Are Congress Dissenters (G23) Going Saffron Way? Looks So

"Congress is getting weak", spoke loudly Congress dissenters In Jammu wearing saffron turbans. Undoubtedly, they are right. The Grand Old Party  has lost state after state and latest is the union territory, Puducherry. But there is another truth that the party  has been weakened more by its own men than the  political rivals. 

Most of its leaders are rootless and have survived because of Gandhis' patronage. And now finding Sonia  and her son Rahul Gandhi losing the mass appeal and their failure to get votes for "rootless" leaders, they are blaming the same leadership, they had adored . This happened earlier so many times  and replicated now.

Congress dissenters's (group pf 23 leaders) outbursts on Saturday at Jammu loudly speak how desperate are top Congressmen for their political survival? Dissenters publicly called the party weak and claimed they were marshaling forces to strengthen it. Among them were former minister Anand Sharma,  Punjab MP Manish Tewari, Raj Babbar and Vivek Tankha. It was big surprise to find former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda among dissenters. Hooda has strong base among Haryana jats and he was once a leading drum-beater of Madame Sonia Gandhi. Remember, during his Chief Ministership, how he went out of the way to help Sonia's son-in-law Robert Vadra by allotting huge chunk of land in Amirpur near Gurugram (Gurgaon). A total of 6 CBI cases and several other vigilance departmental investigations were initiated against Hooda by the state govt. 

Led by  veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad, rebels sported saffron turbans and it was Kapil Sibal who led the offensive 

against his own party, saying it was time to speak the truth. Note the utterances of former law minister Kapil Sibal “Why are we assembled here? The truth is we can all see the Congress is weakening. We had assembled earlier too because we believe together we have to strengthen the Congress,” proclaimed Sibal.

What does it mean?  Political expediency is one of the greatest qualities of Indian politicians and Congressmen have always been on  the forefront in this matter . The power-hungry Cong leaders have been weakening the party since independence after the Grand Old Pary (GOP) became bereft of the ideology and commitment. And when riding power is the only aim, Political expediency reigns supreme.      

Ghulam Nabi Azad retired from Rajya Sabha on February as his term came to an end. Prime Minister Narendra Modi became emotional in the Parliament while bidding farewell to Azad in the Rajya Sabha."I would not let you retire, will continue taking your advice. My doors are always open for you," the Prime Minister said in a teary farewell to Ghulam Nabi Azad.

So since than Azad is busy in "strengthening" the party. There is no denying that Axad is looking for another term. Congress leadership has almost dumped him after he led group of 23 dissenters. And So is Anand Sharma and Kapil Sibal and other leaders.

Now the question is can these dissenters really aim to strengthen the party? The past tell us that whenever dissenters attempted to "strengthen" the party  rebelling against leadership, they only weakened it . Right from  Siddavanahalli Nijalingappa, D. Devaraj Urs (both ex-Chief Minister of  Karnataka) to P. Sangma and Shard Pawar, the dissenters could only split the party and help the rival saffron party.  

In a way the current dissenters are only helping the BJP and apparently going the saffron way. As of now Congress has not even remained an vibrant political outfit. Its dying a slow death.

(Chander Sharma)