This is sheer sacrilege, isn’t it? A rather strong critique of the Nehru-Gandhi family in a journal published by the Congress Party in Mumbai has hugely embarrassed the Gandhis, resulting in the summary dismissal of the editor. The Mumbai Congress Chief, Sanjay Nirupam, has himself come under attack following the controversy, with his rivals in the party demanding his removal.
Given that Nirupam began his political career editing the Shiv Sena mouthpiece, Saamna, and was later rewarded with a Rajya Sabha seat by the Sena Supremo, the late Balasaheb Thackeray, he may have become doubly vulnerable. Significantly, Balasaheb Thackeray subscribed to the views reflected in these articles controversially published in the Congress Party journal.
Indeed, these articles echoed views which Nirupam in his earlier avatar as a hardcore Sainik had fully endorsed since, the late Sena founder had openly propagated them from various public platforms. Whether it was the role and contribution of Nehru vis-à-vis Sardar Patel, or the origins of Sonia Gandhi and her last-minute acquisition of Indian citizenship, the Sena founder was unsparing in his criticism. He did not mince words.
The impugned articles in the Mumbai Congress mouthpiece, which did not carry the name of the author, reflected the broader viewpoint of the right-wing forces which have all along argued that Patel would have made a better prime minister.
The continuing and very costly border conflicts in the north-east and in Jammu and Kashmir, according to this school of thought, resulted from the gross mishandling of the situation by the first prime minister and due to his woolly-headed foreign policy. There may be more than a kernel of truth in this analysis but to state it in the official journal of the party is to invite trouble. After all, the party now is the private fief of the Nehru-Gandhi family.
Remarkably, in the print-line Nirupam’s name appears as the editor, though the actual day-to-day editing was reportedly handled by a professional journalist whom Nirupam had hired from a Bhopal publication. The occasion for the comparison between Patel and Nehru was the death anniversary of the former on December 15.
Though ~Congress Darshan~ is hardly noticed even by Congressmen in Maharashtra, never mind the lay public, its controversial issue has become a collector’s item, with not many senior Congress leaders in the State managing to get a copy. Aside from the unfavourable comparison of Nehru with Patel, another controversial article also had some caustic things to say about the current Congress boss.
It said that Sonia Gandhi became the party chief within 62 days of enrolling as a primary member. Besides, it had some very harsh things to say about her Italian family, including the fact that her father was a `former fascist soldier’ who had fought in Russia in the World War-II.
Remarkably, the issue which published the article about Sonia Gandhi was meant to mark her birthday and carried her picture on the cover. The Nehru-Patel issue of the ~Congress Darshan~, ironically, coincided with the 131st founding day of the party. No doubt, Nirupam has been forced on the back foot by the vituperative articles.
To be fair, even his critics would not accuse him of being a party to the publication of these scurrilous attacks on the totems of the Congress’s First Family. Which is why the argument that his rivals in the Maharashtra-Mumbai Congress might have hatched a plot to force his removal as Mumbai unit chief has some merit.
Given the aggressive nature of Nirupam’s politics – he may have switched parties but the persona cannot change, can it? – he might have made more enemies than he had started out with when he was first appointed the Bombay Congress chief. He had replaced Kirpa Shankar Singh following reports of his involvement in several money-making rackets.
Truth-telling in politics, especially in a family-controlled party like the Congress, exacts its own costs. In a party which encourages the culture of sycophancy, any attempt to examine dispassionately recent events and personalities with surgical precision and clarity must remain unwelcome.
Deification of leadership being the sole route to success in the Congress, the impugned articles in the Mumbai Congress publication are bound to cause some more heads to roll, but not, unfortunately , in spurring an unbiased reassessment of the contributions of Nehru and Patel.
