Having suffered a setback in the last General Elections and after having been reduced to merely 44 seats in Lok Sabha, Congress party has become desperate and looking like a rudderless boat wandering in deep oceans these days. Party workers are looking for directions but the leaders themselves are clueless as to what to do to revive the fortunes of this oldest political party of India. Congress is petrified as BJP under the leadership of Narendra Modi hijacked the legacies of Congress stalwarts like Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel and Mahatma Gandhi one by one. His initiatives like observing Patel’s anniversary as the National Unity Day and then linking Birthday of Mahatma Gandhi with is Clean India Mission have made the top brass of Congress very nervous. They feel that Modi is stealing its symbols and icons one by one.
In a bid to protect the legacy of Pandit Nehru, Congress party has decided to celebrate his 125th birth anniversary on a grand scale. This is clearly an attempt to keep Nehru’s image and contribution to the country as a legacy of Congress party alone. Congress wants to keep Narendra Modi away from this legacy lest he takes advantage of it. A large conference has been planned for this occasion in which leaders from 54 countries have been invited. There will be seminars, road shows, and other programs to take the legacy of Pandit Nehru to the masses and to impress upon the people the contribution of this great leader in the development of the nation. The fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not been invited to attend the conference clearly shows that Congress wants to tell the people that he and his party has nothing to do with Jawaharlal Nehru and his legacy.
Explaining the reason behind not inviting the PM to attend the seminar, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma told reporters that only those people have been invited who believe in the principles of pluralism and are tolerant of opposition and criticism. This is clearly an insult of the post of the Prime Minister of the country but Congress is hell bent on committing Hara-kiri, according to some analysts. Not inviting own PM while sending invitations to Premiers and leaders of foreign countries is like a slap on its own face, they say. If one were to believe what Anand Sharma had to say, how does Congress justify invitations to erstwhile Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and WB Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee? While Nitish has often been criticized for muzzling the voice of the press, Mamta has made a mockery of respect of opposition many times.
Experts feel that Nehruvian era is over, and his principles were not followed by his own daughter Indira Gandhi, and then his grandson Rajiv Gandhi. While Indira always showed disrespect for the opposition and shied from healthy debates and dialogue, Rajiv Gandhi was guilty of violating the principles of secularism on several occasions. He overturned the decision of the SC in Shahbano case to appease the sentiments of Muslim community and later gave orders for opening of the gates of the disputed Babri shrine to allow Hindus to perform puja there.
Reacting to the move by Congress to not invite PM Modi to attend the international conference, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said, “If at all Congress wants to fight with the Bharatiya Janata Party, then it should be on the basis of performance. The way it is behaving is completely puerile and childlike,” “To invite or not to invite though it is their domain, but they should realize one thing that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the Prime Minister of India and not of the Bharatiya Janata Party,” he added. Defending the decision of not inviting Modi to the conference, Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said that invitations were sent only to likeminded people.
Congress is hoping to revive its position in national politics and this particular event and the yearlong celebrations of the 125th birth anniversary of Nehru are a part of this strategy.
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About Sanjay Tandon
Sanjay Tandon is a graduate engineer from IIT Varanasi. He has been writing as a freelancer for many years. He loves to write on various niches. He is passionate about politics and economy and spends his free time watching news channels. He is also an expert on relationships.
