Is The Congress Beginning To Disintegrate?

Do the reports of Sonia Gandhi reprimanding Shashi Tharoor conceal a turmoil happening at the top of Congress?

Something odd happened on the Congress Party’s path to political ignominy the other day: there was an insider leak about an insider leak regarding alleged goings on at a closed-door meeting where it was decided to disrupt parliament sessions. Nothing new, any amateur observer of our political scene might say, and that would be true – except that the leak was supposedly about dissent within the party. And that is where the matter gets murky.  (Reader note:  The verb “to allege” will be used a lot in this article in multiple forms).

Allegedly, Shashi Tharoor, something of a bête noire within the Congress, and an uncertain quantity on the national political scene, posited along with a few others that the business of parliament should not be disrupted. It was this information that was (again allegedly) leaked. From the reportage, it appears that at a subsequent meeting, Sonia Gandhi, abruptly and sharply reprimanded Tharoor.

Online, print and broadcast media, quoting “sources”, have reported broadly the same events. Clearly the source(s) are high up in the hierarchy and were present at the meeting(s). What is peculiar is that Tharoor himself has denied being reprimanded by Sonia. So unless all the media reports are lies (as per Tharoor), someone leaked the information about his dissent on parliament disruption, and then later of Sonia’s anger. She must have been upset, because according to one report she “literally blasted Tharoor”.

However, here is the rub: even if the reports are fabrications, and Sonia did not tell Tharoor “you always do this, it has become a habit with you” (referring to media leaks), someone in the Congress hierarchy made that up and had sufficient clout to get it out into various media vehicles, in virtually identical format.  Why would anyone in the Congress do that?

It’s no secret that Tharoor, whose easy manner and disarming diction has made him something of a media magnet, is not exactly a favourite among the Congress grandees and others who wish they had the same qualities – and more importantly, a seat in parliament – like he does. It is also no secret that any young Congress supporter today can justifiably see in Tharoor a more suitable Congress leader for 21st century India than the perpetually disoriented Gandhi “scion”. (And Tharoor is not the only one: Sachin Pilot, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Milind Deora are others).

So the targeting of Tharoor is easy to understand. But is he the intended victim, or just collateral damage? Look at it this way: who comes out of all this looking rather tawdry and vicious? Well, the MP from Thiruvananthapuram has emerged looking rather unfairly violated – largely because of the good fortune that he had with his performance at a 2-month old debate at the Oxford Union suddenly going viral. He has since been publicly praised by Prime Minister Modi, and Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, as well as privately by (according to Tharoor) Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7CW7S0zxv4

Could the debate video going viral have been timed to coincide with Sonia’s alleged outburst? Possibly. Nothing is impossible in these days of social media manipulation – but it seems rather unlikely that a viral breakout on Twitter can be predicted and instigated with such a fine touch for timing by a single individual (or for his benefit by another group, without that becoming public information). Let’s just say that, in this case, Tharoor was inordinately lucky; and the man needs a break – considering that he is in the midst of a media trial over the alleged murder of his wife.

Sonia on the other hand comes out looking rather churlish in this episode, not least because Tharoor appears to be quite innocent of the leaking charge. The reprimand, as reported, appears to have been something of a shock for many of those attending as, according to NDTV:

“Stunned Congressmen looked on, before Mrs Gandhi’s son and deputy Rahul Gandhi ushered them out with comments intended to lighten the moment”.

The idea behind the leak (even if the incident itself was fabricated) appears to have been a move by someone inside the Congress to suggest an unravelling of composure at the very top of the hierarchy. If so, why would that be necessary? Might it be to weaken resolve, and help convince wavering minds about the need for a separation of ways? Again, possibly.

It cannot be that the entire senior cadre of the Congress are sycophants of such venality that they cannot see what is happening to the venerable old party. It cannot be that not one of them has ambitions beyond being, at best, an influential shadow (or worse, a visibly strung puppet) of someone with the surname Gandhi – for the moment Sonia, but possibly Rahul, or even Priyanka. It cannot be that not one of them senses the change in the country, and that not one has learned the lessons that are explicit and implicit in the election results. It must be, rather, that more than one has seen, felt and analysed these realities and come to independent conclusions.

This may also explain at least partly why, of late, at least the party defenders on the media channels (especially the English language ones) are youthful unknowns. It does not look like many of the old guard are showing up as often as they used to. Even when they do, it feels rather forced, tired, and without much in the way of conviction. It must be difficult, constantly spinning against reason and fact.

Given the atmosphere, the leaks reported by the media are quite purposeful. This sort of thing can be expected to intensify, as the current leadership appears to have lost any sense of how to revitalise the party – apart from flinging the heir (not so apparent) into distant villages in the hope that it might all add up to something.

At any rate, it definitely looks like the knives are slowly being unsheathed at the top level of the Congress leadership. May not be too long before the regal president of the Congress party finds herself exclaiming: Et tu Brutusji?

For its part, meanwhile, the BJP seems to be doing the right thing, which is: when your opponent is busy mangling itself, don’t get in the way.