Tharoor and Sidhu prove that Congress still thinks it rules India

Congress has been thrown out of power by the people of India, even its presence is now confined to few pockets in certain parts of the country and once a pan India party, and it now plays second fiddle to regional satraps. However, it seems that despite facing a string of humiliating defeats, the Congress still feels that it has some kind of god-given right to rule arbitrarily upon India and to even represent India in the international community of nations and supranational institutions. It seems that after decades of rule, the Congress has assumed that only it has the sole prerogative to determine what is right for India. It was, in part, due to this narcissist and totalitarian attitude that the people of the nation got fed up with the grand old party and uprooted it. However, it seems that the Congress has still not come to terms with the fact that it is no longer in power. It has not realised that it has been replaced by a much more capable government and that it has no right to rule or represent India. But the Congress still acts as if it owns India.

Two recent instances, in particular, suggest this attitude which pervades the entire Congress party- one of them is Sidhu’s visit to Pakistan on Imran Khan’s oath taking ceremony and the other is Shashi Tharoor’s Geneva visit asking for international aid in background of the devastating Kerala floods. Navjot Singh Sidhu faced severe criticism for deciding to visit Pakistan at a time when the entire nation was mourning the demise of former prime minister and beloved statesman, Atal Bihar Vajpayee. However, what was to follow shocked everyone. The cricketer turned politician declared that he was going to the other side of the border as a “goodwill ambassador”. It is flummoxing how he gave himself this status without any express declaration by the government of India to this effect. He even went on to hug the Pakistani Army chief Bajwa during the oath ceremony. Yes, out of desperation to initiate peace talks the Sidhu hugged the man who routinely conspires to export terrorism to India and destabilise this side of the border! Not only this, the self-appointed ambassador of peace representing India chose to sit with the prime minister of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) clearly undermining India’s territorial sovereignty and claim on Kashmir. Sidhu is currently a minister in the Punjab government. If one considers his representative character as far as India is concerned, the Congress leader has absolutely no standing. One then wonders how Sidhu could have called himself a “goodwill ambassador”. Who gave Sidhu the right to extend an olive branch to the terrorist nation when the official position of the Modi government is not to hold talks at any level unless Pakistan stops terrorism emanating from its soil? It is solely on account of Congress’ attitude of assuming an inalienable right to rule the nation that Sidhu dared to cross his limits. 

Equally objectionable is Shashi Tharoor’s act of asking for help from the United Nations and allied agencies to help India in rescuing flood-hit Kerala. In a tweet dated August 17, Shashi Tharoor, while supposedly replying to people urging him to request the United Nations for help in relation to Kerala floods had made it clear that only the government of India is authorised to seek help from the United Nations, not individual members of Parliament.

He reiterated the same position a day later making it clear that it was for the government of India to decide whether it needs UN help. However, Tharoor suddenly made a U-turn and a couple of days later went to Geneva asking the United Nations to help India in aiding Kerala flood victims. Tharoor claimed that he was in close consultation with Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan to explore possibilities of international aid.

It is clear that despite knowing that it was for the center to decide whether international aid is to be taken, Tharoor and the Congress could not resist the temptation to take a decision on India’s behalf. Without any authority whatsoever Tharoor acted as if he is India’s external affairs minister. This is a clear case of the Congress not fathoming the fact that it has no right to rule or represent India. Even the Kerala chief minister has made it clear that Tharoor is not Kerala government’s emissary.

Tharoor, therefore, stands exposed. It seems that his claims of going to Geneva after close consultations with the Kerala chief minister are bogus and white lies. He may have been pressurised to take this step by the Congress high command even though he knew that it was not justified.

The Congress has tried asserting claim on key decisions concerning India’s sovereign interests without any authority in the past as well. In May last year, senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyyar led a party delegation to meet separatist leaders, Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in Kashmir days after the Hurriyat leaders had been caught confirming on camera that they had killed at least 20 Kashmiri pandits. Thereafter, in September 2017 former prime minister Manmohan Singh led a Congress delegation to Kashmir in order to hold a series of meetings on the current situation in Jammu & Kashmir. It seems that Manmohan Singh did not realise that he is no longer the prime minister and therefore, does not need to follow the commands of certain party seniors.

The Congress is still in the habit of believing that it has the absolute right to rule over India notwithstanding the mandate given by the citizens of the country. However, this narcissistic attitude and assuming that India is their private property is only going to take the Congress to new lows.