Diplomat-turned-politician Mani Shankar Aiyar, one of the veteran leaders of Indian National Congress, believes that the 130-year-old party can bounce back to power in 2019 by exposing the failures and false promises of Narendra Modi-led NDA government. Speaking to Coastaldigest.com during his recent Dubai visit, the septuagenarian leader welcomed the regrouping of Janata Parivar and hoped that it would stop BJP juggernaut in the country.
Excerpts from an exclusive interview:
CD: What do you say about the future of Congress; does it lie with the Gandhi family? Who do you prefer, Sonia or Rahul?
Mani Shankar Aiyar: The future of the Congress party is assured, there is no doubt about it. It is a 130-year-old party; we have experienced our setbacks in the past and we have always recovered from these setbacks. So neither are the setbacks new for the party, nor is its recovery. We continue to be the natural party for our governance. It is the whole of the party that moves forward or backwards. Of course, it has to have leadership and the leader has a key role to play. But I do not think you should mix up questions of the leadership with questions of the party as an organization. It has always been there and after the defeat of 2014 and the defeats in several states, I do not think anywhere that the party does not exist.
For example, in my home state of Tamil Nadu, we have not seen power for nearly 50 years since 1967, and we may not see power for the next 50 years. But nevertheless, the Tamil Nadu Congress committee exists and in every village of the state, you will find at least one person proudly holding up the Congress flag. So I do not think we should mix up a temporary setback with any kind of permanent damage to the party.
Second, with regard to the current leadership, we need both Sonia ji and Rahul ji in the party. What their inter-say relationship will be, we are happy to leave it to them to decide. Do they want to continue as president and vice-president; do they wish to slightly alter matters and have Sonia Gandhi as the senior mentor to the party with Rahul Gandhi as the president – these are matters of detail that will be settled with the higher leadership of the party. But the way in which this is being portrayed as if the whole party is hanging on a cliff, is just journalistic sensationalism. It has nothing to do with the reality of the Congress.
CD: Is Rahul Gandhi keen on leading the party or is he forced by other leaders in the party? Is he really interested in politics?
Mani Shankar Aiyar: Rahul Gandhi is not a school boy. He is a grown up adult. After his father's death, he was living abroad much of the time and voluntarily chose to come back. He voluntarily stood in the elections in 2004, 2009 and 2014. Prior to that, he voluntarily accepted the position of party vice-president. Why would he do all this if he was not interested in politics? Therefore, he will certainly continue to be in politics. How will he continue in politics, you should look at the background of the family.
Jawaharlal Nehru was offered the presidentship of the party when he was 40 years old, but he declined and Mahatma Gandhi had to pressurize him. And twice again, Jawaharlal Nehru became the president (of the party) in 1936 and 1937. On both occasions, he expressed his reluctance and was prevailed upon to take the leadership of the party. The only occasion when he voluntarily accepted the leadership and pressed for it was in 1946. So it is not part of the psychology of this family to long for posts – that is for lesser politicians like me.
When Sonia Gandhi was offered the opportunity of becoming the Prime Minister of India, she declined. But does that mean she was not interested in governance? Does that mean she was not interested in politics? In a similar way, whatever is his attitude towards particular posts, the fact is that he wants to be involved in the governance of the party and also that of the country.
CD: What is your opinion about the regrouping of Janata Parivar under the leadership of Mulayam Singh? Is this going to be a threat to Congress?
Mani Shankar Aiyar: I greatly welcome the emergence of the Janata Parivar in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which are two crucial states, and in both of which the Congress has almost lost its presence over the last 25 years. In these circumstances, it is essential that the BJP juggernaut be stopped. It has already been stopped by the AAP in New Delhi and if the Janata Parivar succeeds in stopping what happened in May 2014, that would be all to the good.
So I am hoping that this new formation will be able to play in UP and Bihar – the role that AAP played in New Delhi. Let us see whether the Congress can enter into some kind of a relation with the Janata Parivar for fighting the elections in these two crucial and most populated states.
CD: How do you rate the Narendra Modi-led government in the past year of its formation?
Mani Shankar Aiyar: He (Modi) isall talk and no action'. There are acronyms, alliterations, slogans and clever expressions, but the governance has ground to a standstill in India because it is all-centralised in one man. We had never had such an authoritarian government as the one we have at present. All the ministers are terrified of him; the civil services have decided not to do any work because they are not given any freedom. Almost all the economic ministries have been given to independent ministers of state so that the cabinet powers remain with the Prime Minister. In the allocation of businesses by the cabinet secretary, he specifically said that all policy matters will be decided only by the Prime Minister – then what happened to cabinet government?
Under these circumstances, to expect a huge and varied country like India to move under the baton of one man is to expect the impossible. That is why, every section of the Indian society, whether they are big businessmen, small businessmen, government servants, industrial labour or farmers, are dissatisfied. Nothing has been done for them, except talk. All the promises that had been made have gone the way of black money.
In these circumstances, on a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate Modi's government with 2 marks. And I am quite sure that if it continues this way, the Congress government will be back in action in 2019.
CD: What about the BJP's demand of an anti-conversion law in India?
Mani Shankar Aiyar: The Constitution has promised the right to propagation of religion and this right involves, inherently, the right to successful propagation. As long as there is no coercion, bribery or due pressure that is applied to either individuals or communities, the constitution permits conversion to other religions. Hence, the BJP or the NDA government does not have two-thirds majority in each of the Houses to be able to effect a Constitutional change. If they try to, the entire Opposition led by the Congress will deter the opposite.
CD: What should the Congress do immediately to tackle Modi and come to power in the next Lok Sabha elections?
Mani Shankar Aiyar: We have to take advantage of all the mistakes Modi is making on a weekly basis. I think, we have to be much more aggressive in the Lok Sabha. And I hope, Rahul ji will agree to play a more proactive role in the Lok Sabha that will help the party.
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