Winston Churchill had called Jawaharlal Nehru the light of Asia. The family has come a long way, from light of Asia to Darkness at Noon (by the time the Congress's rout became evident on May 16, it was noon-time)
From the moment Mr Narendra Modi took oath as the country’s Prime Minister, his entrenched well-wishers and determined critics began to lay down the agenda he should follow. Reams of newsprint and hours of prime time on television have been devoted to guiding Mr Modi on the best way forward. If the Prime Minister were to follow even a fraction of the composite advice that has been made freely available to him, and without being solicited, he would end up a nervous wreck. Because, the suggestions are often conflicting, at times hilarious, and mostly out of sync with the situation he encounters. This is not to say that no sensible opinion has been given. Yet the dominant impact has been that of the confused rather than of the informed.
It is safer to venture into the other territory, that of the vanquished. Failure is an orphan in many ways. Not only does nobody own up parentage but also that rarely is anybody willing to offer it solace on humane grounds. Therefore, anything little that is said about the loser — good or bad — is latched on for its publicity value, if nothing else. Just the mere talk of revival, in howsoever a distant future in howsoever a vague manner, can be music to ears that are just becoming conditioned to the chant of ridicule and derision by rivals. It is a different version of the music the loser-of-the-day had until the other moment blared at the victor-of-now. When the table turns, it’s not just the chair that changes. Arrogance either dissolves like salt in water or gets more strident like the obstinate glare of a child who is delivered a slap by a senior for misconduct.
So, is the Congress like the obstinate child or the readily dissolvable saltIJ It is trying to be a bit of both, because for the party it’s the best of times (things cannot get worse) and it’s the worst of times (the humiliation is unprecedented in the more than 100 years of its existence). It is the age of wisdom (because the voters have demonstrated that they won’t be dazzled by dynasty) and it is the age of foolishness (because some in the party still believe that only a Nehru-Gandhi can rescue them from the pits). The Congress is packed with people who have read their Charles Dickens (and are, presumably, graduates and above), so they would know that the story being told is not A Tale of Two Cities but A Tale of Two Failures. london and Paris may be the destinations to go for the defeated to get rejuvenated — though one must helpfully add Rome too and make it A Tale of Three Cities. A Tale of Two Failures does not have the luxury of such expansion; it must remain limited to the two personae: Sonia Gandhi and son Rahul Gandhi.
Winston Churchill had called the tallest leader of the dynasty, Jawaharlal Nehru, the light of Asia. Nehru is the first of the family to have ruled the country, though he never designed a dynastic succession. The family has come a long way, from light of Asia to Darkness at Noon (by the time the Congress’s rout became evident on May 16, it was noon). Who brought about this eclipseIJ Ms Gandhi and her son and party vice president did. The latter especially was at the helm of affairs, rolling up his sleeves, preparing strategies and selecting candidates. In the end, after the fiasco, he quickly “offered” to resign — an offer the sycophants as quickly shot down. They wanted him to continue to lead. But he is made of different mettle. A master at shunning responsibility, Mr Gandhi did not even take up the position of his party’s leadership in the lok Sabha. If he cannot lead even 44 of his own MPs in a House of 543, then, excuse me, he is not fit to lead the country.
But we don’t have to judge that; the people already have. Former US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger — no real friend of India’s, though that does not matter in the present context — had remarked, “The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been”. Well, the Nehru-Gandhi scion is by that yardstick indeed a leader: He has taken the Congress from a position of power it was to the dumps where it has never been. Kissinger must not mind this contortion. After all, he has been the architect of some of the most contorted foreign policies of the US in his heyday.
Daniel Defoe, that 17th century creator of the classic Robinson Crusoe, must have never imagined that his one remark would four hundred years later admirably fit a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family in far off India like a customised dress. He said: “It is better to have a lion at the head of an army of sheep, than a sheep at the head of an army of lions”. Mr Gandhi was a sheep in lion’s clothing and no amount of roaring that he tried could make his opponents quake with fear because they knew his real self. As for the army that he led, it was both sheep and lion, and thoroughly confused.
The effort that goes into digesting a drubbing is enormous; the effort that is expended in shielding the responsible borders on creativity. All this pales in comparison before the effort that is needed to silence voluble critics who not only question the leadership but also ridicule it. At least two senior leaders of the Congress, one from the south and another from the north, were given marching orders after they used the word, ‘joker’, for Mr Gandhi in different ways.
Nobody likes to be called a joker, especially if one is just that. Some identities are best kept discreet. In any case, no joker worth his clownish cap would lead his people to the calamity that Mr Gandhi did.
After installing a puppet as the leader of the Congress in the lok Sabha, the Nehru-Gandhi family is still laying claim to guiding the party to a glorious future. It appears that Congressmen and women have given up. As Canadian author Tanya Huff remarked, “Most people don’t care who is in charge as long as someone is.” That would have still been fine if the trouble had not been of a different kind with the party: Nobody is really in charge. The General likes to lead from the back while the soldiers want to be led from the front. The General displays neither energy nor purpose to take accountability, while his men show no spine to demand answers to tough questions.
The mess is great, and the solution is obvious. But the Congress lives in an illusion. Sigmund Freud said: “Illusions commend themselves to us because they save us pain and allow us to enjoy pleasure instead. We must, therefore, accept it without complaint when they sometimes collide with a bit of reality against which they are dashed to pieces.” One supposes this will do for the Congress in the absence of better words of comfort.