We can blame the United States over the Khobragade issue and get away with it. By and large, India has a good case. But think of what is happening back home in India in various fields of political and social activities that is enough to make us feel ashamed, if, that is, we have a sense of guilt. We cover our shortcomings under highfalutin phrases, such as Oneness of India. Just take a simple case of nominating a Congressman for a Rajya Sabha seat from Assam. A highly cultured state, with an impressive history of poets and scholars, not to say freedom fighters, it can name any number of men for election to the Rajya Sabha. But no, the Congress Party in power in the Assam Legislative Assembly is asked to name an ‘outsider’ to the post. Thus, the Assam Assembly had elected Manmohan Singh for five terms and no questions asked.
Are we to believe that there are no good legislators in the assembly incapable of filling the post? The Congress argument is that any Indian can stand for election from anywhere in the country, considering that it has been sanctioned by the Constitution. The justification is that we are all Indians, first, last and always and a Malayalee can stand for election from Punjab for a Rajya Sabha seat, so why not a Punjabi from Assam? The latest offensive is in projecting Sultanpur Congress MP Sanjay Singh of Amethi on Assam. It has raised the hackles of the Assamese and quite rightly so.
As The Sentinel (February 5) put it, “all those who have endorsed the decision to support the candidature of Sanjay Singh against the first vacancy as Rajya Sabha MP from Assam, must accept responsibility for having violated the provisions of Article 80 (2) of the Indian Constitution. Should the Congress Party impose an ‘outsider’ on the Assam Assembly just because it has a majority and the views of the Congress High Command should be accepted? What sort of democracy is this? The Assam Assembly has Congress 79, ALUDF 18, BPF 12, AGP 9, BJP 5 and TNC 1 as party strengths. The Congress has violated all decent norms to impose Sanjay Singh on Assam.
Today, it is a Rajya Sabha seat. Can Congress tomorrow impose an ‘outsider’ as Assam’s chief minister? How many ‘outsiders’ has the Congress Party imposed on other state legislators for Rajya Sabha membership? Imposing Sanjay Singh on the Assamese Legislature is an insult to the good and gracious Assamese people. As J P Rakhowa, a well–known commentator said: “The senior Congress leaders of Assam, who are the sons of the soil and who have sacrificed a lot for the party over the years through thick and thin and some of whom were hopeful of Rajya Sabha nomination, are a frustrated lot now. The people of Assam as a whole feel let down by Tarun Gogoi and his Congress.” That is very well-argued.
The Congress High Command bullying must be exposed. Just because the Assamese are a helpful and and cooperative people, does not mean that their accomodativeness has to be exploited to the full. How many months of his life as Prime Minister has Manmohan Singh spent in Assam? Does he even know and has he even tried to learn Assamese?
Has he addressed any public meeting in Assam? He has reportedly spent more than a year during the last ten years in travelling and staying abroad, but can he claim to have spent an equal number of years in the state which had sent him to the Rajya Sabha? And what has he done that is so remarkable for the Assamese to be grateful to him? On the other hand, such is the bad name that the UPA-II has earned that the Assamese people must be feeling totally let down: It is all very well for the Congress High Command to say that credit must be given to its party leaders for being very generous. Indeed, Gogoi thinks electing an ‘outsider’ shows the magnanimity of his fellow statesmen.
According to the Assamese media, the imposition of Sanjay Singh has led to widespread protests across the state, with Chief Minister Gogoi facing the severest attack for his failure to stand up to the High Command. Equally damned is the Congress chief Bhubaneshwar Kalita, for ‘shamelessly’ accepting the nomination of another Singh and calling him ‘sahodar’ (brother). Some sahodar, that. According to Rajkhowa, who, surely, speaks for the majority of the Assamese, “Dr Singh has hardly got any of Assam’s major problems, including infiltration of foreigners, flood and erosion issues solved.” As he put it: “With another Dr Singh, a dark horse in Assam’s socio-political arena, as also a dubious track record and reputation becoming a Rajya Sabha MP, Assam would be left with only five seats in the Rajya Sabha, for the indigenous Asomiyas, a matter of serious concern as voiced by all the protestors.”
If the ‘new’ Dr Singh – Sanjay — is so good as to deserve a Rajya Sabha seat, why not ask the Punjab or Haryana State Assemblies to nominate him? Why deprive the Asomiyas their natural rights? As of now, the ruling Congress alliance in Assam grabbed all the three Rajya Sabha seats against all odds and they include, of course, Sanjay Singh. Probably the matter will remain closed till the next elections. But the issue is of larger importance. In all cases, a state representative must be a ‘son of the soil’ and no outsider under any circumstances. In the first place, it is not fair to impose an ‘outsider’ on a state legislature. In the second place, it is a slap on the face of the locals. In the third place, even a member of the Opposition should be given preference to an ‘outsider’ because after all, he represents, in howsoever small a measure, his fellow state citizens. Perhaps it is time for the Constitution to make it clear. Equally, there must be an argument among all parties that no matter how distinguished an outsider, he remains an ‘outsider’ and to that extent not a true people’s representative. But one suspects that this is only a cry in the wilderness. The picture in Assam tells it all. All that matters is Power. In politics Principle has no place. Ask Gogoi. For that matter, ask Manmohan Singh.
