Of VIP culture & true followers of Mahatma

Delivering the valedictory speech at the plenary session of the Congress last week, an impassioned party president Rahul Gandhi declared that his first task was to break the “two walls” in Indian politics — the wall between party workers and leaders, and the wall between the youth and political system. But these reassuring words meant little for the delegates, who travelled from across the country to participate in the two-day jamboree. The hard reality is that despite all the talk about ushering in change, the old system remains very much in place. Delegates pointed out that if Mr Gandhi was serious about breaking barriers, he would have begun by doing away with the separate enclosures for workers and leaders, which ensured there was little or no interaction between them at the session. Not only were the delegates and leaders seated in demarcated enclosures, they were also segregated into separate halls during meal times, which is normally an occasion for workers to mingle freely with leaders. Congress delegates said plenary sessions were originally meant to serve as an excellent occasion for workers to meet and bond with their leaders in an informal environment, but the VIP culture in the party, they said, had taken away the joy of attending such meetings. As one member pointed out: “When there’s such a lack of communication within the party, how are we expected to communicate with the public?”

Ever since it came to power four years ago, the BJP has made systematic attempts to appropriate the icons of the Congress. While Sardar Patel has been coopted as their leader, the BJP has also been working overtime to project itself as the inheritor of Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy. For instance, BJP president Amit Shah recently came up with a series of reasons to argue that their party is the true follower of the Mahatma. For one, he pointed out, like Gandhi, the BJP is not apologetic about being seen in the company of rich people. In this connection, Mr Shah pointed to Gandhi’s association with leading industrialists like the Birlas and Bajajs during the freedom struggle. Though there were no television news channels in those days, Mr Shah said Gandhi was extremely conscious of the role played by the media in propagating their viewpoint. Mr Shah recalled that Gandhi even delayed the start of his famous Dandi March to await the arrival of a correspondent of a foreign news agency. The BJP president said Gandhi was very particular about optics and this, he said, was even reflected in the manner in which he posed for cameras. The BJP, he said, had imbibed these lessons well from Gandhi, which made their party his real followers.

Ever since senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh’s Narmada yatra came in for appreciation from the people, a host of party leaders made it a point to join the senior leader on this parikrama. Last week, former Rajasthan chief minister and Congress general-secretary Ashok Gehlot put in an appearance at Mr Singh’s yatra. Mr Gehlot’s presence led to considerable speculation in about the reason for his trip. Currently a favourite of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, there was a buzz that Mr Gehlot may be carrying a message for Mr Singh from the party chief. It is speculated that Mr Gandhi may have sent Mr Gehlot as his emissary to ferret out information about Mr Singh’s future plans. Though he has described his six-month yatra, as a “non-political” exercise, those who know Mr Singh are convinced that he planned to use this effort to connect politically with the people of his home state who had rejected him in 2003. The Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh are due this year-end and there are signs that Mr Singh is not going to sit on the sidelines during these crucial polls. Mr Gandhi had better watch out, given Mr Singh’s penchant for creating trouble.

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan hosted a special lunch for MPs and mediapersons last week at the Parliament House on the occasion of Gudi Padwa. These meals usually are a good occasion for journalists to chat informally with the lawmakers. But, as in the case of the Congress, the Speaker’s office also chose to segregate mediapersons (with the exception of a few senior editors) from MPs by hosting them at different venues. While the meal for MPs was organised in the Parliament House forecourt, the journalists were hosted in a separate hall on the first floor. Predictably baffled at this discrimination, the guests were left wondering about the purpose of this exercise as the journalists only ended up socialising with each other. While chafing at this discriminatory attitude, mediapersons were also unhappy that their hostess did not put in an appearance at their lunch.