Modi Plays The Tharoor Card To Deepen Congress’s Dilemma
The manner in which the Congress party reacted to the Narendra Modi government's decision to nominate Shashi Tharoor to head one of the seven all-party delegations to educate the world regarding India's war against terror was anything but appreciable. Tharoor is a senior leader of the Congress party and a member of parliament for the past 16 years. He served as minister of state for external affairs, was a former under-secretary general of the United Nations, and is, at present, chairman of the parliamentary committee on external affairs. He has the best credentials to represent India in the global community.
Not that the Congress party was unaware of his impeccable credentials. Their objection probably stemmed from either jealousy or suspicion. In short, the Congress leadership is allergic to Tharoor, a symptom that became acute once the government ignored the party's recommendation to include Gaurav Gogoi.
Compare the credentials of Tharoor and Gogoi, and it becomes clear that Gogoi is where he is, Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, not because he is the best and the brightest but because he is a trusted lieutenant of Rahul Gandhi. Tharoor, on the other hand, has achieved his position despite figuring in the blacklist of the Congress party, or rather the Gandhi family.
It is the government's prerogative to select leaders they are confident will present their views effectively before the international community. The Modi government could not have risked nominating a leader they lacked confidence in. There was no guarantee that Gogoi, instead of presenting the government's view on Operation Sindoor, would not have espoused Rahul Gandhi's view, which was far from positive.
Rahul Gandhi's father, Rajiv Gandhi, had, in 1988, included BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the Indian delegation to the US. None knew the reason for this until Vajpayee himself revealed that it was Rajiv Gandhi's way to facilitate his treatment in the US for kidney ailments. But the fact remains that Rajiv Gandhi trusted Vajpayee to keep India first and not play the ruling party versus opposition game on foreign soil.
A simple question begs answering: can the Modi government have the same level of confidence in Rahul Gandhi? Why did it not consider letting Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition, head one of the delegations? The answer is simple. Even Rahul Gandhi lacks confidence in himself. He would have faced immense difficulty representing a government he has been accusing of killing democracy while on foreign soil, repeating his claims about EVMs keeping Modi in power, and indirectly seeking foreign support for his prime ministerial ambitions.
There was a time when opposition leaders kept their opposition to the government confined to domestic soil. There are numerous instances when bitter critics of the government refrained from airing their grievances about the government they opposed on global forums. This list includes Indira Gandhi and Dr Manmohan Singh, besides stalwarts like Vajpayee and Sushma Swaraj.
However, unable to digest repeated rejections by Indian voters, Rahul Gandhi sees conspiracies against him everywhere. He has no qualms about rattling off his conspiracy theories each time he goes abroad. The Modi government lacked confidence that Gogoi would resist the temptation to please Rahul Gandhi, even if it meant deviating from the official line these delegations are supposed to follow.
The Gandhi family's antipathy toward Tharoor is understandable. Not long ago, he committed the unpardonable sin of filing his nomination in the 2022 Congress presidential poll when the Gandhis moved away from the post and indirectly anointed their loyalist, Mallikarjun Kharge, to become the first non-Gandhi president of the party in nearly a quarter of a century. They expected no one would stand against Kharge, but Tharoor refused to budge. The result was predictable since few in Congress dare to defy the Gandhis. What rattled the family and their cronies was that Tharoor still managed 1,072 votes, minuscule compared to Kharge's 7,897 votes, but significant enough to signal dissent. Thereafter began the systematic marginalisation of Tharoor as the family saw in him a potential challenger to Rahul Gandhi's ambitions.
Tharoor added fuel to the fire by being seen with Modi during the latter's Kerala visit earlier this month for the inauguration of the Vizhinjam International Seaport. Modi's jibe that Tharoor's presence at the event would disturb many people's sleep is proving prophetic.
The Congress party would be delighted if Tharoor joined the BJP, as he has been speaking positively about the Modi government for some time. This would be good riddance for the family, if not for the party. After all, the Gandhi family's tolerance for leaders with higher intellectual capabilities has always been limited, and they are not known for taking kindly to anyone who questions their leadership, directly or indirectly. What Tharoor will do next remains uncertain. But if he does what the Congress leadership wants him to do, it would be the Congress party’s loss and the BJP's gain. BJP, anyway, is on the lookout for some big leaders in Kerala, which is slated to elect the new legislative assembly in about a year, and Tharoor ticks all the boxes the BJP wants.
Ajay Jha is a senior journalist, author and political commentator.
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