What Kamal Nath rumour says about Congress
The Gandhi family loyalist’s speculated defection to the BJP lays bare the internal strife and implosion within India’s oldest political party
“Mrs. Indira Gandhi called Kamal Nath her third son. How can he leave the Congress?” Will he, won’t he speculation buzzed all weekend on whether 77-year-old former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh and Gandhi family loyalist Kamal Nath would jump the fast-sinking Congress ship for the safe harbour of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
As the flood of Congress leaders rushing to the BJP turns into a deluge, workers, and most importantly, voters are entitled to wonder why the Congress is imploding. Every day, a senior leader quits, and those who remain indulge in familiar abuse “traitor,” “coward fearing arrest by the agencies such as Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and Income Tax.”
Kamal Nath, before the suspect switch, was a staunch Gandhi family loyalist.
Root cause
He worked closely with the late Sanjay Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, and tried and failed to work with Rahul Gandhi.
At nearly 80 and bogged down with ill health, Kamal Nath couldn’t realistically be expecting a new starry political innings. So why did he even think of switching? The answer to that exposes the rot at the heart of the Congress party.
A political party exists for only one purpose: to win elections and use political power. The Congress has not done either of that recently.
Simply put, the Congress leaders who are still looking for a future in politics are leaving in droves because they believe Prime Minister Narendra Modi is invincible and Rahul Gandhi, their former Congress president, can’t win them any elections.
That is where the Congress Party, India’s oldest political party, is currently, with two months to go for general elections. The regional opposition parties, such as Trinamool Congress and Aam Aadmi Party, don’t take it seriously as a leader of the opposition.
Sonia Gandhi, the longestserving president, leaving her Lok Sabha seat of Rai Bareli for a Rajya Sabha seat from Rajasthan to ensure she retains her Lutyens bungalow, is the writing on the wall being read by the Congress leaders. If a Gandhi doesn’t have the stomach for an electoral battle, then why should they fight the BJP?
BJP’s ideological claim
Equally clear is the BJP and Modi paradox. The BJP claimed to have an ideological purity, an alternative idea of India, while the Modi government is possibly the purest ideological government. It is now also heavy with Congress leaders who Modi attacked as “corrupt” and “dynastic.”
The cadre and the Sangh are quiet because the prime minister wins them elections, but as the rewards go to outsiders, this may change the moment of a big loss. The BJP is undoubtedly now a haven for Congress leaders.
The Congress, the big umbrella party of India, is imploding, and the BJP is now a magnet for Congress leaders, which will have its consequences for politics.