When Renuka Chaudhary Was In Tears

In 1991, when Shri Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated, many leaders of the Congress party were begging Mrs Sonia Gandhi to take up the reins of the party. The redoubtable Renuka Chaudhary – who straddled Andhra politics in the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Congress party over a decade by then – was in tears (actually in tears, on network television) appealing to Mrs Gandhi Jr to take over the Congress party. Mrs Gandhi, Jr, in her wisdom, did not accede to appeals from Mrs Chaudhary or other party functionaries. It was only in 1996 or 1997, when she felt that the Congress government under Mr P V Narasimha Rao had not done enough to clear the image of the late Rajiv Gandhi from the Bofors scandal that she entered active politics.

Even then, she did not take a role in the government and restricted herself to administering the party. Eventually, Rajiv Gandhi’s name was cleared of the murky Bofors deal. Her job is done, but she got inexorably linked with the party. She is going on with that ‘duty’, despite criticism (sometimes vile). People said nasty things about her foreign origins but she remained loyal to the country of her late husband and his memory.

Mrs Gandhi Jr has lost her mother-in-law and her husband to militant/terrorist attacks but she was unmoved. She argued with Rajiv not to enter politics, because he would be killed. According to her, he said: ‘I would be killed anyway!’ What an awful condition to be in, knowing that your husband is on short notice from the guns of trained terrorists and that he would be killed anytime. Killing is so easy: It must be harrowing for the Gandhi family to know that they are targeted by militant and terrorist groups even now.

Consider the fact that Rahul Gandhi is the Prime Minister in waiting; there was (hasn’t been anything) between him and the Prime Minister’s Kursi. Initially, it was thought that Dr Manmohan Singh was only a ‘seat-warmer’ and that Rahul will take over. Dr Singh is into his second term as Prime Minister and looks good to complete this term. Will Rahul take over in 2014? That is a question exercising the minds of politically minded people even now. My guess is that he will not. If Congress does come to power a third time (coalitions and all), it may be someone outside the Gandhi dynasty.

Compared to that, what is Y S Jaganmohan Reddy? Who is Y S R? The most corrupt politician of this century. Who is brother Anil Kumar? YSR and the bunch of people around him (who are around Jagan now) are looting the natural resources of Andhra. Who is funding Sakshi newspaper and the channel? It is unfortunate that the high command is acting on the misdeeds of the Y S R regime only to check-mate Jagan. If he had towed the party line, all the corrupt deals would have been swept under the carpet. Mr Ramoji Rao, who is himself accused of misappropriating other people’s property (according to Sakshi), would have kept quiet about the mining leases and other misdeeds of the former rulers. Why is Eenadu making a noise about all the old deals now? There is a cozy equation between the opposition paper and the ruling party. Jagan upset the apple cart and now both ‘position’ and opposition are going for Jagan’s jugular.

That Jagan is persona non-grata in the Congress party now is clear. Mr Sandeep Dikshit is not negotiating truce between Jagan and the high command. War or truce is between two equal forces; Jagan is a spent force. The high command is all powerful. As I said, the high command would have forgiven all the misdeeds of the previous government, would have turned a blind eye on Jagan’s misdeeds (and Ambati Rambabu’s involvement in nefarious deals involving the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation [APIIDC]), would have named Jagan the future leader of the party – if Jagan hadn’t been in such a hurry to become the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. Corruption is a worldwide phenomenon, Mrs Gandhi Sr said famously. Jagan is not the first Congress leader, nor the last, who is corrupt.

Rahul is waiting in the wings; indeed, Rahul may hang up his boots once he brings back Congress to number one position in U.P. Jagan should learn to play solitaire; he may find that is the only distraction he is allowed in days to come.

Bottomline: When asked whether Mr Varun Gandhi is allowed to tour Bihar, Mr Sharad Yadav said: Who is Varun Gandhi? Madame may very well ask, if asked: Who is Jagan?