Congress: On the Thorny Path- Another 'Mr. Clean'
I n India, Rahul Gandhi's name is centre of attraction, these days. He is 37 years youth, son of the former
Indian Prime Minister, Bharat Ratn late Mr. Rajiv Gandhi. Not only from India but all the political analysts of the
world see this young politician with adorable eyes. Pundit Moti Lal Nehru played a leading role in the independence
struggle of India. After that & after independence, his son the first Prime Minister of the country, Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru & after Pundit Nehru, his only daughter, Indira Priyadarshani Gandhi, who was serving the country even at the time of her
death. After that Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, who served the nation many years & left impressions as Mr. Clean & now the fifth in this order is Rajiv's son Rahul Gandhi.
Undoubtedly, Nehru-Gandhi family has been controlling the central power of India for most of the time
since independence. Even now it is so & such a control has never been witnessed from any other political family in the country. The people like me who have
studied about the Nehru-Gandhi family & have got a chance to live near them, they are very well aware of the sacrifices made by this family Pundit Moti Lal
Nehru & Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru went to jail, many a time for the freedom of the country. They were even tortured there. After
independence, Pundit Nehru served the country as a first & successful Prime Minister for about 16 years. During his grand rule, Pundit Nehru did wonderful jobs to make the
country self dependent & put it on the path of progress. The people of India will remain grateful to Pundit Nehru forever After that Lal Bahadur
Shastri had a good but short lived rule. After that, again, Smt. Indira Gandhi, the only daughter of Pundit Nehru took
the reigns of rule in her hands. This daring & fearless woman sacrificed her life for the unity & oneness of the country & raised the name of India to the sky. After the assassination of Indiraji in 1984, Rajiv Gandhi won the election by
majority of votes & was chosen as the Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi put such impression before the public & the media that people began to say him 'Mr. Clean.' And at last this shining star Mr. Clean, a member of Nehru-Gandhi
family was laid down by the active terrorist organization, LITTE, of Sri Lanka in 1991.
Nehru Gandhi family got a great shock after the death of Rajiv Gandhi. Once, it was felt that now this
family will not be able to remain supreme in Indian politics. This situation remained for many years. Specially till the
time, late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's wife Sonia Gandhi didn't accepted the request of the congress leaders & workers to take part in politics. But in reality, it was too late to handle the steering of the Congress party. The
Congress that ruled the heart of the countrymen & the country had lost its ground before the time when Sonia Gandhi became active in politics. The selfish & self opinionated leaders who were hungry for the power now began to think that perhaps it was not the fate of the
Congress to get power again. On the other hand, the opposition also used foul or fair means to keep Congress away from
the power. These means were shameful & immoral. For example, the ritualistically married wife of Rajiv Gandhi was downgraded by calling her 'a foreigner' & so she can't be trusted. To the extent, in the general election of 2004, when Congress parliamentary board elected her
as its leader & nominated her as the Prime Minister, the opposition parties specially Bhartiya Janta Party opposed it. Some other so
called patriot leaders also opposed Sonia by such movement. With her farsighted thought & sacrifice, Sonia Gandhi refused to take charge as the Prime Minister of India. By doing so, she increased her grandeur & proposed the name of Dr. Manmohan Singh who is a great economist & undoubtedly an honest man with clean impressions.
For the last two decades, India is being ruled by the alliance of parties. As the Congress President,
Sonia Gandhi has enabled the Congress to achieve a position that it can be seen representing the Indians as the greatest
party in Indian Parliament. But to make the government with majority is not easy at present or in near future. But it is
also true that the Congress with its wide team of devoted Congressmen is trying to follow the policy so that Congress
may come in power with its full majority of members. The active participation in politics of Rahul Gandhi, the son of
Rajiv Gandhi & Sonia Gandhi, his contesting of election in 2004 from Amethi for the Lok Sabha & winning from the seat & a few days back, the appointment of Rahul as General Secretary of All India Congress Committee are sufficient to make
one understand that Nehru-Gandhi family with another Mr. Clean is ready to devote itself for the progress of the
Congress & for the service of the nation. In this series the party high command has also given him a leading role to perform in
Uttar Pradesh, the largest state of India.
The Congress Party which calls for the unity & oneness of the country from Kashmir to Kanyakumari & states its philosophy of communal harmony will get something solid in future, from Rahul Gandhi or not, can't be
predicted. But it is clear that Congress has got an impression 'Mr. Clean' as of Rajiv Gandhi. Now the need stands that
Congress leaders should work hard to strengthen its organization just as the other parties are doing. By strengthening
the organization, some parties have come on the first line equal to Congress.
Last days, in the Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi, Congress President Sonia Gandhi made it clear that
she or Rahul doesn't have a magic rod. It is a reality also. May be Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi, these leaders can
gather lakhs of people in the meetings, that because of their popularity, glamour or attraction. But on the Election
Day, the workers have to bring the people out of their homes to the polling station. This is to be done by the active
workers of the Congress. Only Congress workers will have to reply the opposition propaganda at the corners of the
streets & in Panchayats. It depends on the local leaders of the Congress organization to prepare a team of devoted & honest workers who can make use of the impression of another 'Mr. Clean.'
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(About the Author)
Author Tanveer Jafri is a columnist based in India.He is related with hundreds of most popular daily news papers/portals
in India and abroad. Jafri, Almost writes in the field of communal harmony, world peace, anti communalism, anti
terrorism, national integration, national & international politics etc.He is a devoted social activist for world peace, unity, integrity & global brotherhood. Tanveer Jafri is also a member of Haryana Sahitya Academy & Haryana Urdu Academy (state govt. bodies in India). Thousands articles of the author have been published in different
newspapers, websites & newsportals throughout the world. He is also a receipent of so many awards in the field of Communal Harmony & other social activities.
(Email : tanveerjafriamb@gmail.com )