Mallikarjun Kharge today formally took over as Congress president. After 24 years, the Congress got a non-Gandhi president, but from whatever Kharge said before taking over, it became clear that the real boss of the party will remain Rahul Gandhi. With Kharge taking over the reins of the party, the struggle of youth versus elders, which has been going on for the last eight years, will probably end. Kharge’s first and biggest challenge is to unite the Congress. Today, during Kharge’s assuming office, the Congress appeared in its old form. The presence of most of the leaders of Sonia Gandhi’s time made one feel that the Congress will come out of internal fights. Happiness and contentment were also seen on Sonia Gandhi’s face. Rahul Gandhi appeared on the stage in a new look sporting a beard. Kharge assured both leaders that he would follow the path shown by them. He talked about taking forward Rahul Gandhi’s “Daro Nahi” slogan. Kharge targeted the BJP and Modi government completely. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra sat in front of the stage with office bearers. All the state presidents, including Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh Chief Ministers Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel respectively, were also involved in the ceremony. From Kharge’s speech, it was clear that there is not going to be much change in the policies of the Congress. But Kharge did try to avoid the politics of appeasement in a way by not making a special mention in his speech about minorities. The Centre was accused of spreading fear, but by referring to agencies like the ED and CBI, Kharge has started working from today itself in right earnest. Kharge conducted a meeting regarding the selection of candidates for Gujarat elections. Himachal along with Gujarat are big challenges in front of Kharge. In the middle of these elections, some party leaders have given a big issue to the BJP by giving minority statements on Rishi Sunak becoming the Prime Minister of Britain, heating up the politics of appeasement. Today, in his speech, he kept a complete distance from the politics of appeasement. But BJP has started giving weight to statements. Mani Shankar Aiyar, Digvijaya Singh, P. Chidambaram, Salman Khurshid, Shashi Tharoor etc. have made statements from time to time and put the party in trouble.
For the Congress, the politics of appeasement has become the main cause of defeat in the last eight years. Congress should avoid the politics of Muslim appeasement. The party also implemented the suggestions of the A.K. Antony committee. After this, the big leaders had completely stopped speaking on many issues including the Godhra incident. Even in the case of the Ram temple, the party gave importance to the court’s decision, which means the party tried to keep its distance from the politics of appeasement. However, BJP had tried to implicate the Congress in the politics of appeasement due to the communal violence that had taken place in a big state like Rajasthan in the past. After the Udaipur incident, once again the matter had started taking communal incident in the whole country. But Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his government did not allow the incidents of violence to take the form of riots by strictly suppressing them.
Congress’ strategy of targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and appealing to him for peace worked. The politics of the minorities did not catch much attention. But after Indian-origin Rishi Sunak became the Prime Minister of UK, a day before Kharge taking oath, the Congress created a new challenge for him by indulging in minority politics. PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti’s rhetoric is understandable, but the remarks of leaders like P. Chidambaram, Shashi Tharoor, and Salman Khurshid are beyond comprehension. As soon as these leaders talked of giving the post of Prime Minister like in Britain to a minority in India, the BJP got a big issue. These three are prominent leaders of the Congress. Tharoor even contested the election of the Congress president. Manmohan Singh, who came from the minority community at the time of Congress, was the Prime Minister for ten years. Many prominent persons, including A.P.J. Kalam, became President. In such a situation, Salman, Tharoor, and Chidnabaram have again given the BJP on a platter an opportunity to indulge in the politics of polarization. The term minority will be directly related to the Muslim community.
The politics of appeasement has always suited the BJP. The leaders have made statements at a time when Kharge has just taken control of the Congress ship. Kharge is an experienced and senior leader. He knows that distance should be maintained from the politics of appeasement. Congress is also keeping its distance from such politics for the time being. But BJP may try to polarise the statements of these leaders by making an issue to woo the majority of voters in the poll-bound states. In the coming days, Kharge will also have to formulate some form of rule-law for leaders who make such statements.
The author is a senior journalist.
