O, Captain! My Captain!

Congress must be saved at all costs to preserve what it stood for – with or without the Gandhis

The sacking of Capt Amarinder Singh by the Gandhi siblings has triggered an implosion in the Congress. The decision to enlist the tempestuous and temperamental Navjyot Singh Sidhu to unseat the captain from the chair of the Chief Minister of Punjab last week was ill-advised and ill-starred from the beginning.

Capt Amarinder is not a sycophant in the mould of typical party members. He is an old soldier, baptised through battle in the Indo-Pak War of 1965. He is dignified and has fidelity to his party, but is a leader in his own right, with an independent mind.

There is credence to stories that Priyanka and Rahul were stung to the quick by the streak of independence displayed by the regal Sikh leader, not given to cringing. There are also reports that the Gandhi family was advised by Prashant Kishore, the election strategist, that Rahul and Priyanka must take full charge of the party and emulate Narendra Modi in running the party with an iron fist to rein in those who challenge their authority, to be able to take on the mighty BJP. So, Priyanka recruits Sidhu to lead the charge to topple Amarinder. When Priyanka, under tacit approval from Rahul, foments rebellion and tangoes with Sidhu, party MLAs are quick to sense which way the wind is blowing, and drift in that direction. With Sidhu going on a rampage, the situation was bound to be combustible. It may have assuaged the egos of the siblings to humiliate and bring down Amarinder, but it was akin to cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Sidhu, capricious and petulant, resigned from his position of Punjab Congress president soon after the new CM Charanjit Singh Channi was sworn in, taking everyone, including the Gandhis, by surprise, and exposing them to ridicule. And he withdrew the resignation after Priyanka and others reached out to him. Sidhu will continue to be a thorn in their flesh.

One can be reasonably certain that the wounded Captain will not fade away into the sunset and can be expected to give sleepless nights to the Gandhis. He lost no time in meeting Amit Shah, and announced that he would leave Congress but wouldn’t join the BJP, keeping his options open. The doughty Captain had led the Congress to victory to become Punjab CM for the second time five years ago, trouncing the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP alliance.

Amarinder was not without faults. He was accused of being imperious and inaccessible. There are charges that he was laid back in going after the drug trade and that he was soft on the Badals, who were alleged to have plundered Punjab and, in general, his record of governance was seen to be poor.

Despite all that, the manner of sacking of Amarinder was a shocking irony. An illegitimate Congress high command ousted a legitimately elected Chief Minister by inciting a rebellion against him within the party.

The Sidhu stratagem adopted by the Gandhis was copied from the BJP’s playbook. B S Yediyurappa, who was forced to quit as Chief Minister of Karnataka, was not a pushover. He did not do his ‘master’s bidding’ on a dog whistle. The BJP high command bided its moment, and then “let slip the dogs of war” and brought him down.

Rahul taking on the redoubtable Capt Amarinder a few months before the state elections seems ill-timed and imprudent. You don’t wage a war with a battle-hardened army veteran and a political warhorse when you are weak and ill-equipped and have a rebellion on many fronts.

The self-inflicted Punjab crisis has brought to the fore larger issues that are at stake -- the future of Congress itself, and the fate of democracy in India as there will be no counter to the BJP if Congress disintegrates. What does and what should Congress stand for? Should Rahul emulate Modi, Mamata, Mayawati and other authoritarian leaders or should he take a leaf out of the democratic traditions from the founding days of Congress itself — which held regular elections to choose its president from its founding in 1885 until the Indira Gandhi era began? Should Rahul and Priyanka take inspiration from the Congress of Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, Bose, Kripalani, Maulana Azad and others, who built the Congress that has taken deep roots in the Indian psyche, or take lessons from leaders of other parties?

Modi stands for an ideology and an idea of India which is distinct. And his party and its affiliates have a clear mission. Those who do not agree with their vision, their ways and means, have a task cut out to fight them. The BJP and RSS rose to be a countervailing force needed in a democracy to the Congress which lost its way.

But today, no one knows what the Congress and the Gandhis precisely stand for. The party and its leaders are not able to articulate its vision and the kind of India they wish to fashion in the tumult of our times.

First, Congress must hold elections for the post of party president. A genuine election under secret ballot. Rahul Gandhi must not shy away from battle. He and his sister cannot be extra-constitutional powers, which is an anathema to Congress’ ideals. They must invite and encourage anyone, including the ‘rebel’ 23 Congress leaders who have been humming and hawing for more than a year now without clearly acting boldly, to contest the elections. In all probability, Rahul will win. He is still the most charismatic Congress leader. If he wins, then he must lead courageously and steer the party through a democratic setup down the line. That will give him a good opportunity to weed out all the deadwood, the old guard who he feels are compromised, and who have locked horns with him. If he’s intending to infuse the party with young blood like Kanhaiya Kumar and Jignesh Mevani and induct more leaders from diverse backgrounds and communities, he has to be decisive and cannot continue to dither and grope his way around forever. If he loses the election, it is still good for the party. He must participate in its democratic rejuvenation and be its watchdog and nurture it to give shape to the principles and ideals on which the country, its culture and civilisation must be built.

The Gandhis must remember that the Congress party is a national heritage. It does not belong to the Gandhis. Or even to a Nehru or a Patel or a Gandhi or any individual. It is a great legacy. It belongs to all Indians. It has permeated into our blood and sinews and into our very breath.

It must be saved at all costs to preserve what it stood for — with or without the Gandhis.

(The writer is a soldier, farmer and entrepreneur)