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From
Tehelka Magazine, Vol 9, Issue 50, Dated 15 Dec 2012 |
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| CURRENT AFFAIRS |
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GUJARAT CONGRESS |
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Disunity dents Congress before D-day
Factionalism and open revolt by top leaders may ruin the party’s prospects in the Gujarat poll, says Brijesh Pandey
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Insulted? Former deputy CM Narhari Amin was furious at being denied a ticket
Photo: Mayur Bhatt |
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IT IS often said that well begun is half done, but in the case of the Congress in Gujarat, the efficacy of this adage is being put to test. After the initial denial of factionalism and the claims of putting up a united front and launching its campaign a year ahead of the election, severe infighting and open revolt are threatening to mar the chances of the Congress as voting nears.
The latest to raise the banner of revolt is senior Congress leader Narhari Amin. Along with party spokesperson Jayanti Parmar, Indravijay Singh Gohil and others, he has all but left the party after being denied the ticket from Gandhinagar. A furious Amin, a former deputy chief minister and a resourceful politician with pockets of influence in his Patel community, has termed this denial as betrayal by the central leadership.
“Is this how you treat your senior leaders?” he asked. “Arjun Modvadia told me I had to fight the election and to be ready. Central leaders in charge of Gujarat told me that your issue will be decided in a day or two, and then did not give me a ticket. They are deliberately insulting me. If they didn’t want to give me a ticket, then I should have been told about this earlier. At least, I wouldn’t have had to face humiliation after 21 years in the Congress.” Congress state unit chief Modvadia was unavailable for comment. Amin is most likely to join the BJP and his exit from the Congress is being seen as a big setback.
Narendra Modi and Amit Shah of the BJP had ousted Amin from the Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA). Now, they have promised to support his candidature for presidency of the GCA. As for the Congress, Amin says he does not expect it to win more than 45-50 seats in the 182-member state Assembly in this month’s election. At least two Congress MPs confessed a “40 seats or so” assessment to an opposition MP in Parliament earlier this week.
Amin is not the only senior Congress leader who is upset with ticket distribution. Shankersinh Vaghela, former chief minister, had to use his enormous political experience to get a ticket for himself. As one of his aides put it, “If the Congress central leadership feels leaders like Vaghela and Amin are becoming useless, then why don’t they openly show them the door? Why play this game of hide and seek with them? When the Congress was reeling under Modi’s onslaught, they were the flag-bearers of the party. But now, they are expendable…”
What is worrying the Congress is that not only are select senior leaders disgruntled, but their open revolt has also demoralised workers down the line. They fear this will influence the voters as well. “A large number of leaders within the Congress are not happy with the way ticket distribution has taken place,” says a senior party functionary from Saurashtra. “Allegations of the influence of an industrialist are doing the rounds. It leaves a bad taste.”
Several Congress MLAs in the outgoing Assembly have switched sides on being denied tickets. While Shankarbhai Vaghela, Farooq Shaikh and Brijrajsinh Jadeja are contesting as independent candidates, Kuvarji Halpati has joined the BJP. Party leaders admit the issue could have been handled better. “What does the fact that till now the second list of candidates has not been declared indicate?” asked a party veteran. “If your conscience is clear, why are people being told only in private about their candidature? This clearly indicates that a lot of give and take has happened, and only those who were close to one group managed to secure tickets. Others were unceremoniously dumped.”
A section of the Congress leadership is at pains to point out that most of the people who have quit the party are those who lost in both the 2002 and 2007 elections. Nevertheless, the party is presenting a thoroughly unprepared and disunited face. Interestingly, earlier this week, an aide of Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi reportedly addressed party MPs and MLAs in Hyderabad and warned them that re-nomination was not guaranteed in the 2014 elections in Andhra Pradesh. He pointed to the example of Amin being denied a ticket in Gujarat as proof!
Brijesh Pandey is a Special Correspondent with Tehelka.
brijesh@tehelka.com
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