Tharoor is a misfit in Rahul’s Congress. Why outspoken leaders are on margins in all parties

Shashi Tharoor’s diagnosis, prognosis and prescription for Congress' problems were all perfect. But Rahul Gandhi and his coterie in the CWC looked rather upset by it.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor | File Photo | Credit: ANI

A few weeks back, a nonagenarian leader from Karnataka met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As he started talking about his age, Modi interrupted the Rajya Sabha member: “When I take oath in 2029, you will still be sitting here.” The little birdie who told me this story wasn’t sure what the PM meant by ‘here’—the Parliament or among the audience at the oath-taking ceremony.

What makes Modi so confident? “Comfort,” says economist and former member of PM’s economic advisory council Surjit Bhalla—the comfort of an Opposition that’s waiting for divine intervention.

In January 2013, in an auditorium in Jaipur, Rahul Gandhi was delivering his maiden speech as the newly anointed Congress vice-president. His mother, Sonia Gandhi, had come to his room the previous night and cried because, he said, “she understands that power is poison”.

It struck an emotional chord, ostensibly. The audience, especially those sitting on the dais with the Gandhi family, started sobbing and crying. Cameras were rolling. Janardan Dwivedi, then a much more powerful leader, just choked when he held the mike after Rahul left. Sheila Dikshit, the then Delhi chief minister, borrowed a hanky from Priyanka Gandhi to wipe her tears and nose.

Twelve years since then, many veteran Congress leaders are crying in private. Because Rahul Gandhi still thinks that power is poison. Or so his politics seems to suggest. When the Congress decided to hold the All India Congress Committee session in Gujarat after a gap of 64 years, many in the party thought that the leadership was finally waking up to the crisis. They went to Ahmedabad with hope. But they have returned with trepidation about their future. 

The party won’t change. It’s again the same old sycophancy of the Gandhi family—with the AICC resolution calling Rahul “the torchbearer of social justice” and crediting the “farsighted thinking of Shri Rajiv Gandhi” for the 33 per cent reservation for women in panchayati raj institutions. There was no mention of Narasimha Rao during whose government Constitutional amendments were brought to provide for this reservation.

The draft resolution had spoken about the unsafe environment for “religious minorities” without mentioning Muslims and Christians. It was only after some members objected to it at the Congress Working Committee meeting that those minorities were specified. 

Overall, the deliberations at the AICC session were largely a reiteration of what Rahul Gandhi has been talking about for years—caste census, reservation, unemployment, crony capitalism, attack on institutions and so on and so forth. Essentially, the Congress under the Gandhi family’s stewardship has been doing all the right things and needs no change in their approach. The Congress would wait for voters to become intelligent enough to realise their mistake.

Tharoor’s suggestions

There was at least one voice, however, that sought to shake the party off its high moral perch and see the reality. It was that of Shashi Tharoor, the Thiruvananthapuram MP whose candidness often lands him in trouble in the party. 

Addressing the CWC meeting, he started with a reality check—that the Congress has hit a plateau of 20 per cent support and so it must reclaim those who once voted for it but have gone away. “How do we do that? We need to appeal to them by coming across as constructive critics, not offering unrelenting negativity. We say what we are against, but what are we for? It is far from clear,” my sources quoted Tharoor as saying. He was hitting the nail on the head. Let me sum up some of the points that he made in his short speech, as I learnt from other participants:

