Sonia says, "I am full time president", CWC pleas Rahul to 'take back' party reins
New Delhi:
It's good old story of a good mother and her son!
The Congress Working Committee (CWC) finally met in Delhi with Sonia Gandhi asserting that she is the 'full-time' president and the panel members dutifully appealed toRahul Gandhi to take 'back' the charge of Congress party.
Of course, two years plus is a longtime and most Congress wise men and women - barring the 23 rebels probably - forgot that in effect Rahul had resigned taking 'moral responsibility' for2019 poll debacle. Now what has changed since then, except that Congress failed to return topower in Kerala and Assam and scored 'zero' in tango with the communists in West Bengal ?
“I have always appreciated frankness. There is no need to speak to me through the media. So let us all have a free and honest discussion. But what should get communicated outside the four walls of this room is the collective decision of the CWC," Sonia blasts the likes of Kapil Sibal.
The BJP got a reason to mock in the first place, and secondly in a humorous and sarcastic sense,some Twitteratis say Narendra Modi is 'again lucky' for the big battle of 2024.
"They (CWC) will not have courage to call spade a spade because it does not suit their political narrative," remarked BJP spokesman Gaurav Bhatia in reference CWC conduct as they forgot tomention the Singhu dastardly attack allegedly by Nhang Sikhs.
Bhatia made use of his media briefing and called it 'Parivar bachao Working Committee'.
On the other hand, Sonia Gandhi has sought to silence the detractors 23 and targeted thelikes of Kapil Sibal specially. “I am, if you will allow me to say so, a full-time and hands-on Congress President," she assertedin reference to what Sibal had suggested a few days back that in the event of an 'interim president'in the party, perhaps no one was sure who was taking the key political decisions like the Congressmoves in Punjab.
Sonia also said endorsing her children Rahul-Pariyanka duo taking to streets and maintainedwhile the younger colleagues have taken “leadership roles”, the senior ones were busy givingsound bytes and media interviews.
An old family loyalist and former Union Minister Kapil Sibal (remember his 'zero loss' theory about
2G spectrum scam) has raised a banner of revolt and stated: "We cannot be doing Jee-Huzuris'.
Expectedly, the 'first family' was shocked and there was an 'orchestrated' tomato-protest near Sibal's house.
Even P Chidambaram and Ghulam Nabi Azad also slammed such protest and intolerance to criticism.
But at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, the tunes changed drastically.
It was Congress that spoke about 'democratic principles'. The fact of the matter is in Punjab,the Congress has a 'black law' against farmers and also Rahul Gandhi's own colleagueshave questioned the absence of democracy in the grand old opposition party.
BJP spokesman Gaurav Bhatia said the Congress again advanced the 'politics of lies'.
Bhatia cited the police lathi-charge on a group of protesting farmers in the Congress-ruled states of Punjab and Rajasthan and also noted that a law on contract farming brought in by Punjab says that farmers can be arrested for breaking the agreement.
"This is what a black law is," he emphasised and called for withdrawal of such a law.
The BJP spokesperson also took a dig at Sonia Gandhi for the part of her statement in which she is noting that all CWC are now doubly vaccinated, paving the way for its first physical meeting.The BJP leader pointed out that the opposition party had earlier resorted to criticism of the Modi government’s vaccination policies.
The Congress should offer words of thanks to scientists and doctors when 100 crore doses of vaccines are completed in a few days, he said.
Mr Bhatia also criticised Sonia Gandhi for not visiting her Lok Sabha constituency of Rai Bareli for over 21 months and said this reflected a failure of an elected lawmaker.
ends
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| Sonia with PM and others |
Of ‘diminished’ comrades and Congress
India has sought quicker extradition of Kim Peter Davy alias Niels Holck, from Denmark. This happened on the diplomatic stage when Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was in India and holding bilateral talks with her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi. She also hailed Modi as an 'inspiration' and both sides held significant parleys on green politics to Afghanistan.
The Kim Davy issue actually brings into focus the good old Congress-Communists relationship in India -- even till the mid-1990s. On December 17, 1995, a large consignment of illegal arms including AK-47 rifles and ammunition were dropped from an Antonov An-26 aircraft and was scattered in the Purulia district of West Bengal.
One need not go into the merits of the allegation that the Congress had conspired to oust the erstwhile Jyoti Basu government in West Bengal. The Marxists' forte was too strong and of course Basu was very powerful and also left to himself, a very popular leader in his state. But things have changed a lot since then. Now the Congress party's base has shrunk and Communists have, in an ironical turn of events, vanished from West Bengal.
For someone born in 1970 and having seen the hero-cult image of Basu, this journalist had never imagined that the CPI-M could be ever a 'Zero-MLA' strong or weak party in Bengal ever. But this has happened. In 2021 assembly elections, both the CPI(M)-led Left Front and Congress strengths in the 294-member state legislature have been reduced to zero. Now, it is Mamata Banerjee all the way. Importantly, she is seen as 'more Left than the Left' and hence she thrives. Her outfit -- a splinter organisation from the mother' Congress is now trying to have its footprint in different parts of India, including in far off Goa.
In general, over the last few years, the Congress has lost its base across the country. But in the process, the grand old party of India has turned 'more Left'; and in more ways than one. It started with the JNU protest in 2015 and also on other issues Rahul Gandhi is trying to emulate the language of the comrades. Here comes the new challenge. Just as the two communities with the same 'historical and cultural' origins may not necessarily evolve in the same ways, the two political parties trying to fashion a 'modern pro-Communist' look cannot see the growth simultaneously either.
