Kanhaiya and Rahul- Flag bearers of Gandhism

The coming together of Rahul Gandhi and Kanhaiya Kumar, not only bears a very good omen for the country; it also serves as a wonderful attempt to save the democracy, secularism and diversity of India

ByKajal Chatterjee

Updated 9 Oct 2021, 7:01 am

(PHOTO: Twitter)
(PHOTO: Twitter)


Kudos to Kanhaiya Kumar for joining the Congress to have a renewed fight against BJP from a stronger platform.

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Though CPI is one of the most principled and scamless parties in India, it does not enjoy the confidence of the general electorate which gets proved by its dismal show in successive elections. And also it remains the fact that neither CPI nor the combined Left parties are seen to be launching any strong movement or protest march criticising the policies and failure of the NDA government though the ruling combine has failed in all fronts possible and less said about its open communal agendas the better!

Trinamool Congress has indeed registered the mightiest fight against BJP which simply unleashed State power to win the West Bengal Assembly election at any cost. But under the stupendous leadership of Mamata Banerjee, TMC has succeeded in stopping the marauding Rath of BJP, thereby surprising the whole country including her detractors. But still the fact remains that in today's context, the influence and strength of TMC is confined within the territorial boundary of West Bengal only. The same holds true for rest of the regional parties across the nation with their influence limited within particular state caste religious or caste groups. Moreover, barring TMC, Left and RJD of impeccably secular Lalu Prasad Yadav; the anti-BJP stance of each and every "secular" regional party is  extremely suspect. So many of those "anti-BJP" parties join or leave the NDA according to their own interests with many of the "neutral" outfits often seen to be tactically supporting the BJP!

In this perspective, Congress still remains the mightiest Opposition party in the whole country, notwithstanding their numbers in the Lok Sabha. Not only is the party omnipresent in every corner of the country, Congress is an all-embracing umbrella welcoming people of all regions, religions, racial and caste groups. Apart from leading the governance in Punjab Rajasthan and Chattisgarh while enjoying a coalition in few other states; Congress remains a major force in Himachal Pradesh Haryana Rajasthan Gujarat Goa Karnataka Kerala Madhya Pradesh Uttarakhand Assam Manipur and Mizoram. And not only is Rahul Gandhi the most recognisable face of the Opposition in the national arena, zealously and religiously does he exercise his voice against the anti-people steps of the ruling regime. No wonder why the Who's Who of BJP are so scared about Rahul Gandhi and so relentlessly mock abuse their main challenger with expletives of "Italian" "Foreigner" "Pappu" and what not!

And the firebrand Kanhaiya Kumar remains another rarest of rare name whose opposition against the BJP is absolutely undiluted to say the least. Despite the inhuman physical emotional legal torture heaped upon him and several months in confinement, the spirit of Kanhaiya couldn't be subdued. Unlike many "secular" leaders who promptly land in the camp of BJP if denied (or removed from) Chief Ministership or Ministerial berth; Kanhaiya is a pure diamond whose honesty and integrity reside above all norms of doubt. For four-five years, Kanhaiya consistently appeals for an united Opposition force so as to take on BJP and protect the "Idea of India" from meeting its doom.

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Rightly he said that when a shopping mall is on fire, one cannot concentrate on saving individual shops. In that crisis of existence, the fire-fighters would have to perceive the mall as a whole and act likewise. In the similar vein, this secular diverse heterogeneous country is being "gifted" with linguistic and religious imperialism and the life as well as livelihood of certain religious and caste groups getting severely endangered with the innocents, facing the music of the "Gomata" protectors, attesting to it! We are seeing mockery of Constitutional guarantees, protection ethics and values through the Kashmir saga and divisive NRC-CAA. It seems it has become a "sin" to be Muslims Christians Dalits Bengalis and secular humanitarians in India and surely this is the reason they are constantly humiliated through various "name callings" --- "Pakistani" "Foreigner" "Bangladeshi" "Sickular" "Anti-national" "Urban Naxal" and what not ! While many rationalists have been murdered in "New India", innumerable others are under constant threat. Freedom of speech to freedom of religion including infiltration in the territory of dietary rights of certain communities have become the norm! Even the divinity of matrimonial rights have also come under threat through invocation of "Love Jihad"!

In these highly intolerant times of rabid Hindutva and Islamophobia with history of India also being distorted brazenly, the truly secular humanitarians can never afford the luxury of fighting amongst themselves. Rather by transcending all political differences and personal interests, all parties seriously opposing the BJP need to come together and contest against it on a 1:1 basis i.e. one and only the party strongest in the concerned constituency should take on BJP. It is high time Kanhaiya's long-time proposal of joint Opposition to topple BJP be taken seriously.

Whether Kanhaiya's entry in Congress would electorally benefit the nation or not can be answered by sheer time only. However, the coming together of two genuine sincere honest secular firebrand humble civilised individuals ---   Rahul Gandhi and Kanhaiya Kumar ---- not only bears a very good omen for the country; it also serves as a wonderful attempt to save the democracy, secularism and diversity of India which was the ultimate dream of Mahatma Gandhi where people, irrespective of race religion caste region sex class would be treated equally with honour dignity rights of all being intact and equal. 

(The views expressed are personal)

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Tags:

congressbjpNRC CAAanti bjpKanhaiya Kumar

Kajal Chatterjee

Kajal Chatterjee

Special Contributor, KOLKATA, West Bengal

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