What is the favourite pastime of Indians? If someone asks me this question, without even blinking my eyes, I would answer “writing obituary of those not dead yet.” I firmly believe that as a nation, we are very adept in this art and I must, with some conviction, say we love doing it.
The media, in particular, love writing obituary probably because the bored readers need to be enthralled and entertained by introducing new heroes every now and then killing neatly the old ones, creating not even an iota of suspicion.
We did it to Sachin Tendulkar, we are now doing it to Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Why? It is a million dollar question. Still, from the psychological perspective, I can say it is the best way to bury the ones we hate. We praise them for what they achieved and bury them with tears of joy because we know mankind has not come across any case of resurrection since the times of Jesus Christ! This being the case, it is no wonder obituary writers have found their latest prey in the Indian National Congress (INC), India’s grand old political party.
For some time now, obituary writers have been obsessed with the party’s dwindling fortunes. Prime minister Narendra Modi’s promise to create a Congress-Mukt Bharat, devastating defeat the Congress suffered in the 2019 general elections and the subsequent resignation of Rahul Gandhi as president owning up the responsibility for the party’s dismal election performance appear to spur the creativity of our obituary writers. So, no wonder, they now conclude that it is the right time to write the obituary of Congress which is fast withering away in the BJP hurricane.
Their reading is not altogether wrong considering the fact that sycophants within the Congress have been imploring the Gandhi family, with folded hands, to lead them from the front as it had done in the past.
Such unabashed show of flattery reminds me of the days of Indira Gandhi, India’s former prime minister who ruled the country relying on her kitchen cabinet for long before discovering her own individuality. She grew in stature and status over the years and eventually the lackeys within the Congress even went to the extent of proclaiming India as Indira and Indira as India.
Not to be left behind in the appeasement game All India Radio too had gone along the elaborate charade, tweaking its programmes to extol the virtues and greatness of Indira Gandhi so much so that many kept wondering then: wouldn’t it be more appropriate to call it All Indira Radio? If one decided to go to a movie to escape the ‘bragging torture’, there too Indira Gandhi appeared in the newsreel either dancing gleefully with the tribal women of Andaman Nicobar or surveying the flood-hit villages of Assam sitting inside the safety of a copter with a glum and serious face.
Despite such promotional tactics, Congress lived with the reality of fluctuating fortunes. But, it managed to emerge unscathed in most elections because people saw the then Opposition leaders as a bunch of jokers who gallantly indulged in the revelry of infighting, day in and day out.
Much water has flown in the Ganges since the time of Indira Gandhi, but the blarneys of the Congress leaders do not seem to abate. On the other hand, they are getting louder by the day.
This is despite the fact that India today has a fresh crop of youngsters that has no emotional connect with the Gandhi family and the ones who can still relate somewhat, now promptly recoil at the sight of such uninhibited kowtowing. But, to many Congress leaders, Gandhis continue to be the deities that need to be admired, adored and worshipped. So, the obituary writers are not entirely wrong in their assessment.
But, conscientious leaders within the party still can prove them wrong by choosing to move away from the shadow of the Gandhi family, taking advantage of Rahul Gandhi’s resignation. The process may not be easy, though Rahul Gandhi insists on someone outside his family becoming the next party president. For, the family won’t let go off its control over the party that easily despite the tall talk.
After all, didn’t Sonia Gandhi play a crucial role in showing the doors to PV Narasimha Rao, India’s former prime minister and Sitaram Kesri, the erstwhile Congress president?
Yet, in the year 2006, didn’t she project herself as a noble person much above the realms of power by deciding to give up her membership of Parliament and chairmanship of National Advisory Council? That puts in perspective Rahul Gandhi’s resignation and also explains why the future president may not get a free hand in reorganising the beleaguered party. It does not mean that all is lost. Congress after all has the legacy of bundling out the British, making India an independent nation. If the party could achieve so much those days, can’t the present leaders achieve independence for the party from the steely grip of the Gandhis? It is a doable thing and must be done with no uncertainty because the people of India need Congress more than their leaders or the Gandhi family even if it means the party should sit in the Opposition for some more years to come because the death of Opposition also denotes the death of democracy in a country.
Meanwhile, the Congress leaders should be particularly grateful to prime minister Narendra Modi who despite being their arch-rival has provided them with a golden opportunity to create a new Congress, a Gandhi-Mukt Congress.
But, it is a task that is beyond the sycophants. It takes a Mahatma to do it. Or to put it bluntly, the Congress needs another Mahatma to free it from the clutches of the Gandhis, deliver it to the people to whom it rightly belongs and in the process stop the obituary writers on their tracks, offering them some rest.
(The writer is a senior journalist, political analyst and communication specialist)
