Congress Undemocratic Ideology - 4

[dhu]

The Congress has forgotten its common worker

For the first time in the last dacade, Congress workers from Bihar are complaining that what Sonia Gandhi says and what Sonia Gandhi does are two completely different things.



In speech after speech, whether it be at Bengaluru, Hyderabad or at Burari, she has announced how much she cares for the workers and how the workers need to be listened to and respected.



In the just concluded plenary, what came through was a deluge of expressions but in practice the sentiments of the workers were totally ignored. For the first time, the normally tolerant Congress workers and delegates took up cudgels against AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik and made it clear by protesting in the plenary that they were deeply unhappy with Wasnik's leadership. In total disregard of these sentiments, Wasnik was on the stage during the entire plenary, he was conducting the show along with Janardan Dwivedi and from time to time was found to be whispering in Sonia Gandhi's ear.



As a result the situation turned worse on Tuesday when the slogan shouting Bihar delegates demonstrated outside Wasnik's residence. The delegates had sought to meet the party president, twice their allotted time was changed and finally everyone could not enter 10 Janpath as Wasnik managed to keep some of them out.



The situation turned uglier when the bihar delegates spotted Wasnik coming out of 10, Janpath and this resulted in fisticuffs. Wasnik too was not spared in the melee. It's unheard of that an AICC general secretary is manhandled outside the residence of the party president and still the leader does not act upon this.



A delegate from bihar made a pointed comment,"The leadership should not mistake Bihar for Rajasthan [ Images ]. If they don't put Bihar right, Bihar will put them right". It seems as though the delagates from Bihar are prepared for a long haul in this battle of wits.



What took the cake was a woman delegate from Uttar Pradesh Krishna Singh being beaten up by other women delegates inside 10 Janpath. The factional battles within the party have now landed right at Sonia Gandhi's doorstep. Sonia Gandhi's habit of keeping status quo is not helping her now.



Leaders say that the 83rd plenary was nothing but an exercise in fire fighting and an attempt to portray the party as 'alive and vibrant,' whereas the actual situation is totally contrary. Suddenly it is beginning to look as though the leadership is afraid of hearing the ordinary worker's views, since that is what the entire exercise was supposed to be all about.



At the conclave, hardly any workers called to deliver their views. What one saw was ministers Salman Khurshid, Sachin Pilot, Jyotiraditya Scindia, from Haryana, the party could only find Deepnder Singh Hooda, the MP son of the chief minister to articulate the sentiments of the congress men there, from Gujarat, Madhusudan Mistry was fielded, he also spoke during last month's AICC meeting. But the fact that spokesmen of the party were called to speak looked a little ludicrous considering they speak every day.



Sonia Gandhi speaks about the need to connect the party workers with the mainstream, to initiate dialogue between the party and the ministers and the government but what she is actually doing is reducing AICC meetings from two in a year to once a year and now the plenary would not be held for 5 years at a stretch since the term of the organisation has been extended from 3 years to 5 years and even when these meetings are held there is no attempt to involve the workers in the dialogue.



The grass roots worker has to sit a few kilometeres away and listen to speeches from a stage which he cannot see except on the big screens placed at the sides.



In a bid to minimise damage, cut its losses, fire fight on various fronts, whether it be outside the party or within the party itself, Gandhi has let matters drift to such an extent that party workers simply don't care, even if the whip of discipline is cracked, which it is not.



The height at this plenary was that the stage was full of men and women whose positions had been dissolved, but they still continued to sit on the dais. The plenary is held to elect new Congress Working Committee leaders after the earlier committee is dissolved after the election of the congress president.



But having done away with CWC elections for the last 12 years, Gandhi has now even dispensed with the need to bring in a new body during the plenary which would be introduced to the delegates as the new high command of the party.



But when there is a single command, which no one in the125-year old grand old party challenges, where is the need to bring in any changes or even to remove corrupt office bearers or to sideline those who do not deliver?