The writing was on the wall. Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia’s exit from the Congress and his prompt entry into the Bharatiya Janata Party exposes the existential crisis within the grand old party. But Scindia is just an example. The Congress still has many NPAs – or non-performing assets – about whom the party will have to decide sooner or later, or be prepared for more Scindia-like moments.
The Congress is peppered with leaders who are ideologically dodgy and therefore untrustworthy. The party’s trials and tribulations will peak now since many of the prominent faces it heavily invested in are rumoured to be all set to leave for greener pastures. Scindia’s exit will have a domino effect because, apparently, the Congress isn’t worth all the struggle.
Also read: Scindia effect in Haryana — Deepender Hooda pips hot favourite Kumari Selja for RS seat
Tell-tale signs
Maharaja saheb’s departure left many in the Congress scratching their heads. Here was a man with huge influence in the ‘darbar’ of the Gandhis, who was forever seen as one of the frontrunners after the Gandhi family, but who decided to suddenly turn his back on everything the Congress avowedly stands for: secularism, anti-RSS, anti-Hindutva. Scindia could be a case study on why someone would give up an envious career in a political party that treated him like royalty (pun intended).
But it isn’t like Scindia wasn’t giving the signs as to which direction the wind was blowing.
The Congress party’s stand on the dilution of Article 370 was clear from the beginning – that the Narendra Modi government’s way of going about it was unconstitutional. But there were leaders in the party – yes, like our very own Jyotiraditya Scindia – who were more than willing to hail the government for its “nationalistic” move. And many did.
But as Scindia goes about ‘correcting’ everything he said or did until a few months ago – from criticising Modi for putting “my entire Hindustan in danger” to showering praise on him because “India’s future is in his safe hands” – he leaves behind a template for the Congress party to study and figure out who its next Scindias are.
"India's future is completely safe in Narendra Modi’s hands," Jyotiraditya Scindia said after joining the BJP. But not too long ago, he felt very differently. pic.twitter.com/BSQDOeesZo
— Brut India (@BrutIndia) March 12, 2020
Also read: Rahul Gandhi must sort out professional ties with sister Priyanka — for Congress’ sake
Who are they?
Aditi Singh: One leader who held the same opinion as Scindia on the Modi government’s Article 370 move was Congress’ Raebareli MLA Aditi Singh. Often dubbed as the rising star of the Congress, she celebrated the removal of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. When the Congress’ stance was pointed out to her, she resorted to calling herself “an Indian first” to justify her position. This only suggests that for Aditi Singh, her party’s stand was “anti-India”.
In November 2019, Aditi Singh had attended a special session of Uttar Pradesh assembly called by the Yogi Adityanath government instead of her own party’s training session held in Raebareli. For defying the party whip, a show-cause notice was issued to Singh. Not much has happened since then, though. Neither has Aditi left the Congress, which many suspected her to, nor has the Congress, predictably, taken further action against her.
Milind Deora: Here’s another leader who seems to be playing the odd-even scheme. Deora looks like a true blue Congressi one day and not quite one another day. Deora has courted controversy for being on the fence on various issues that the Congress has held a clear stand. For example, Milind Deora’s take on the Article 370 move is the definition of sitting on the fence. Deora’s tweet was so cryptic that it’s hard to know what he was actually trying to convey. He compared Article 370 with demonetisation and hoped the decision would “play out more favourably”.
Deora also heaped praises on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) recently. Although it appears to be very statesman-like for Deora to praise the Delhi government for becoming the most fiscally prudent, it didn’t go down well with his colleagues in the party’s Delhi unit. He was criticised for patting the AAP on its back even as his own party scored a zero in the 2020 assembly election. Leaders like Ajay Maken and Radhika Khera also tried to school him by presenting data and figures from when the Congress was in power in Delhi.
Brother,you want to leave @INCIndia-Please do-Then propagate half baked facts!
However,let me share even lesser know facts-
1997-98-BE (Revenue) 4,073cr
2013-14-BE (Revenue) 37,459cr
During Congress Govt Grew at 14.87% CAGR2015-16 BE 41,129
2019-20 BE 60,000
AAP Gov 9.90% CAGR— Ajay Maken (@ajaymaken) February 16, 2020
Deora also had a public spat with Sanjay Nirupam who blamed the former for not being able to energise the party cadre during the Maharashtra assembly election.
Jitin Prasada: Rumours have also been rife from early 2019 that Jitin Prasada was going to join the BJP but was placated by Ahmed Patel and Scindia. Speculations turned serious when former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah tweeted and asked Prasada why he could not categorically deny that he wasn’t joining the BJP instead of beating around the bush. Prasada has been a one-time minister and yet the Congress party has not done much to pull him up. It was also reported by Times Now that Prasada was seen in and out of the BJP offices.
Anil Shastri: Then there’s former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri’s son Anil Shastri, a senior Congress leader who has openly asked the party to rethink its ideology by judging the mood of the people. For those who need this to be spelled out, the mood must be that of Hindu nationalism perhaps.
In 2015, Anil Shastri had spent over an hour with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat at Lal Bahadur Shastri’s ancestral house in Ramnagar, Varanasi. Bhagwat was in attendance for the release of the book Bharat Ratna Lal Bahadur Shastri.
Also read: Three reasons why Sonia Gandhi should make one last ‘supreme sacrifice’ for Congress’ sake
The dead horses
Finally, there are the Sam Pitrodas, who seem to be the dead weight that the Congress carries around. With zero political acumen and barely any sense of ground realities, leaders like Pitroda and Janardan Dwivedi are more a liability than be of any real help to the Congress. The party was left red-faced on the eve of the 2019 Lok Sabha election after Pitroda infamously remarked about the 1984 anti-Sikh riots as “hua toh hua (it happened, so what?)”. He remains the chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress. Janardan Dwivedi, besides writing speeches for Sonia Gandhi and sharing a stage with Bhagwat at a religious event, has not done much for the Congress either, except bring some embarrassment to the party. His son Samir was “inspired by Narendra Modi” to choose the BJP over the Congress.
The question that remains is: why isn’t the Congress cutting ties with members who clearly have a problem with the party’s stand, and are going to either embarrass it or bring its way unnecessary criticism and public scrutiny? The other question is for these Congress leaders: Are they buying time to save their sinking political career? More importantly, are these the very people who are drilling holes in the battered ship of the Congress, causing it to drown faster much than it would have? The Congress must find out before another party leader does a Scindia on it.
The author is a political observer and writer. Views are personal.