Gandhi Jayanti Special: Shashi Tharoor versus ‘the Family. A change will go a long way to herald a new destiny for congress… ..A preview of the Congress Presidential election.

India has been ruled by the Mighties one and many at some or other point in time. These rulers were powerful and ruled our country with arrogance, power, and ruthlessness. Besides, words like the Jahapanah, The Raj, and the Parivar ( Family) sound quite familiar and ring bells in the ears at times with fear. To give an idea, they are synonyms of words like Sarkar and Bhai, which also mean absolute power to some individual/family in their own domain.

We will talk about some of these words later, but today we have picked the ‘Parivar’ or The Family, which has ruled the country for almost six decades with utmost power and authority. Today that power center of the family has been challenged first by Shashi Tharoor and then by Ashok Gehlaut. We will talk about Gehlaut some other time but in this post, we would like to check the presidential election of the Grand Old Party (GOP) of India i.e.Congress.Shashi Tharoor is a Stephens and has served as the number two position at United Nations. He is a prolific communicator both verbally and in writing. He is certainly not an organization man as such but has been winning as MP from Kerala on a Congress ticket. His opponent Mallikarujan Kharge is a Gandhi family loyalist and will be contesting on their behalf for all practical reasons.

This is a real test of the Congress,  and the election outcome, as well as the percentage of votes for each candidate, will give us the much-needed information, how thick is the skin of Indian politicians belonging to Congress or are they ready for a change? If Mr. Kharage wins it will be a repeat of what all is happening in the GOP for the last 7 decades and there will be nothing new.

However if by chance ( yes there is a very small probability ) Mr. Shashi Tharoor wins we think that can bring a big fortune for the congress with some difficult times of course. However for that to happen congress has to abandon the ATTRACTION of The Family and free themselves from the notion that only the family can save the party. 

We would like to cite the example of the AAM AADMI party which has grabbed two states and can throw congress out in the 2024 election. Do note that it doesn’t have any Gandhi family members. Therefore to think that there is no alternative to The Family is wrong. The Congress party has been nurtured by the Family well and has a presence in all states.

Thus a surprise victory for Shashi Tharoor can bring much-needed change and transformation to the Congress party. In an interview with Karan Thapar, Shashi Tharoor came out with his vision in a very forthright manner and answered sharp piercing questions by Karan Thapar and we recommend this to all our readers and think about it

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r6SJoxoWC0). 

Unfortunately under The Family, the congress party has been highly constrained and needs fresh air on opinions and views. First of all, it can shed or at least dilute its Muslim appeasement policy. We don’t understand why political parties look towards 

Minorities as vote banks. The Minorities have grown well and have benefitted where ever they can. By playing VICTIM HOOD  they are unable to and are denied the join NATIONAL STREAM. This is the biggest damage that the congress party has done to the nation and of course to the minorities. When someone considers themselves a VICTIM how can they contribute to the development of the nation? 

We sincerely hope that if a leader like Shashi Tharoor comes victorious he can bring this change to the party. In fact, that can also pave the way for Congress to come back in 2024 slightly better if not winning wholeheartedly. They must learn from the AAP party which also tries to appease minorities, but with a difference. First, they don’t dump Hindus like the congress and second, they do appeasement cleverly shifting their stances from time to time in the typical Arvind Kejriwals CHAMELEON color change skills. 

The Second change that Shashi Tharoor can bring to the congress party will be to bring more talent and transparency. There are many people in the country who would like to vote for congress but don’t do so. Because the Family Based political dispensation is not liked by many. An open and free for all political party will be much more appealing to the nation. Consider the United States or for that matter any other democratic country. No one has a Family based political party. The American political system is really good where a candidate comes up after winning several different elections and moving upwards first within his own party and then contesting with the opposition. The Primary election is a good way of the democratic process in the United States. 

We are of the opinion that the Congress under Shashi Tharoor can bring this much-needed change in our nation which will be liked by all. The individual selection-based political system keeps the better and talented person out as the weak will always be more pliable and surrender before the one man or Family system. 

The Congress party needs fresh air on a wide range of spectrum from economic to Foreign affairs. There need to be talks and discussions within the party to come up with a more convincing argument and policy paper on critical issues that the country needs from a competitive opposition. But if one sees the congress party most of the time fights for its vested interest and there is nothing for the nation. By keeping themselves glued to the minority and some select issues they have damaged themselves and have come to this level where the CM f a state finds it more lucrative and powerful to be States CM rather than take the position of congress president which has been historically adorned by great leaders of the country. Mr Gehlaut should have least thought of this he will be occupying a position that had leaders like Gandi, Patel, Nehru, Bose, and many others. But now its a lost opportunity for him as he has shown his true colors of being a short-sighted selfish leader who is interested in keeping his CM post and keeping Sachin Pilot out. 

Conclusion

We think that this is a good opportunity for the congress party to redeem itself. The elections will be held democratically and any candidate can win. Congress has agreed for a democratic election is good and we hope that who so ever wins brings some changes to the thinking of the party. The opposition place is still lying vacant in the Modi era. If congress does not wake up now it will be gone forever as Kejriwal has made it a point to replace them at the national level. 

Nothing can be better than tributes to Mahatma Gandhi but a transformation in the GOP of India i.e. yours truly Congress party. 

Note: this is written only in the national interest without any malice towards any individual, Family or party. 

Dr Asheesh Shah
Samanvaya.org.in

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