Regional parties, including allies of the Congress, reacted sharply to former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi’s contention that they “lack the ideology” to take on the BJP and the RSS.
While the TMC slammed Rahul for his remarks, UPA partners RJD, JMM questioned the credentials of the Congress leader to comment on regional parties. Congress ally DMK preferred not to comment on the issue, while the Shiv Sena with whom the Congress is in alliance in the Maharashtra Government, avoided any direct criticism of the Congress but said regional parties have been at the forefront of leading the Opposition against the BJP’s authoritarian decisions.
“Even in the fight at the Centre, it has been regional parties who have strongly thwarted any attempts made to undermine constitutional democracy. Maharashtra has been at the forefront of this resistance and has shown how regional aspirations and national ambitions can seamlessly merge for the betterment of the country. To dismiss that would be yet another mistake by Congress,” Shiv Sena leader and a Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chauturvedi said.
One the other hand, the JMM said it is Rahul’s self-assessment and he is entitled to his opinion, but asked who gave Rahul the authority to comment on ideology.
“How are we running the party without any ideology? The fact remains that it is these regional parties on which the Congress is dependent for a fight or a win, be it the JMM in Jharkhand or the RJD in Bihar,” said a JMM spokesperson in Ranchi.
The JMM and the Congress are in a coalition Government in Jharkhand.
Speaking at the Chintan Shivir, Rahul said the Congress was mounting an ideological resistance to the onslaught of the RSS, unlike regional parties which “lack an ideology” and “have different approaches”.
The RJD, another Congress ally, also called Rahul’s statement “unfortunate”. RJD MP Manoj Jha said had the former Congress president been mindful of the outcome of poll fights against the BJP, he would have realised “the ideological and electoral commitment that is brought by such regional outfits, which he said do not have the capacity”.
Jha noted that Rahul's own statement ran contrary to the declaration adopted by the Congress at the Chintan Shivir about keeping options open for alliances with "like-minded parties".
One of the major emerging Opposition party and an erstwhile UPA partner, TMC said it was the Congress that was handing over seats to the BJP on a platter in places where the two parties are in a direct fight.
TMC leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev said we are not contesting every seat, but the BJP is strong wherever the Congress is the primary Opposition. He said, "The BJP has not been able to defeat M K Stalin (Tamil Nadu), Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), or for that matter YS Jagan Mohan Reddy (Andhra Pradesh), to name a few. In that sense, the BJP is happy to have the Congress as a national party because it suits them. The reality is the Congress is unable to defeat the BJP." Dev quit the Congress in August last year.
Rejecting Rahul's logic TMC MP Saugato Roy said Akbar Road was losing its relevance in Indian politics every day. "The Congress is a spent force. They have lost all the States save Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh … Rahul Gandhi knows it well that the Congress is not strong enough to challenge the BJP … so in order to tone up his party cadres he is making such speeches but they have to realise that the
TMC has come up as the real alternative to the BJP," he said.
On their part AAP, which defeated Congress from their bastion in Punjab this year, asked how the grand old party thought it was in a position to fight communal forces, given that it remains beset with infighting. "Even in States like Madhya Pradesh, which voted the Congress to power, its candidates put themselves up for sale. The party has no presence in major states like UP and Tamil Nadu. And what is national and regional? For years, it has been a junior partner to parties like the SP, DMK," AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said.
Talasani Srinivas Yadav, a senior leader of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and a Minister, said, "Rahul should first consider the condition of his party all over India and then make such comments… Their status has been exposed in the Uttar Pradesh election results."
BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty said:,"The results that regional parties have been showing in their respective states is evidence enough of the efficacy of these parties. From Delhi to Kerala, regional parties are being trusted by the people and given more and more responsibilities."