Pt Jawaharlal Nehru is making news for all obvious reasons. But
today as we pass through yet another anniversary of this ‘illustrious’ son of
India, it does not need any scholarly unraveling that Nehru is and will
continue to be rated as the most talked about Prime Minister of India.
His
purported love for democracy and the dynasty he left behind, his Nehruvian
secularism and legacy of planned governance – everything is being debated
especially in the context of a landslide victory recorded by Narendra Modi –
who in all perspective is an anti-thesis to Nehru.
In the words of Krishna Kripalani, Nehru was truly, “an aristocrat in
love with the masses, a nationalist who represents the culture of the
foreigner”.
But circa 2014 also opens up another can of worms. Were Nehru
and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel co-equals? Were the one better than the other?
Could either have ousted the other?
Noted writer Michael Brecher answers few of these questions in
‘Nehru – A Political Biography’ and says eloquently: “there were differences which
set them apart”. While Patel, for instance was “ruthless, practical and blunt
in speech and action”; Nehru was a man of great charm and aesthetically
inclined, impulsive and emotional. He also argues: “to the world at large Nehru
was, with Gandhi, the symbol of India ’s
struggle for freedom. Patel never attained this stature….”.
These comparisons could go on between the two as they were
different in more ways than one. However, it goes without saying that the
rivalry between the two was also highly exaggerated by cliques of civil
servants and politicians devoted to each leaders. Actually, the same phenomenon
continues even today as Modi-led BJP regime has almost usurped the Sardar Patel
legacy.
The Congress party has therefore erred in not inviting the
incumbent Prime Minister of India
(their arch rival Modi) for Nehru anniversary function even as honestly, the
Congress party was left with little choice given the animosity between two
sides. But given to the immature and short-sightedness in handling the crisis,
the Congress has only erred in not inviting a Prime Minister in office.
Probably they have walked into a trap in the process and made it official now
that Nehru belongs to “us, the Congress party”.
This is just the opposite of what Nehru actually was. Till the
other day, the worst of critics of ‘the dynasty’ despite all reservations could
not help admit that: Pt Nehru undoubtedly stood almost at par with Mahatma
Gandhi and the Nehru legacy was above political party or even ethnic/state or
caste considerations.
The situation
demanded that Sonia Gandhi took a much benign approach and rather embarrassed
Modi by inviting him into a show where Nehru’s admirers from world over would
have come and would laud his stand on secularism, pluralism and tolerance
towards opposition.
Now take this sample: "If India is a vibrant democracy today,
it is because of the foundations laid by Nehru. If India has become the third largest
economy. It is because of the multi-purpose projects, the PSUs and institutions
of higher learning established by Nehru”. This quote came from a long time
Congressman and the President of India Pranab Mukherjee.
Sample this gem of reference made by Pranabda; "I do not wantIndia to be a
country in which millions of people say 'yes' to one man, I want a strong
opposition”.
Sample this gem of reference made by Pranabda; "I do not want
Imagine Modi sitting next to President, who would have been
embarrassed more – BJP’s Modi or Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.
Now let us examine another finer point. In Nehru’s life time, two
conceivable rivals Sardar Patel in 1950 and Subhas Chandra Bose earlier in 1945
had passed the scene. This made Nehru’s task easier in terms of political
survivor and more so as Mahatma Gandhi’s acknowledged heir. Now the Congress
has tried to hijack Nehru from the national scene to its party politics and
indulge in one-upmanship against a man called Narendra Modi, who has made a
virtue of attacking the first political dynasty. Modi’s target is not Nehru –
but his great grand son Rahul Gandhi. So has Modi's task too has been made easier?
At this moment of history when Congressmen and women try to
rediscover the virtues of Nehru legacy, they ought to remember one quality of
their hero which had clearly given him an upper hand vis-à-vis Sardar Patel.
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