ministerial candidate may have given it a degree of focus and cohesion, particularly due to the grass roots popularity of Narendra Modi and his ability to enthuse the masses wherever he goes around the country. But it does not amount to any lack of democratic process and took much negotiation and consensus building to arrive at.

This takes us to some of the other blatant lies delivered with dimpled simplicity by the ‘Shehzada’. Many Sikh groups are outraged at Rahul Gandhi’s failed attempt to absolve the Congress Government led by the  then newly-appointed Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, in the aftermath of Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s assassination and the horrendous genocide of Sikhs in 1984.

Rahul Gandhi said the Congress Government did not aid and abet the genocide,but the facts are that the police stood by and the Army was not called for 3 days as Congress instigators organised the slaughter of some 5,000 Sikhs in the capital city of India dislocating many times the number of lives, and accompanied by the destruction  of much property.

Rahul Gandhi said the Gujarat Government led by Narendra Modi goaded mobs into murder, mayhem and arson, after the burning alive of 60 Hindu pilgrims in a train stopped at Godhra in 2002. But the statistics in the aftermath of the Godhra murders include the shooting of over 300 rioters by the Police, preventive and punitive arrests of over 65,000 people, and the Army called in within 48 hours. There have been convictions and successful prosecutions in Gujarat, but practically none in Delhi. And yet the Congress VP makes little of it apart from saying the PM and Party President have already apologised for the 1984 anti-sikh riots and yes, there may have been some Congress people involved in instigating it. The Law, said Mr. Gandhi, should be allowed to take its course ignoring the fact that there are precious few prosecutions.

Rahul Gandhi’s constant harping in broad strokes on systemic change and induction of youth into the Congress Party had little new in them but attempt to cast him in a reformist light. There is a widespread scepticism about the effectiveness of Rahul Gandhi’s experiments with systemic change over his spent decade in politics, and even more pessimism with regard to his ability to win votes for his Party, or indeed manage electoral campaigns successfully. His making bold to lead the Congress campaign in 2014 therefore does not augur well for the fortunes of the UPA.

Rahul Gandhi claims, as a leading dynast, that he wants to make political decision-making more inclusive, while ignoring the anomaly of his own semi-nominated situation. And even though he seems sincere in his wish to transform the way candidates for election are chosen starting with some 15% of Congress candidates in 2014, it is difficult to visualise his successfully taking on the ‘System’ that he simultaneously praises and criticises. One can’t help thinking it is all a rather elaborate pose and alibi for failure. Many commentators, amongst them Outlook Editorial Director Vinod Mehta, expressed doubt about Rahul Gandhi’s ability to change the ‘System’. Mehta thought, on the contrary, like many others before him, that the System could well change Rahul Gandhi.

(1,064 words)

January 28^th,2014

Gautam Mukherjee