‘Congress Charge best given to sCindia, Pilot’
Democracy in Congress destroyed in last 20 years, says Jagannath Mishra.
Three- t i me Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra, who also served as a minister in former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao’s Cabinet, told The Sunday Guardian in an exclusive interview that Sonia Gandhi’s entry into the Congress as its president ended the democratic culture in the party, and that paved the way for the Congress’ current sorry state. Q. What do you think about Rahul Gandhi’s imminent elevation as the Congress president? A: What changes will it bring to the party? He has been virtually working as the party president for so many months now. The appointment is just a technicality—every decision is being taken by Rahul. Changing the president will not bring any change in the Congress. Q. What do you have to say about the election process that Congress says is being used to make Rahul the party president? A: This is the biggest mistake that we (Congress as a party) have made; it is not an election process but a nomination process. Earlier, everything was done through election. Indira Gandhi came by election, Rajiv Gandhi came by election. Sitaram Kesri was also elected by a democratic process. The biggest mistake that we did was, which people have forgotten, that a democratically elected party president of Congress (Kesri) was removed through “gunda-gardi” (muscle power) and Sonia Gandhi was made the president of such an old party without following any laid-down process. She was made the party president through an undemocratic process while the democratically elected Kesri was humiliated; all the tall leaders watched that silently. This was the beginning of the fall of the Congress. Q. Are you saying that no internal democracy is left in the party? A: There is no democracy left in the party. You nominate people for every post and no elections are held in a party that is the oldest party of the world’s largest democracy. Every name is recommended from New Delhi. In my time, this was not the case. I defeated Tariq Anwar in the elections held in Bihar to elect the state unit president in 1992. I won by 2/3 votes, but Sitaram Kesri did not announce the result. The party MLAs supporting me expressed their anger democratically and peacefully, and Kesri had to relent and the result was declared. At that time, democracy was very much alive in the party. Q. Political observers have questioned Congress’ strategy of entering into alliances. How do you feel about it? A: In the Pachmarhi session (1998), the party decided that it would not enter into an alliance. However, in Shimla ( July 2003) you (Congress) went back on that resolve. This was also resisted by Pranab Mukherjee; he has made a very valid point in his book that victory and defeat in elections is a normal thing but that does not mean that the party compromises with its core principles. Sonia Gandhi, who was aware that Pranab Babu was against it, made sure that it was Pranab Babu who forwarded the proposal of entering into alliances at the Shimla session. Even if Congress was losing, it should not have compromised with its identity. In Uttar Pradesh (2017 polls), Rahul Gandhi entered into an alliance with Akhilesh Yadav and automatically he Congress became the “lesser” party and lost its position as the bigger national party. Even PranabBabu has mentioned about this in his book and said this was a wrong step. Congress is right now taking steps “ghabrake” (in a panic mode) and that’s why it is losing its identity. The workers are demoralised. Q. What led to your parting of ways with the Congress? A: I was a Congressi even before I was born. My relatives have been a part of the party since 1926. They went to jail during the British raj multiple times. Kesri was supporting Lalu Prasad Yadav in Bihar and when the RJD came into existence in July 1997, a vote of confidence took place in Bihar on 15 July 1997. I was against extending support to Lalu but Kesri was adamant, as a result of which the Congress party supported RJD. In this backdrop, I did a Congress Bachao Sammelan in August 1997 in Pat- na, which was termed as antiCongress activity by Kesri and I was removed from the party. My only stand was that we should not support someone like Lalu Prasad Yadav. After this, my dissidents made sure that I never entered the party. I never left Congress; it was Lalu Yadav who made sure that I was forced out of the Congress so that the Congress was damaged massively in the state. Lalu attacked our family personally and professionally. And yet I was painted by the CBI as someone who supported Lalu, my biggest political enemy, in the fodder scam. The only case against me was that I recommended the extension, promotion of an officer posted in Dhanbad in my position as a Leader of Opposition, which I did after my party leaders wrote to me