Congress may have publicly toned down its attack on its senior leader Janardhan Dwivedi, saying media distorted his statement, but the leader who had been in the inner circle of Sonia Gandhi for the past two decades has fallen out of favour. The party leaders dismissed his clarification as inadequate. They say he may be phased out by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, as he wants to bring his new team. His fortunes have been on the downslide for the last few years while he has been alienated further from the core group after the rise of Rahul in the party.
Though he was quick to deny on Wednesday itself a news portal's claim that he had praised Modi with assertion that he had been quoted out of context, on Thursday evening he was summoned by another senior leader A K Antony to explain his position. Insiders in the party said, Sonia Gandhi was so incensed by his remark that she asked the media department chairman and general secretary Ajay Maken to immediately call a press conference to condemn Dwivedi's comments.
A panicky Dwivedi also called reporters immediately to clarify that he can never praise a person like prime minister Narenda Modi, but it seems the damage is already done. Insiders said Dwivedi may even face expulsion from the party unless he gives a public apology and withdraws from the AICC responsibilities instead of trying to explain away his remarks that the victory of Modi and BJP in the Lok Sabha elections is a victory of Indian-ness since he was successful in convincing the people that he was closest to them.
Maken said, "The thought coming out from the interview, the message… suggests Modi's victory is a triumph of Indian-ness. There is an attempt to link Modi with Indian-ness. We condemn this strongly. Every Congressman understands what Indian-ness is and we are dedicated to that concept. Our sages and saints defined it, our social reformers explained it… what Kabir, Nanak, Vivekanand, Gandhi, Nehru described as Indian-ness."
Dwivedi, who used to teach in Delhi University, is politically mature to know the implications of linking Modi with Indian-ness. He also is a seasoned spokesperson and is known to speak up only after careful planning. He has been a 10, Janpath insider and gained political clout by writing Sonia's speeches. He is believed to have taught Hindi to Sonia that brought him closer to her.
His off-the-cuff remark while chatting on reasons for the Congress rout, however, was officially described by Maken as an attack on the party's ideology. Shaken by the leadership's fury with which Maken was asked to counter him, Dwivedi asserted that he had never descried Modi as a symbol of indian-ness, claiming that he was a victim of media's distortion and manipulation.
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