Democratise Congress

This refers to “Twist in the tale” (Chinese Whispers, July 16). Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati seems to have lost her support base among the Dalits because of her self-centred policies and is now a spent force. She may, therefore, not be able to exploit the bizarre slugfest raging in Rajasthan to her political advantage .When politics becomes a business, the shifting of loyalty by politicians, young or old, for their vested interests is not something unexpected. Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot cannot be exceptions. Each was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. They were also dynasts as their fathers were in high positions in the Congress and even in the government when the party was in power. They were naturally given importance over other young entrants from more humble backgrounds. Why did Scindia and Pilot accept this asymmetrical importance accorded to them if they were not power hungry? The fact of the matter is that the blue-blooded youngsters cannot live without power. They, therefore, take no time to switch sides if offered a position by another party. Their love and respect for the party’s ideology is skin-deep.

But this situation should not enable the Nehru- Gandhi family-controlled Congress to justify its monopoly over it forever. Instead, this should serve it a warning to hurry up its democratisation which is the solution to most of its current problems. Thanks to the Rajasthan situation, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has succeeded in diverting the public attention from its double talk on the sensitive issue of national security. As of now, the Congress is no match for the cadrebased BJP with great financial resources.

Tarsem Singh Hoshiarpur