saying that he was an honest officer. Q. The Congress in Bihar is almost non-existent now. A: All the blame lies with the central leadership. Just take an example: the leader of the Congress Legislative Party in Bihar is Sadanand Singh but it was Ashok Chowdhary, the former state president, who was made the minister in the erstwhile Grand Alliance government. This is absolutely wrong. What message does this give? That the only leader who has access to New Delhi durbar is more important? What does alliance with Lalu show? That the party is least bothered about its image. On one hand the party says that it is against corruption but then it has no qualms in joining hands with Lalu Yadav. Most of the party MLAs in Bihar are in reality from the RJD. The Congress has been destroyed in Bihar by the party high command and I see no hope of its revival in the near future. Congress is still in my heart and I get very sad when I see the present state of the party. The senior party leaders should stand up and speak out. Leaders with mass bases are not speaking up. Indira Gandhi believed in decentralisation, but Congress now focuses on centralisation. Sonia Gandhi has destroyed the party in the last 20 years by not promoting decentralisation. Q. You feel Rahul is not fit for the post of party president. Who do you think can don that role? A: Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sa- chin Pilot. They have the urge, they are young and they have a mass base, however limited it may be. Q. How do you see the rise of BJP nationally? A. Have people of the country suddenly become communal? No. They are as secular as they were. They are not voting for the Congress because they have lost trust in the party and its leaders. Do not blame the voters; the Congress high command should blame itself. The Congress leadership has completely failed, is full of corrupt people. That’s why people were forced to dislodge the Congress from power in 2014. The Congress had brought some good schemes for the people, Manmohan Singh had good intention but he was not able to control corruption as he was powerless. Q. How were your relations with Rajiv Gandhi and Indira Gandhi? A: I was removed as the CM of Bihar in 1983 despite Indiraji not wanting it. Once she called me in the PMO where she was sitting crossed legged on a sofa. I still remember the meeting vividly. She told me that it was a tradition in her house that all family members sit together while having dinner at the dining table but Rajiv was not joining in for the last 15 days because he wanted me to be removed as he was convinced that I was not able to stop corruption in the state. Indiraji told me that I do not want to remove you but Rajiv is not coming to the dinner table because of this and hence I am helpless and I have to remove you. I was removed.
However, later, Rajiv himself made me the CM after one year because Satyendra Sinha was not able to control Bhagalpur riots. I told Rajiv that Sinha should be allowed to continue but Rajiv was very adamant and he was very angry with Satyendra. Then I asked him what about the “corruption charges” against me? He was apologetic and said that he took the decision on the basis of wrong, biased media information, the truth of which he verified after sending a team of 10 people from the PMO to Bihar, post my removal. The Ministry of Tourism is working on an elaborate plan to tap the enormous potential that India has to become a major global tourism hub. As per the plan, the government will be rolling out 40 to 45 projects by the end of 2018, Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, told The Sunday Guardian in an exclusive interview. According to Billa, a 1996 batch IAS officer of the Kerala cadre, who was appointed to his current post in the ministry in November 2014, the projects to be rolled out by the end of 2018 include projects like the Swadesh Darshan scheme, under which 13 thematic circuits have been identified for development. They include the development of the heritage circuit in different zones of the country that would connect heritage sites in the zone or states, like the Buddhist circuit, coastal circuit, North East India circuit, Himalayan circuit, among many others. The Ministry of Tourism will also launch the Incredible India campaign version 2.0 very soon, which would be a more developed version compared to its earlier avatar. However, Billa did not provide details about what the campaign would be like.
Asked about the hurdles that prevent India from being a major tourist destination, Billa told The Sunday Guardian, “For marketing India as a tourist destination, we come across this problem that India has too many products to
‘Sonia Gandhi was made party president through an undemocratic process while the democratically elected Kesri was humiliated; all the tall leaders watched that silently. This was the beginning of the fall of the Congress.’