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National Herald Case and the Gandhis: Why stalling parliament for a court case is horrible for democracy

The Congress needs to choose whether they are a real political party, or simply exist, to serve the whims and fancies of the Gandhi family.

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There’s a notion among many people that the Congress party has no inherent ideology.  This particular school of thought contends that the Congress are neither secular nor left-leaning, and the only thing that binds them together are members of the Nehru-Gandhi family, no matter how incompetent they may be.

This along, with a strong perception of corruption was the main reason for the party’s thumping defeat in the 2014 elections but it seems like the Congress still hasn’t learnt its lesson. Every statement the party-members make, along with those made by the Gandhi family members suggests deep arrogance, and a complete disconnect with the feelings of the masses.

The latest example is the National Herald case and the reaction that followed.

Congress Implodes

The Delhi High Court on Monday directed Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to appear before a lower court, which had issued a summons, in a case of acquisition of The National Herald.

Congress leader and advocate Kapil Sibal said: “Who is Subramanian Swamy? He is the power of attorney holder of the BJP to persecute and prosecute the Congress party and a member of their central committee. He has been given the specific task of targeting us and this is their methodology used by the BJP, so he is his master's voice. And the way the BJP has been targeting Congress leaders in the past year, shows they have no idea how to govern this country.”

Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi was defiant as he spoke in Chennai and talked about a political vendetta: “Let them do what they want. They can do whatever they want to. I am not going to budge one inch. The same questions I am asking the Prime Minister (Modi) or the government, I am going to continue asking them.”

"Well I absolutely see a political vendetta. This is the way the Central government functions, the way they think,” said Rahul.

The loudest reaction came from Sonia Gandhi, "I am the daughter-in-law of Indira Gandhi. I am not scared of anyone. I am not disturbed.”

While her intention might have been to evoke the memories of one of India’s strongest Prime Ministers, what it did for most people was remind us of the nepotism that exists in the Congress. She might have meant to sound brave, but she ended up paraphrasing a popular Delhi quotes: “Tu janta nahi mera baap kaun hai (You don’t know who my dad is?).”

No work in Parliament – again

What was the worst thing about the entire incident was how it stopped both houses of parliament from functioning.  The reaction was predictable beyond belief, suggesting that the Congress hasn’t learnt anything from its election defeats. Alleging ‘vendetta politics’, Congress members shouted slogans against the government even as the Chair of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha kept asking them to spell out the reason for their protestations.

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan even asked: “I am ready to allow you to speak but I don’t know what your issue is. Someone tell me what is your issue.” She asked leader of Indian National Congress Mallikarjun Kharge to explain why there were agitating but he kept mum.  All the Congress members would do is shout out loud: “Down with dictatorship… Vendetta politics won’t work.”

BJP’s response

Such was the Congress reaction that the BJP came out looking really good after the incident. BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi said: “Judiciary is an important body of the government. It works within its limits and according to the law whether it is CrPC, IPC or any other matter. Judiciary is not under the control of any politician or political party,” BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi told ANI.

“I am not able to understand the statement made by Rahul Gandhi. I would just like to advise them (Congress Party) to go to the court and participate in the discussion, like we did in Sushma Swaraj and Vasundhara Raje’s cases. We are also ready to have discussion in the Parliament but the proceedings should not be disturbed,” she added.

Maybe Swamy is right about the case, maybe he isn’t but the statements from the Gandhis and the Congress leaders seem to indicate they believe they're above the law of the land. The actions of the members of the Congress only strengthens that belief, and the people of India, as they indicated in 2014, are no longer willing to put up that kind of arrogance. The Congress would do well to learn that as soon as possible. 

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