Finally, Rahul Gandhi resigned as the President of the Indian National Congress, accepting responsibility to the drubbing his party faced in the recent Lok Sabha elections. Great, as a real general he took the reality, and stepped down, though after his party’s vacillation for nearly a month and a half after the election results were out, pleading for his continuance at the helm.
Rahul was not alone, and there were others like P. Chidambaram, Gehlot and Kamal Nath, who were after dynastic pursuits of a different kind, focusing on the constituencies of their respective progenies, ignoring the more substantial interest of their party. They should also resign.
Gandhi has suggested that the Congress Working Committee constitute a body to search for a new president, with the party appointing the nonagenarian Motilal Vora as their interim President.
But there ends my appreciation as Rahul has again breached civility in his disparaging remarks of the colossal mandate scored by the BJP and blabbering the usual, ‘we the different and great, and they, meaning the RSS and the BJP as undemocratic and fundamental.’ Coming close to the elections and having been routed, these are not great words from a defeated general in a war. In his words, “This capture of power will result in unimaginable levels of violence and pain for India. Farmers, unemployed youngsters, women, tribals, Dalits and minorities are going to suffer the most.”
He further exhorts, “The Indian nation must unite to reclaim and resuscitate our institutions. The instrument of this resuscitation will be the Congress Party.” The letter ends with the usual I love you to the Congress Karyakartas etc.
What did happen during the election? Who went around with the “Chor” sobriquet to the PM of a country, bringing disrepute and pulling down the class of campaign to a new low every day? Who ate the humble-pie, when the Supreme Court reprimanded on his vilifications? Who are out on bail from criminal cases? Who opened the wounds of those Sikh families, who had lost their kith and kin in 1984? Who hobnobbed with the Chinese on the sly, made the horrendous claim that Pulwama was Modi’s handiwork, rubbished Balakot strikes in retaliation to Pulwama attacks? It is Rahul or one of his cronies.
I do not write him off, and he could stand a chance to bounce back, but for that, he has to shelve his idiosyncrasies, from hugs to winks, from pretentious Brahmin with a sacred thread acts doing a temple-hopping, to rushing to a minority dominated constituency in Kerala to safeguard his seat. Had he not gone to Wayanad, lost in Amethi and still continued as the President of the Congress party, my respects would have been higher.
India is indebted to his family, including Robert Vadra, for all their contributions, but for now, let the Congress be left alone, allowed to be reborn, reinvented and grow without the influence of Gandhis. The country needs a viable and matured opposition party as well, and only Congress, the other national party can fit in in the role.
Sad, I can’t feel sad for his departure. Bye for now, Rahul!
Sampath Kumar
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