Ramachandra Guha: The Congress will have to get rid of family rule; I agree with it.
CENTER & ODISHA, Odisha Assembly, Odisha MLAs, Odisha MPs October 3rd. 2010, 11:16pmI agree with his view on Congress as well as BJP. Following are excerpts from an interview of Dr. Ramachandra Guha by Sheela Bhatt in rediff.
Some Congress leaders have mocked Hinduism, sometimes even Hindu civilisation while trying to attract the minorities.
Lots of people have this view of the Congress. I wish we had a political party to challenge the Congress. That would offer the people of India a wider vision of how this country should be built. But we don’t need polarising issues. Such criticism comes from people who have a polarised vision.
I come from Karnataka. In the last election, the BJP put up 224 candidates but not one Muslim. Almost 15 percent of the population of Karnataka is Muslim. So you are telling 15 percent of Karnataka you don’t count for us. Then how can you blame them for voting for the Congress? The BJP originally, said, ‘appeasement of none, recognition of all.’
But they never followed it. In Karnataka they attacked Christians after the Muslims in Gujarat. They had only one woman in the cabinet and she too has been sacked. So what message are they sending?
Is this the alternative to the Congress? The Congress can be a cynical manipulator. It plays one community against the other, okay, but, what are you offering that is better?
Do you think in the coming decades the BJP will form a national challenge to the Congress?
I don’t think so. It has fallen back to the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh). I think it’s possible that in 20 or 30 years time we may see a new political formation. It is possible a middle-class formation which is not captive of one family or one religion or one caste may emerge.
The BJP had a great chance to become a national party, but it has lost it. During Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s time, even at the time of the last election they had a chance to grow, but they always go back to the RSS.
When the Jaswant Singh crisis happened, (former deputy prime minister and then Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha) L K Advani went to see (RSS chief) Mohan Bhagwat who is head of a social-cultural organisation.
Who will trust the BJP as a young and modern party?
After reading the Congress’s history so well are you surprised by the way in which Sonia Gandhi has taken control of the party in the last ten years? Are you surprised to see the way she has grown and established herself?
I think she is a person of great determination. She has worked very hard. In the revival of the Congress she has been central. But there is a negative side also.
I see that a culture of chamchagiri (sycophancy) has flourished under her. There is a darbari (court) culture, there are chamchas around her. That is not healthy for any democracy.
That is not healthy for the Congress. It is not healthy for India that you have a situation where the prime minister has to come through the Rajya Sabha. He is totally dependent on her. He can not make Cabinet appointments without her approval. I think, there are problems. There are problems in the ways the Congress is run today.
Do you think its basic ideals remain strong today?
I don’t know. I can only say about the Congress is that it is not as bad as its alternatives. It is less bad. You cannot say it’s a healthy, democratic, well-functioning political party.
Look at world leaders like German Chancellor Angela Merkel. How did she come to the top? In democracies political parties have to be open, transparent and secular institutions where anyone can enter. When they put in hard work and talent they can rise.
Look at how Barack Obama and Merkel came up. In the Congress, unless you are close to Sonia and Rahul Gandhi you will not progress. This is well established. We should know that the culture of sycophancy is undemocratic and foreign to the Congress culture. For 80 years the Congress did not function in this way.
Congressmen think that without the Gandhi family they will disintegrate.
Maybe they should have a process of churning and they should rediscover themselves. I can’t say that it’s a happy situation. Because, it amounts to feudalism and it’s not democracy. It is similar to a monarchy where Sonia Gandhi is the queen and Rahul Gandhi is the rajkumar (prince). That is not democratic.
.jpg){kind=link}
October 4th, 2010 at 12:15 pm
Can a common man in India who really wants to do something positive hope to get elected?
Ans: Absolutely not. The financial requirements to contest are prohibitive and totally out of reach for 99.9% of the population in India (there are party contributions that run into lakhs or crores, then there are election expenses – cash to be given to voters(lakhs)/cash for operational expenses for supporters (lakhs)/cash for communication materials (lakhs). The link below will graphically drive home the point – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D2IrgPahC0#t=1m30s.
Now in such a scenario could anybody apart from a family of politicians/ex-royalty/rich individual actually hope to contest an election and then go on to win. The chances are next to impossible. The state of Orissa is a great example of what I have mentioned. It is such a poor state but that\’s not the case with out politicians. ( http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/65-crorepatis-in-Orissa-second-phase-election/articleshow/4434141.cms ).
October 5th, 2010 at 6:33 am
I agree with Stingidea entirely but would like to add that the common man is also responsible for this as the common man has misconceptions about who a politician ought to be. Most common men think that a person who is cunning, loud mouthed and a bully will make a good politician and not a honest common man. A good example is Mr. Jatish Mohanty who could not win the election even in his native place because people felt is honest and simple and hence cannot be a good politician. Poor man…he left all the power and good life of an IAS Officer to meet the intelligent common man but realised late that the common man thinks in a common way.