‘Cong yatra an antidote to BJP’S divisive politics’

The first non-gandhi family president of the Congress in a quarter of a century, Mallikarjun Kharge spoke to Vinod Sharma about the challenge of reclaiming the party’s legacy, and about its ideology which is under fire from the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was ambivalent, however, on the organisational issues dogging the faction-ridden party which has faced a series of electoral defeats since the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Edited excerpts:

You have your task cut out as the newly elected Congress president. Besides organisational and leadership issues crying for attention, the party is hamstrung by the lack of a cogent narrative and hurdles in reaching the message to the people.

There has never been a leadership issue in the Congress. Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi led the party with full support of Congressmen. Now we just had an election and I’ve been given the responsibility as party president by the workers. We have a clear message against the divisive, antipeople policies of the BJP. Our Udaipur resolve laid out a clear road map. Yes, there are hurdles in carrying the message as level playfield has been curbed. That’s precisely why we decided to go directly to the people. The Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi and similar yatras in states like Odisha and Assam are being conducted to overcome limitations placed by a dictatorial government.

But internal leadership disputes have resurfaced on the eve of the yatra entering Rajasthan. Can Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot be made to sit together to come to a modus vivendi?

Such issues arise in all parties. It is true that one should not air grievances in public. Our party has the forums and the capacity to deal with such matters.

The BJP’S ideological offensive has many dimensions. But it singles out Nehru on the Kashmir question and the India-china war, not to mention his broader foreign and economic policies.

Nehru is in the hearts and minds of all Indians. He spent almost nine years in jail and fought for our freedom. He built India brick by brick amid many challenges. He laid the basis of democracy, was the moving force behind the Constitution, especially fundamental rights, objectives, universal franchise. He worked to kick-start the economy in Independent India with a new concept of mixed economy in a planned approach. His policies led to selfreliance in skilled human resource, heavy industries, power and atomic and space sectors. He always got huge mandates, winning over 360 seats every time. The Congress then ruled almost all the states. He used that mandate to nurture democracy, to build an integrated India while celebrating its diversity. The BJP vilifies Nehru because it believes in an idea of India that is against his philosophy. They want an India that’s exclusionary, serves a chosen few and doesn’t guarantee equal rights to all. Many commentators, authors and journalists have started writing about Nehru’s contribution for the benefit of younger generation. We recently had a Jawaharlal memorial lecture where I explained how Sardar Patel and Subhas Chandra Bose wrote several times praising Nehru. Today, the BJP wants to divide our freedom fighters.

On March 6, 1936, Netaji, in a letter from Austria, wrote to Nehru: “Among the front-rank leaders of today, you are the only one to whom we can look up to for leading the Congress in a progressive direction... your position is unique and I think even Mahatma Gandhi will be more accommodating towards you than towards anybody else. I earnestly hope you will fully utilise the strength of your public position.” Even after Netaji parted ways with Congress, he named his INA battalions after Gandhi, Nehru, Maulana Azad and Rani Jhansi. That should help people judge the difference between propaganda and history.

Why then has your party’s response been less than robust to BJP’S blitzkrieg?

Let me answer that in a straightforward way. We have workers in every village in India. We need to mobilise them against those who divide our society. We are a party of all religions, all sects, all castes, all communities — everyone. The Bharat Jodo Yatra is an effort to unify people who truly believe in secular ethos. I commend all citizens who have extended their support to the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul Gandhi and the 119 Bharat Yatris. They’re joined by thousands and lakhs everyday. Their determination to walk 20-25km daily is admirable. We interact with each stakeholder; the party is listening to everybody who wants to say something. We also have large public meetings wherever required. Many state units are undertaking their own Bharat Jodo Yatras at local levels. The only antidote to the hateful and divisive politics of the BJP is to show unity at the grassroots. That’s what we believe in and that’s what we are doing.

A fight over history is also playing out. By talking about leaders who were ostensibly denied their rightful place in history by successive Congress regimes, isn’t the BJP effectively staking claim to the legacies of Patel, Ambedkar, Bose, Bhagat Singh?

The BJP and the RSS have a long history of creating divisions over freedom fighters. Do you know why? The Hindu Mahasabha and RSS ideologues then were British sympathisers and believed in the policy of “divide and rule.” Let me quote an excerpt from Sardar Patel’s birthday letter to Nehru on 14 October, 1949: “Some people motivated by selfishness have tried to spread misconceptions about us and some innocent people even believe them, but in reality we have been working together as lifelong associates and brothers. (We) mutually adjusted according to each other’s point of view and always respected each other’s difference of opinion, as can be done only in deep trust.”

The BJP has attempted to spread canards on supposed bad relations between Patel and Nehru. In reality, theirs was a respectful relationship. Nehru visited Patel for advice on all important matters. In any case, all these leaders, including Patel, were Congress leaders. They were not RSS leaders.

Did these issues weigh on your mind when you said in a speech at Hyderabad that Narendra Modi couldn’t have been PM but for the strong foundations Nehru laid and the contribution he and Patel made to the Constitution Ambedkar wrote?

Modi ji keeps asking, “What did the Congress do in 70 years”? Our reply is simple: Had the Congress not done anything, Modi ji would never have become Prime Minister. Nehru, Patel and Ambedkar ingrained democracy and democratic ethos in this country.

Had there been no democracy, there would have been one-party rule.