Aspects Of Congress Politics

The fate of Shashi Tharoor after his Twitter message on “cattle class” and “holy cows” was perhaps predictable, given the political culture of the Congress party. This is a political culture of quiet sycophancy, of being “low profile,” of being a peculiar kind of modern-day courtier. Tharoor voluntarily joined this party – which is a centralized, socialist hierarchy. He has written books in praise of Jawaharlal Nehru, and should be assumed to be a socialist of the Congress kind. On his return here from New York, after a long career there as a tax-free baboo in the UN, he wrote a Sunday column for the ToI for long – but it was utterly banal stuff, much like his Twittering. Much ado about nothing. Thereafter he joined politics and contested elections on a Congress ticket – and won, so good for him. He was immediately made a junior minister of diplomatic affairs – whatever that means. And then the fatal Twitter. There was also a big fuss over his taking up rooms in a 5-star hotel. This is one story of the Congress party, of their leading newcomer.

The other story of the Congress party is of Kalawati, the poor woman to whom Rahul Gandhi kept alluding in his much-interrupted Lok Sabha speech. Thereafter, it seems much was done by The State to make Kalawati’s life easier. However, all this attention made her famous – and she has decided to cash in on that and join politics. But not the Congress!

Now, this is the really interesting part. Kalawati is a beneficiary of Rahul Gandhi’s direct attention and State-sponsored patronage. In theory she should remain “loyal” to The Party. But she is not. One report said she had joined the Bharat Swatantra Party of Sharad Joshi (this made me smile) but this editorial in the Express says something else. Whatever, the important thing is that she opted out of the Congress hierarchy.

Perhaps there is a difference between how the Congress is perceived on the ground and how the average middle-class voter views the same party. For the latter, the Congress appears as a “good” party, but there is not much holding up the party from the ground. In the days of the “freedom struggle” the Congress enjoyed mass support. Today, the vast masses are alienated. The middle-class types hang on. Perhaps because there is nothing else to hang on to: the BJP and the Commies are both darker shades of black. This explains Tharoor’s joining the Congress – it seemed the “legitimate” thing to do to enter Indian politics.

There are two questions that arise from the above discussion: first, and most importantly, when madmen talk about giving “direct cash” to the rural poor through smart cards, will centralized and hierarchical political parties not leverage this opportunity to “employ” the poor for political assignments? Will the taxpayer then not be subsidizing the recruitment of political cadres? Imagine the all-India command-and-control structure of a centralized, hierarchical political party doling out cash through a centralized IT-system to millions of cadres throughout India. This cannot be “politics.” But it is: Sharad Joshi once told me that free-market parties like his don’t get enough votes because the other party candidates offer jobs. Now, they will offer cash through the ATM - to their henchmen.

Tell me, really, is this “politics”? From Shashi Tharoor to Kalawati to the NREGA, it seems to me that the Congress is up to no good. They are bereft of ideas. And they have no mass base at all. In all probability, they are investing in an IT system and NREGA-type “socialism” in order to buy support at public cost. This should not be allowed to happen. It makes no economic sense, in law it is plunder, and as for politics, it is fatal. It smacks of a scheme by Professor Moriarty.

I suspect Shashi Tharoor will quietly give up Twittering – which is “politics.” He will be silenced.

I won’t.