Historians often liken the Hindu civilisation for having shared 'affinities' at the very initial stage with Mesopotamia. But the respective journey and growth trajectories have been different. Hence as and when the Indian National Congress and Communist growths are discussed, we have to see why both have lost ground. This brings us to debate a very important chapter of Indian politics.
The shrinkage of bases of the Congress party and the Indian Communists have also largely created ground for the growth of Hindu fundamentalist forces, like the BJP. Even the rise of regionalist stars like Mamata Banerjee have a typical reasoning of poor performance by the Congress and the Communists.
In the 2021 polls, the Trinamool Congress' 200-plus haul would not have been possible had not Congress and Leftists lost all their seats. This downward slippery journey of Indian communists and Congress have also unnerved minorities such as Muslims and Christians.
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| Hate Communists, Love Communists |
The decline is not only electoral but also in exerting influence on the sociopolitical mindset.
In the regions where they are losing their grip, the pro-Hindu BJP has gained ground -- of course rising on the 'Moditva phenomenon'. The religious minorities could have been happy about atheism (the Communists) losing ground. But they are irked as a worse and more dangerous form of political ideology has gained power. The BJP with its commitment to make India a nation of 'Hindu hegemony' is now the major opponent of Mamata Banerjee in Bengal. It has 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats and three years back, it came to power in Tripura as well by ousting its Communist government in another red bastion.
There is yet another important lesson of politics.
The BJP's 'growing support base' in Kerala also essentially means dwindling popularity of Kerala's two traditional political alliances -- UDF (led by the Congress) and the other LDF, led by Leftists. One need not be a bitter rival or detractor to point out that even in Kerala comrade Pinarayi Vijayan has tinted the Communists' red flag with the hues of saffron, the colour associated with Hindu forces. In other words, he is taking care not to 'offend' Hindu sentiment with the so-called progressive Communist ideas. The Leftists are good at giving a spin to events and they may thus describe this appeasement of Hindu sentiment or religion as pragmatism.
What could happen if Kim Davy is extradited, would be debated another day. The Communists could be anti-religion, but they have long been the real custodians of a secular polity where nearly 80 per cent of its 1.3 billion people are Hindus. The minorities see a protector in Communist leadership although in Kerala, the CPI(M) for long was also known as a pro-Hindu party. Then, you had the Muslim League and the Congress party with a good support base among Catholics.
The electoral data in the last 15 years or so shows that of the three national elections and some state assembly elections -- not only have the Communists weakened but there has been a steady rise of the BJP, including in West Bengal and Tripura. The trend has been modest in Kerala too. In other words, the weakening of Communists signals the rise of Hindutva-ridden macho nationalism.
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| Biggest joke was when Left supported 'reformist' PM |
But pragmatism, as they say, is often a good political substitute for naked opportunism. Thus, the Marxists in the southern state of Kerala have actually sparked off a 'power struggle' between Kerala's two dominant minorities -- the Muslims and the Christians. Out of a population of 36 million, Muslims and Christians together constitute about 40 per cent in this state.
ends
(the piece was used by a number of websites and newspapers)
Dr Jaishankar to visit Israel from Oct 17, MoS Muraleedharan to visit Sudan
New Delhi:
External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar will pay an official visit to Israel between October 17 and 21 at the invitation of Alternate Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Israel,Yair Lapid.
"This will be his first visit to the country as External Affairs Minister," an MEA release said.
Dr Jaishankar will hold a bilateral meeting with the Alternate Prime Minister and Foreign Minister and also call on the President, the Prime Minister, and the Knesset Speaker.
"India and Israel elevated bilateral relations to a Strategic Partnership during the historic visit of PM Narendra Modi to Israel in July 2017. Since then, the relationship between the two countries has focused on expanding knowledge-based partnership, which includes collaboration in innovation and research, including boosting the ‘Make in India’ initiative," the MEA statement said.
Dr Jaishankar will also interact with the Indian-origin Jewish community in Israel, Indologists, Indian
students who are currently pursuing their education in Israeli universities, and business people,
including from the hi-tech industries.
The visit will also be an occasion to pay tribute to the valiant Indian soldiers who laid their lives in the
region, especially during the First World War, the MEA said.
Dr Jaishankr's visit would also ensure engaging the new coalition government in Israel and provide a fresh
boost to the bilateral relationship.
Naftali Bennett, a right-wing Jewish nationalist, took over as the new PM of Israel replacing
Benamin Netanyahu.
Meanwhile, in another statement, MEA stated that Minister of State for External Affairs and
Parliamentary Affairs V. Muraleedharan will pay an official visit to the Republic of the Sudan on
October 18 and 19 and to the Republic of South Sudan from October 20 to October 22.
During his visit to Sudan, MoS Muraleedharan will hold talks with Foreign Minister Dr. Mariam Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi
and other dignitaries on bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest.
He will call on the President of the Sovereign Council of Sudan First Lt. General Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman Al Burhan
and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.
MoS will also interact with the Indian community in Sudan.
In South Sudan, the junior foreign minister will call on President General Salva Kiir Mayardit.
He will meet Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Mayiik Ayii Deng, Speaker of
Transitional National Legislative Assembly Ms. Jemma NunuKumba and other dignitaries.
He will also address the Indian Community in Juba.
ends
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