(Mani Shankar Aiyar is a Congress MP in the Rajya Sabha)I have just returned from the
Kisan-Khet Mazdoor rally. What a smooth and seamless return it has been. There was no sense of disconnect between the departure of Rahul some 60 days ago and his return now. The prophets of doom find their mouths stoppered. Tragedy has not accompanied his going away. Disintegration has not heralded his coming back.
That Rahul decided, apparently suddenly, to disappear from the public sphere is not as unusual as is being made out. Mahatma Gandhi himself took "leave of absence" from politics for all of four years between 1924 and 1928 as he introspected over whether non-violence and religious harmony could, in fact, be taught to hundreds of millions of people or whether Chauri Chaura and communal rioting symbolized the real India. For reflection, he preferred the sanctorum of his ashram at Sabarmati to the politics of the time. Indeed, he was not even contemplating a second innings. That was thrust upon him by Motilal Nehru almost begging him to attend the 1928 Calcutta session of the All-India Congress Committee to provide the elder Nehru a protective screen against his own son, Jawaharlal, who had taken up cudgels against his father's Nehru Report on constitutional change for advocating Dominion status, not 'Purna Swaraj'. As seamless was the Mahatma's return to centre-stage after absenting himself for four years, equally seamless was Rahul's re-emergence after two months. It is not necessary to always be the cynosure of all eyes to do one's political duty.
As for Rahul not disclosing his destination, it does not need a long memory to recall that when Sonia Gandhi fell ill a few years ago and had to go abroad for treatment, no one knew where she had gone and speculation was rife about both her whereabouts and the cause of her absence. We now have some idea of where and why she went. It was not necessary for us to know then, any more than it was necessary for us to know now, that Rahul had gone to Myanmar for a course of meditation. Unlike anywhere in India or perhaps anywhere in the world, Myanmar is the most closeted country in the world for anyone who seeks privacy, besides being an outstanding Buddhist centre for meditation and
vipassana. Privacy is most demanded by those who have the least of it. Rahul has had to suffer the invasion of his privacy since infancy. Remember the post-Emergency ditty when little Rahul was all of seven years old:
Desh ki neta Indira Gandhi,
Yuvaon ka neta Sanjay Gandhi,
Bachchon ka neta Rahul Gandhi,
Bhaad mein jaye Mahatma Gandhi.There are some who take to their security detail like ducks to water. They love being surrounded by gun-toting guards. There are others who hate the way their private space has been usurped by the AK 47. For them, escaping constant surveillance is as much a relief as having Black Cats hanging around is a thrill for others. If Rahul prizes his privacy, as he has done these last two months, it warrants sympathy, not censure.
Moreover, sententiousness about politics being a 24x7 job was negated the moment Rahul mounted the stage. The party was in readiness for him, not moping about his having been away. And, in any case, it is only in India that this nonsense about politics being 24x7 is bruited about. Prime Ministers and Presidents in most countries take time off to recharge their batteries. Those who talk of 24x7 politics are those who get most bored and feel most neglected when they are not surrounded by a thousand suitors a day - with no vision beyond their own advancement, and no interests other than the lowest forms of politicking, plus fear that if they are out of sight, they'll soon be out of mind. Rahul has no such apprehension.
It was argued that it was eccentric, at best, and thoroughly irresponsible, at worst, for Rahul to vanish just as the Land Acquisition Ordinance was capturing national attention. The confidence with which Rahul spoke at Sunday's rally, and the attentiveness with which he was heard, demonstrated that his absence notwithstanding, the Congress, under the leadership of his mother, had built up the momentum for Rahul's homecoming to be a memorable occasion. Of the speeches made at the rally, I, for one, found his intervention the most substantive - careful delineation of the arguments against the ordinance, followed by a stinging direct attack on Modi for promulgating the ordinance as payback to the "capitalists" who funded Modi's poll campaign to the tune of tens of thousands of crores of rupees. It was a speech that nicely blended hard-nosed logic with a rousing political theme. That is the mark of leadership.
Unerringly, Rahul targeted the usurpation by the state of land belonging to subsistence farmers and the landless agricultural labour that works the land, as being the essence of the "Gujarat model" that Modi hopes to replicate all over India. Big Business funded him in the expectation that he would return their gift manifold by seizing hundreds of thousands of acres worked by the poor to hand over to the super-rich at dirt cheap prices. That is why this battle is not over legal technicalities, but goes to the heart of the question of whether governance in our country should be for the rich or the poor.
The Congress stands for striking the right balance while tilting towards the poor. Modi believes soothing words can pull the veil over the dirty hijack he has planned. Rahul's speech signaled a return to Nehru and Indira and Rajiv Gandhi, a definitive leftward shift in the party's public stance. It has sent Modi running for cover.
Seeing mother and son together on the platform, succeeding each other in the speaking order as per the demands of protocol, one wondered why anchors, commentators and BJP spokespersons have been tying themselves in knots predicting an imminent split in the party, even a split in the Gandhi family. It's all been idle speculation, sufficient to fill the empty hour around dinner time, but highly misleading in terms of sound political analysis. Of course, every Congressman and woman has a view on the future leadership. Some have given expression to their views. Others have kept their opinions to themselves. Most will go with the prevailing wind.
But far from spelling confusion, all it means is that a democratic political party must allow space for a bouquet of views - and the Congress is, despite being maligned to the contrary, a democratic political party. Notwithstanding attempts to paint Congress workers and leaders as automatons just waiting for one of the two ji's to tell them whether the sun rises in the east or the west, almost every Congressman I have ever met has lively views on virtually everything under the sun. He/she is vociferous in discussing these matters with their comrades. Media persons love listening in to the gossip. The moment the media hear two views, they start seeing dissidence.
Dissidence is not dissent. Nor is dissent equal to descent. Internal debate is lively, sometimes heated. But the genius of the party has lain in following debate with consensus, and everyone accepting the final decision, not undermining it.
That is why the spectacle of Rahul and his mother on the stage together was reassuring. Their individual posts, and the relative pecking order, are of secondary significance. The important thing is that the two are together, a duumvirate that works together as a single team with the party and the growing number of other parties that wish to join hands in the struggle against Modi.
So, Modiji, watch out! A united Congress and a united Opposition are coming after you.
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