The only habit our politicians have been consistent with since even pre-independence days has been shitting on the Indian National Congress.
The non-Congressis have done it since 1925. But the interesting part is that the Congressis have themselves done it ever since it was formed in 1885. They have formed factions inside the party, they have quit and formed their own parties, they have worked against each other in and out of the party system, they have accused each other of nepotism and corruption, sycophancy and appeasement, selling out to this or that power and cult worshipping this or that leader, they have broken up and come together, they have pointed fingers and slung mud, they have washed their dirty linen and chucked rubbish at each other, indeed they have conducted themselves in contrarian ways and done many other such activities that today’s (and even the then) politicians and social workers, media and press, civil society and religious leaders have condemned, mocked, rued, and alleged to have had a detrimental effect on our democracy and nationhood.
To me, however, the only thing this proves is that democracy has been alive and kicking not because of those that have made crapping on the Indian National Congress their bread and butter, their go-to strategy for almost every election, and their fallback line of defence whenever they find themselves without any productive agenda, but despite their best(?) efforts, the party remains committed, via its own constitution and its sworn allegiance to the Indian Constitution, as well as the general trend as seen since it was formed, firmly to democratic principles, even when it went off the rails during the horrid Emergency years (which were, not to put too fine a point on it, over 4 decades ago, which means it happened closer to 1947 than today).
This is funny because while everyone and their uncles likes taking a dump on the Grand Old Party to relieve the pressure they feel inside them when facing the Indian public and its expectations (which, to be clear, have been heightened by none other than the direction of INC’s manifestos and intentions, even if not fully borne out by their actions), they forget (very conveniently) that if you can blame someone for all the ills of the past, it must then follow that all the credit of our successes must belong to them too.
The ironic part is that these very people who simultaneously want a ‘Congress-mukt‘ Bharat, will also be the first ones to tell you that the INC is a spent force and that they are irrelevant in today’s politics, at the same time demanding that the party hold internal elections (funny aside: none of these people are either registered Congressis or Congress voters or even believe in what the INC stands for), while claiming that they (or someone they support) are the new Congress, or at least occupy the very same lofty space that they agree belonged, nay belongs as of date, to the Congress, which they insist it must now vacate. Bhaiyon (aur beheno), why does your head not implode with cognitive dissonance? Is it because you haven’t given much thought to what you are parroting and are saying it only because some well-paid PR guy who has never won an election or represented a constituency in his life (as also never been raided by the IT, ED, CBI, etc, which should be enough to prove his ‘credentials’) is asking you to say it as a sound byte? Or is it because you are the ideological siblings of the other species which has the same ability to contain such dissonance in their silly little bigoted heads: the bhakts?
Here’s an idea (not mine, but Salman Anees Soz sahib’s): If your love for the Congress’ internal democracy is so passionate and so deep, may I suggest you join it (yes, all of you, including the TMCs, NCPs, AAPs, and others who champion internal party democracy), put in your papers for nomination, and fight an election within the party. What say? Fair dinkum? Or does the thought itself give you the shits?
P.S: When was the last (non-unanimous) election held in TMC, NCP, AAP, TDP, JDU, SP, BSP, NC, DMK, SAD, SS, and so on? When was a change of guard right at the top seen last? And in the rare cases when it happened (like when Mayawati took over), how much of it can be attributed to this favourite phrase of the current politicians shitting on the INC: ‘internal democracy’? The only ‘democrats’ India seems to have with this definition would be the Communists then who seem to have the closest it comes to multi-candidate elections on a regular basis in their party! And if your definition of ‘democracy’ is ‘communism’, I think you ought to sit down now before you humiliate yourself further.
P.P.S: BJP waley to internal elections ki baat hi naa karein to unki izzat ke liye behtar rahega. Mera to mashwara yeh hai ki generally democracy ki hi baat naa karein, internal ho ya koi aur.
