Biswa Sarma was there to point out how many scions were part of Rahul Gandhi's core team.
The Congress Plenary Session wasn’t short of dramatics with Rahul Gandhi comparing the Congress with the noble Pandavas in the Mahabharata epic as he labelled ruling BJP as Kauravas.
Rahul Gandhi also kept the stage empty, where in the past, senior party leaders would be seated on mattresses. The Congress president claimed he had kept it vacant for workers and talented youth.
He vowed to fill the Congress stage with ‘talented youngsters’. While on the paper, the notion seems commendable, the truth is that the Congress, like many other political parties in India remain largely dynastic. And former Congressman and Rahul Gandhi’s personal bugbear, Himanta Biswa Sarma popped up to remind people of the scions of political dynasties who are the driving force behind the grand old party.
Former Congress MP Milind Deora, shared a picture of Congress leaders with the caption: “Long time ago when we was fab #CongressPlenary #ChangeIsNow.” To this, Assam cabinet minister and one of the BJP’s main men in the Northeast pointed out how the Congress remained the bastion of scions.
He wrote: “Sons of Murli Deora, Rajesh Pilot, Jitendra Prasad, CPN Singh, Madhavrao Scindia and Bhupinder Hooda planning how to keep the stage empty and mislead the youth of the nation! This is the core team of none other than the son of Rajiv Gandhi.”
Keeping the stage and all is fine, but actions speak louder than words. Biswa Sarma, for the uninitiated has quite an antagonistic relationship with Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
Legend has it that former Congress leader Himanta Biswa Sarma had gone to meet Rahul Gandhi to discuss Assam’s problems but the Congress VP was busy playing with his canine friend. Disillusioned Biswa Sarma left and joined BJP who has helped the party come to power in Assam and helped manoeuvre alliances in Manipur to form the government. After the incident, a furious Sarma had told former Assam CM Gogoi: “Rahul turned and started playing with dog instead of listening to us. After I came out, I told Gogoi that it would be impossible for me to continue in the Congress.” Sarma would go on to describe Rahul as ‘arrogant’ and someone who preferred a ‘servant-master’ relationship.
Recalling the two warring sides of the epic Mahabharat, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said the BJP, like the Kauravas, fought for power, while his party, on the lines of the Pandavas, battled for truth. Taking the ruling BJP on, Gandhi said the party sought to divert people's attention from issues such as unemployment and farm distress with "fancy events". "Instead of acknowledging the challenges facing the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi diverts our attention from our problems. We are being told that our problems only exist in our imagination," he said.
The BJP-RSS's goal was power, Gandhi stressed at the Congress party's plenary session here. "Like the Kauravas, the BJP and RSS fight for power. Like the Pandavas, the Congress fights for truth," he said. Gandhi held that his party spoke on behalf of the country. "The BJP is the voice of an organisation, Congress is the voice of a nation," he said.
The Congress leader added that the corrupt and powerful today "control conversation" in the country and the "name Modi symbolises the collusion between crony capitalists and the prime minister". Gandhi voiced the hope that India would in the next decade play an all-important role on the global stage. "There are two visions in the world -- of US and China. In 10 years, I want to see India's vision there," he said.
With inputs from PTI
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