Tharoor wants Opposition unity but Rahul’s coterie is obsessed with Savarkar

Senior Congress leader Lok Sabha member Shashi Tharoor offered some good counsel to the bosses of his own party on Sunday. First, he expressed dismay at Congress leader Digvijaya Singh’s thank-you-Germany tweet after Berlin said that it took note of Gandhi’s disqualification, Tharoor said he would have advised his senior party colleague not to say what he did. “I would have advised my highly respected senior colleague and friend not to say what he did. It has always been an article of faith for the Congress party that we do not require or accept any foreign tutelage after 200 years of subjection to colonial rule,” Tharoor asserted. This is in tune with his staunch anti-colonial stance. The recent remark by Singh, and his earlier ones, is not something that the rank and file of the grand old party may cherish. Why should the GOP look for endorsement for its position from a foreign country? The Government dislikes such commentary from Western nations. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, “The West thinks it has a God-given right to comment on internal matters of other countries.” But Singh — and maybe some other Opposition leaders—sees an opportunity in Western nations’ criticism of the Narendra Modi Government.

Tharoor “would actually encourage one of the smaller parties to play the role of convener of an Opposition alliance. Unity is far more important than pride of place, in my view.” This view is in accordance with the objective political reality. The Congress may be the largest Opposition party with pan-India presence and the second largest vote share, but it is very weak in terms of organisational muscle and morale. The story of the GOP in the last one decade has been the story of decline and electoral defeats (both in the general and state elections), with very few successes. Further, its leaders have not made great efforts to unite the parties opposed to the Bharatiya Janata Party. Even Rahul Gandhi’s high-profile Bharat Jodo Yatra, though it boosted his personal image, did little to bring anti-BJP parties together. Worse, his own statements on Savarkar have antagonised an ally, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray). In such a milieu, the GOP stands to lose nothing if the leader(s) of a smaller party take the initiative and forge an alliance. There is a precedent: earlier, leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) cobbled together anti-BJP alliances — the United Front in 1996 and the United Progressive Alliance in 2004. This brings us to the critical question: would the Congress top brass allow that? From the Opposition’s perspective, it is here where the shoe pinches, for it looks like the approach of some advisors to Rahul Gandhi is doctrinaire rather than political. They seem to be more interested in pursuing their Leftwing agenda than strengthening the party or the Opposition. Hence Rahul’s obsession with Savarkar — even at the expense of Opposition unity.