Neither Mahatma Gandhi nor Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel were there, but Lal Bahadur Shastri was. And, curiously, for the first time since 1996, even P.V. Narasimha Rao appeared in the Congress Party’s constellation of leaders in the full-page advertisements the Grand Old Party (GOP) inserted in some American newspapers, inviting the audience to party Vice-President Rahul Gandhi’s gala reception in New York on September 20.
The Congress may argue that the leaders gracing advertisements were only the Prime Ministers the party gave India, from Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to Dr Manmohan Singh. But, then, there was also party chief Sonia Gandhi, who was never a PM.
The advertisements, inserted by the organisers, former technology czar Sam Pitroda, Chairman, Indian National Overseas Congress (INOC), AICC, and Shudh Parkash Singh, National President, INOC, USA, sold Rahul Gandhi as the “most beloved leader” and the “most charismatic leader.”
This may be a subtle change in the party’s attempts, perhaps for the first time, in owning up the non-Nehru-Gandhi family PMs’ contribution to India, at least overseas, at a time when the rival BJP has virtually snatched Gandhi and Patel from the GOP.
India won the 1965 war against Pakistan under the leadership of Shastri and Rao’s contribution in liberalising and globalising the country’s economy has been legendary. But the two PM’s contributions were rarely applauded by the party hooked to the Gandhi-Nehru dynasty. Even Rahul sought to justify dynasticism by saying other parties, too, were run by dynasties.
In particular, inclusion of Rao in the party’s advertisements was rather surprising. The Telugu leader, who became the first non-Gandhi-Nehru PM to serve a full term from 1991 to 1996, has mostly been a pariah, even an ‘untouchable’ in the party, ever since Sonia Gandhi took command. While some members of the Shastri family are now in the BJP, the Rao family has almost been forgotten by the party itself.
The aim of the gala US event, held at Marriott Marquis Hotel at Times Square, 1525 Broadway, NY, was stated to be “Rahul Gandhi’s crusade for empowerment of the youth, women and farmers of India”. The audience was encouraged to register online on www.NewYorkWithRG.com and they could get invitation cards only by showing their photo IDs at the entrance.
Interestingly, the inclusion of virtually forgotten former PMs Shastri and Rao, took place amid a persistent clamour for Rahul Gandhi to take over the mantle of the party from his mother, even as Congress veterans are reportedly scared of a generational change in the party’s leadership. This seems to be a subtle Congress attempt to prevent any further BJP efforts to ‘poach’ the non-Gandhi-Nehru leadership, which has been neglected over the years. The BJP has already owned up Gandhi, Patel and Shastri as “national leaders”.
When Shastri led India in the mid-1960s as its PM, famous American rebel singer Bob Dylan crooned at the same Broadway in those days: “The Times, They Are A-Changing…” Is the Congress leadership, too, ready for a paradigm shift?
(Virendra Pandit was in New York last week)