Congress or the Indian National Congress (INC) is one of two major political parties in India. It was founded in 1885 and played a leading role in India’s Independence movement. It has ruled during most of India’s independent years and gave the country its first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Leadership of the Congress too has been dominated by the Nehru-Gandhi family.
The Congress is a center-left party, and lists on its website democracy, nationalism, secularism, inclusive growth and social justice as its core values. It last ruled India between 2004 and 2014, but has since lost its sway, being reduced to just 52 seats in the 2019 General Elections. INDIA, the alliance headed by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, was an attempt to bring together opposition parties against the BJP government for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Together, the INDIA Alliance secured 238 of the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha. The Congress won 99 of these.
Every PM is likely to be dominated by those who have put him in the position. But what we have to see is which influence has been more harmful for the country. And on that count there can be no two opinions. The RSS’s Hindutva ideology has pushed the nation back by at least a century and has spread the venom of hatred and communalism in what should otherwise have been a thriving modern nation. We have become a violent society which is no longer alarmed by rapes,lynchings and murders. in fact we have the political class defending, supporting and even applauding criminals. Who would have ever thought we would reach such a state. What about our concept of dharma and righteousness.And there is nothing to stop this downward slide. Each day we see a new low being reached and the media has become the cheerleaders for these criminals and all in the name of nationalism and patriotism.
It appears that the motive behind this ‘article’ is to discredit Modi so as to soften the film’s blow on the Congress. The arguments are obviously specious. MMS was the PM at the pleasure of the Gandhi’s, Modi is not similarly at the mercy of RSS because RSS knows that without Modi, BJP wouldn’t win 100 seats. Thus, while MMS had to take instructions from the lady, Modi only needs to broadly keep RSS’ preferences in mind, which is how a party-democracy works. In your own Cut the Clutter, Shekar Gupta says Modi enjoys the confidence of RSS. With ‘articles’ like this, The Print runs the risk becoming an excrement like The Wire.
This government is for, by and of RSS. Atleast Sonia Gandhi was elected member of Parliament. RSS has no public locastandi but still holds power without responsibility.
Making a success of such a stellar mandate was first and foremost the responsibility of the government, which is directly accountable to those who have brought it to power. Since the RSS plays such an important role in the scheme of things, provides manpower for elections, it needs to be on the same page as the government(s) on making a success of both governance and faster economic growth. With such a large presence on the ground, it must receive continuing feedback from its workers as well as associates and well wishers that things were not going well. Whatever the ideological agenda it might wish to promote, as the recent state reverses have shown, if people are in distress or dissatisfied with the government, merely carpet bombing the electorate with workers and resources will not suffice to win an election. Especially when it comes to the economy, pragmatism must score over ideology.
In my limited understanding, there is no comparison between the two cases. MMS was a reluctant candidate, whereas Modi was an overenthusiastic candidate. In fact he was so eager for his name to be announced as the prime ministerial candidate at the party’s Goa conclave before 2014, that his supporters shouted slogans at Advani’s house because the latter was seen as not supportive of the idea. And Advani was still a “very senior” leader of the organization in those days. Only the insiders can say if, and to what extent the RSS has been able to “direct” Mr Modi the prime minister; for an outside observer like me it does not look likely at all. The two are “made for each other”, but if one has to choose as to who has been the dominant partner, I would vote for Mr Modi. Simply because of the fact that the RSS has been in existence since 1925, but never in its entire history, until the advent of Mr Modi, has it prescribed or overlooked a “murderous” kind of hatred for the Muslims. So at least I for one will never agree that the RSS has ever had a “vetoing kind of control” over Mr Modi, the like of which the Congress is said to have had over Dr Manmohan Singh.