I have returned
from Jaipur after attending the Chintan Shivir (18-20 Jan, 2013). The
atmosphere in the Shivir was magical. But, nothing inspired me more than
Rahulji’s speech accepting his appointment to the post of Vice President of the
AICC; a speech high both on personal touch and emotion and intellectual
maturity and depth- a rare combination of head and heart. I did not go to
Jaipur expecting such a powerful and inspirational message. Let me elaborate.
The last few
months have been quite distressing. I have been a Congress Worker for the last
forty years and have held many posts in the Party and the Government. But, at
no point I had seen such a pronounced disconnect between the political
establishment and masses of people as in the preceding months. The youth and
the middle class have been on the street first over corruption, then over the
Delhi rape case. Politics has
become a dirty word and politicians are perceived as corrupt, arrogant,
self-serving and power-drunk. What the country needs today is a new and
transformational leadership. There is a need for a complete paradigm shift in
politics and in public life. I was increasingly feeling a sense of gloom and
doom. But, that was till I heard Rahulji speak.
Let me
paraphrase two key points from Rahulji’s speech. First he shared an important
lesson that he has learnt from Soniaji that ‘power is poison’. Is not that the
crux of the problem? Isn’t this poison responsible for corrupting politics and
public life? If politics is about serving the people and about making
sacrifices for the country no family has a more glorious tradition that the
Gandhis. This is the way the Gandhis genuinely think and do their politics.
Pandit Nehru had spent a decade in British prisons. Mrs Gandhi sacrificed her
life protecting the unity and integrity of India and Rajivji was killed because
he took on terrorism. Mrs Sonia Gandhi could have been Prime Minister, but
chose not to. Even Rahulji has spent the last nine years handling
organizational matters and in understanding development issues, while he could
have easily decided to be in Government. The second key point in his speech was
that the system in India cannot be tweaked and made to perform. We have to
accept that public is angry, youth is frustrated, power is centralized and
people are resenting the way the system treats them. The days of incremental
changes are over. We need to change the system. Parivartan is not about
changing a party in power, it is about changing fundamentals of governance and
development.
In my speech I
pointed out that the All India National Congress has functioned historically as
an umbrella to accommodate various regional aspirations under its roof without
giving up the national focus or the secular-democratic spirit. But,
increasingly the regional parties are leveraging their clout not merely to pose
a serious political challenge, but also to the overall growth and prosperity of
the nation. The regional parties have no responsibility for keeping budget
deficit under control or for making sure that oil distribution companies do not
sink or that the Railways can sustain their present operations and find capital
for growth. These examples are just illustrative. The fact is at a time when
countries like China have rapidly brought about gigantic reforms at a
national-scale, attracted FDI, built a strong manufacturing industry and
invested hugely in infrastructure and human resource development, regional
parties have been pursuing an agenda that preys on peoples’ fears. They blame the
central Government for ‘neglect’ despite the five-time increase in central
transfer of funds in the last decade. They use the delivery mechanism to take
credit for welfare schemes launched/ conceived/funded by the Central
Government. So, the two rupee rice scheme funded largely out of central grant
is no big deal and is a matter of federal rights. But, the same is used to win
votes. That is opportunism, pure and simple.
To deal with
regional politics I have suggested a six-point plan without compromising on our
commitment to nation building. Firstly, AICC should adopt a state specific
strategy dealing with regional imbalance and aspirations of the people.
Secondly, the State units need a strong and united leadership. Thirdly, we
should develop a mechanism for an interface between state leaders and Central
Government Ministries for putting across the demands of the state. Fourthly,
AICC should develop state-specific media strategy so that the national media
takes note of the opposition voice in the states. Fifthly, we need a policy to
mentor youth leaders and give them prominence in the national media so that we
create a new generation of leaders for the future of the party in the state.
Finally, the selection of party candidates for contesting elections should be
based on organizational work, support base and winning potential rather than
ability of candidates to sway decisions through contacts and lobby. Many other
ideas emerged during the deliberations.
My biggest lesson
from the Jaipur Shivir is that Congress Workers must adhere to the core values
of the Congress. These values have helped to preserve unity and integrity of
the country in comparison to most post-colonial countries in Asia, Africa and
Latin America that have witnessed civil war, military rule and gross political
instability. Congress has played a very important role in sustaining a stable
and democratic country. Because of these values, basically left-of-centre or
socialistic, that we have constantly worked for the poor and the
under-privileged. What are these core values? The first core value is, of
course, the spirit of democratic socialism and inclusive growth. Congress has
always stood against identity politics around caste, community, religion and
region and our politics must always be inclusive. The second core value is the spirit
of sacrifice for the greater good of society and the nation and dedicated
service to the people. This is where we in Odisha have to remember old Congress
leaders like Pandit Gopabandhu Das. In or out of power, we have to stay
committed to core Congress values. It is more likely that we can rejuvenate the
Party and the nation if we follow these ideals and hopefully we can persuade more
people to support us. Back to basics. Rahulji’s message is rather powerful.