• The public perception that the Congress is against everything that the government does is not good.
• Concern about inequality is fine but does it imply that our government will re-distribute income. (Tharoor supported Manish Tewari’s argument that the Congress should be mindful of and respond to the aspirations of the youth to make money and prosper.)
• The party keeps talking about unemployment but what do we propose to do about it? The resolution says we are in favour of AI, robotics, et cetera – which will take away more jobs and create more unemployment. How do we resolve the contradiction?
• The Congress attacks the government and the BJP for dividing the country on grounds of religion, but they can turn around and say that the Congress is dividing the nation on grounds of caste. 
• Instead of being merely concerned about tariffs, why don’t we urge constructive negotiations to safeguard the interests of our farmers, automobile parts manufacturers, and pharmaceutical companies in India?
• The Congress has a history of 140 years whereas the BJP has just 45. But three Lok Sabha elections have taught us that the youthful majority of voters simply doesn’t care about our history. They want to know what we will do for them today, and what kind of tomorrow we can provide for them. That has to be the key to our messaging.
• To win back lost voters and gain young voters, the Congress has to be the party of hope, not of resentment; the party of the future, and not just the past; the party with a positive narrative and not just negative criticism.

You can read Tharoor’s suggestions to the Congress top brass again. His diagnosis, prognosis and prescription were all perfect. Rahul and his coterie in the CWC looked rather upset by Tharoor’s candid talks, another little birdie told me. I spoke to multiple Congress leaders in Delhi and outside to gauge their views. Almost all of them agreed with Tharoor. I guess even the Gandhis would know that he is right, but the problem is that Rahul can’t be wrong, ever.

Tharoor’s outspokenness may queer the pitch further for him in Kerala Congress—controlled by KC Venugopal, Rahul’s trusted lieutenant. The four-term MP from Thiruvananthapuram is the best bet for the Congress in the next Assembly election in Kerala. He is popular among Nairs and both Christians and Muslims and has a strong appeal among the youth across the board. Rahul Gandhi won’t make him the face though, even if it’s an electoral risk. And it’s not just because of Venugopal’s ambitions.

It’s mainly because smart, thinking and outspoken politicians are misfits in the Congress, an organisation dominated by political nonentities at the top. So, what are Tharoor’s options? 

As he says, he has many options like giving lectures across the world, writing columns and books, and what not. The fact is that any party would lay a red carpet for him or, for that matter, leaders like Manish Tewari, Deepender Hooda, Gaurav Gogoi, Sachin Pilot and other proven winners. It’s another matter that they won’t go to another party. The BJP is a no-no because of their strong ideological beliefs. They have also spent all their political life in the Congress and prefer to fight for the right from within. 

No place for smart politicians

The bigger picture, however, is that there is no political party in India for smart, free-thinking, outspoken politicians unless they have patrons in the right places and don’t make much of self-respect. It’s true of the BJP, the Congress and all else.

Look at the long list of leaders who find themselves on the fringes in the party— starting from Yashwant Sinha, his son Jayant, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Uma Bharti, Vasundhara Raje, Varun Gandhi, Abhishek Singh and hundreds of others among prominent leaders. 

Remember how Palanivel Thiaga Rajan aka PTR was divested of a high-profile finance portfolio by Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin. Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati didn’t tolerate even her nephew Akash Anand and expelled him from the party. In the latest development, however, Mayawati forgave Akash Sunday evening after he publicly acknowledged his ‘mistake’. Even poll strategist Prashant Kishor, who worked closely with so many top politicians, couldn’t get along with Nitish Kumar once he joined the JD(U). There are examples galore.

So, how do you explain the political parties’ reluctance to indulge talented, outspoken leaders? In the Congress’ case, it seems to largely emanate from insecurities—either of the Gandhi family itself or of their trusted lackeys at the Centre or in states. The family has a history of troubles with powerful, independent-minded regional satraps. So why create another? There can be many other reasons, including a faulty understanding of politics and society. 

The reason is just the opposite in the BJP’s case—the high command’s absolute control. As they win in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s name, they should confine themselves to hailing him. Their personal ambitions have to be subjugated to the high command’s will. Don’t ask; wait for the high command’s benevolent gaze to fall on you. In the case of other parties, similar factors—from insecurities, and absolute control, to sheer whims of party supremos, among others—explain this trend.

So, what’s the option for smart, ambitious politicians today? The answer is blowin’ in the wind.

DK Singh is Political Editor at ThePrint. He tweets @dksingh73. Views are personal.

(Edited by Theres Sudeep)