If you are cruising at 100 kmph on the Yamuna Expressway from Delhi to Agra, Bhatta and Parsaul villages will pass in a blip. Bhatta-Parsaul is more of a political milestone than a geographical landmark. I would argue that Rahul Gandhi’s visit to this village to protest against the land acquisition is the defining moment in the political itinerary of Congress leader — in a way that it also signaled the decline of congress.
In 2011, the villagers in and around Bhatta-Parsaul were agitating against the land acquisition by the Mayawati government for the construction of the Yamuna Expressway. Congress was in power at the Centre and Rahul Gandhi undisputedly one of the most powerful leaders in the ruling dispensation. His visit was covered extensively in the media. Some of Rahul’s advisors now say that Bhatta-Parsaul turned the media and India Inc against him.
11 years down the line, the Yamuna expressway is operational. It has reduced the travel time between Delhi and Agra by at least two-and-half hours. The expressway was envisaged to connect eastern and western parts of the state. The Yamuna Expressway along with the Agra-Lucknow Expressway and Purvanchal Expressway connect UP horizontally. The road network has triggered a whole lot of transport, real estate and other economic activities. Hundreds of buses travel from Delhi to Bihar and also to Nepal using this route. The transformation is quite visible if one travels from Noida to Agra and further.
Rahul Gandhi may think that he was doing something revolutionary and great in Bhatta-Parsaul. He may think that he was supporting the cause of the farmers who were unwilling to part with their land at the government-determined rates. I have three reasons to say that strategically, the Congress and Rahul Gandhi committed a grave mistake in Bhatta-Parsaul. It was wrong, both politically and ideologically.
Also read: G23 isn’t a 1969 moment for Congress and Rahul Gandhi is no Indira
Electoral reason
The Congress did not get any political benefit out of the ‘adventure’ Rahul Gandhi undertook. In the 2012 assembly election in UP, the party contested 355 seats managing to win only 28. Two years before this, in the 2009 Lok Sabha election, the Congress had won 21 seats in the state. The party led in 95 assembly segments during that election. But was able to retain only nine of those in the 2011 state polls. In the previous assembly election, it had won 22 seats. Congress is still not a force in reckoning in India’s largest state. In 2014, it failed to open its account. I am not postulating that the Congress lost due to its position of Bhatta-Parsaul or that agitation was the main cause of its defeat. I am seeing it teleologically. That the Bhatta-Parsaul protest failed to win elections for the Congress.
In Bhatta-Parsaul, Rahul Gandhi was supposedly standing for the cause of the landed farmer as it was the farmers who were opposing the compensation rate fixed by the state government. This agitation has nothing to do with the landless villagers, mostly the Dalits. Obviously, the Congress was not looking to gather support of the Dalits by fighting on an issue, which has no benefits for them. Fighting for the cause of the farmers is fine, but did the Congress get support of that class in Uttar Pradesh in elections? I can’t answer in the affirmative.
Also read: Prashant Bhushan is my friend, but I am disappointed that SC didn’t try him for contempt
Economic reasons
The agitation was against the process of economic growth and development. I am just wondering whose loss it would have been, had the Bhatta-Parsaul agitation succeeded. It would have been a loss for all stakeholders. Everyone has benefited from this Expressway. One cannot imagine the Buddha International Circuit or the upcoming Jewar Airport, Film City and Electronic City without this expressway. Around 30,000 vehicles ply daily on this. As the traffic is fast and smooth, the road network is also saving fuel, helping in reducing pollution. Without this expressway, the eastern bank of the river Yamuna would have remained unused — as large swaths of agricultural land.
Loss of image
Rahul Gandhi must understand that the Congress has been the party of ruling elites of India. It used to get and still get votes from different sections of the society. But it is not a Marxist party, nor is it an NGO. Even before Independence, the Congress represented the interests of Indian business. Many of the big corporates like Birla, Bajaj, Tata, Walchand Hirachand and Govindram Seksaria were close to Gandhi and Congress. By 1940, Indian businesses across the spectrum moved away from the colonial government and closer to the Congress. Business and Congress has always been a complicated relationship. Nehru adopted state capitalism, which helped India build capacity in capital-intensive infra areas but scuttled the growth of the free market. Despite that, Nehru was never a Marxist. This was true for Indira Gandhi as well. She did go on a nationalisation spree but after coming back to power in 1980, she changed her track. The Rajiv Gandhi-Narasimha Rao-Manmohan Singh troika, in fact, ushered in the era of liberalisation and market economy of India.
When Rahul Gandhi agitates against land acquisition or speaks against big corporate, he goes against the core idea of the Congress party. When Rahul was agitating in Bhatta-Parsaul, at that very hour the home ministry was busy with Operation Green Hunt in central India’s tribal dominated areas. This operation was against the Left-Wing Extremists opposing land acquisition by the government for the purpose of mining.
I am not adding any value to the Marxist politics here. I am not arguing whether this is good politics or bad politics. I am saying that this is not a terrain for the Congress. It was the ruling party of India. It was the party of the ruling classes. If it goes on an agitation path against industry and corporate, if it creates an image of itself as a Marxists or Leftist party. It then may fail or succeed, but such a stand will certainly change the DNA or core value of the Congress. It will not be the Congress of Gandhi-Nehru-Indira-Rao and Manmohan. If the Congress still wishes to remain the party of the ruling classes, it has to leave Bhatta and Parsaul behind. That agitation was a mistake. Continuing with the same mistake will make the Congress an NGO at the best or just one more Leftist party at the worst.
Dilip Mandal is the former managing editor of India Today Hindi Magazine, and has authored books on media and sociology. Views are personal.
(Edited by Anurag Chaubey)