The political discourse in India certainly saw a sharp dip after some non-sensical and denigrating comments by senior leaders of several political parties. Massive backlash on ground and on social media pushed these leaders into damage control mode and what followed was leaders coming came out with a barrage of apologies and excuses for their ‘slip’, however some leaders have surely transgressed the line of no return. Leading this list is surely Congress’ parliamentary party leader in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury who by his comments, both inside and outside the house has not only multiplied problems for the grand old party but has been emerging as a god-sent for the rivals of the Congress mainly the BJP.
Recently, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury with his comments created quite a furore among masses. His comments have also seemingly irked the Congress party. Earlier in the month, while speaking to ANI, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had compared the prevailing security restrictions in Kashmir in wake of the legislative developments to that of a concentration camp and said, “PM had announced from Red Fort that we’ll take Kashmiris forward not with bullets but by embracing them, but today, the situation in Kashmir is similar to that of a concentration camp.”
#WATCH Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary, Congress leader in Lok Sabha: PM had announced from Red Fort that we'll take Kashmiris forward not with bullets but by embracing them, but today, the situation in Kashmir is similar to that of a concentration camp. pic.twitter.com/jzGnZ6sSWy
— ANI (@ANI) August 8, 2019
By comparing security preparations by the security forces to that of a concentration camp, Congress leader had not only shamefully maligned India’s efforts to maintain peace in the terror infested valley but has also denigrated Indian security forces by making parallels with the Nazi German army. While other senior leaders of the Congress had distanced themselves from these extreme comments, Congress by not officially refuting these comments is surely poised to suffer the brunt.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is surely no alien to churning controversies and increasing problems for the grand old party. In the discussions regarding legislative developments in Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress leader’s comments had also seemingly irked Sonia Gandhi when he took a near anti-India line in the Lok Sabha.
Questioning India’s sovereignty over Jammu and Kashmir he had said, “Our question is how this can be considered as an internal matter? Some days ago, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar spoke to (US secretary of state Mike) Pompeo and then too it was said that this was a bilateral issue. We need to resolve this. You will have to clarify on this. Whether it is internal, bilateral and whether you can do it on your own or not.”
Union Home Minister Amit Shah had firmly replied and said, “Kashmir is an integral part of India, there is no doubt over it. When I talk about Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan occupied Kashmir and Aksai Chin are included in it. You don’t consider Jammu and Kashmir an integral part of India? What are you saying? We can die for it,”
More than the response of Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the reaction of Sonia Gandhi caught people’s attention. It seemed as if Sonia Gandhi has been caught completely off-guard and was not aware of the remarks made by her own leader of the party in Lok Sabha on the issue. And this, also precisely, demonstrates the leadership crisis in Congress and how it is undermining the party’s stance on issues leading to confusion.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury was also under fire for comparing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ‘gandi naali’ (dirty drain). He had mentioned, “Kahan Maa Ganga aur Kahan Gandi Naali” (How can Mother Ganga be compared with a dirty drain, basically comparing Indira Gandhi’s legacy with that of Narendra Modi).
The most dramatic of Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s comments came in the lower house where he had challenged the government of taking action against corruption accused and senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi who are currently out on bail regarding the National Herald corruption case.
He had said, “Did you manage to catch anybody in 2G and coal allocation scam? Did you manage to send Sonia Gandhiji and Rahul Gandhiji behind the bars? You came to power by calling them thieves, then how are they sitting in Parliament? Why are not they in jail.”
However these comments are sure to come and bite back the Congress leader as is evident from current legal proceedings against the former union minister P Chidambaram, where now instead of daring the government to take action against a corruption accused Congress member, the grand old party has been crying foul alleging ‘vendetta politics’.
With central leadership in tatters, comments by Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury surely don’t come at a time when the grand old party is capable to subvert the issues to its convenience and carry forward like it has done multiple times over the past decades. Selection of Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury as the parliamentary party leader of the Congress also came as a surprise to many, while Congress had hoped to replace Mallikarjun Kharge who had lost out in the LS polls to the Baharampur MP. However for the Congress the bet on Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is evidently lost.
While Congress struggles to get its act together the running comments from Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury have only put the Gandhi family in a spot of bother. Sonia Gandhi might well have chosen Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury as the leader of the party in Lok Sabha, however, with his antics and comments it seems like Chowdhury is already on a mission to finish the political careers of the Gandhis.
