Congress chief whip in Rajya Sabha, Bhubaneswar Kalita has resigned over the party’s stand on Modi government’s decision to abolish Article 370. Chief whip is someone whose task is to ensure that every member of the legislature votes on any issue as the leadership desires. The Congress has chosen to oppose the decision of the government and the many elected members are not happy with the party’s decision.
I have resigned from the Rajya Sabha membership today. #Assam
— Bhubaneswar Kalita (@BKalitaAssam) August 5, 2019
“I have resigned from the Rajya Sabha membership today,” tweeted kalita who was elected to the upper house from Rajya Sabha and was chief whip of the party. According to Kalita, “whip was against the nation’s sentiments.” “The Congress leadership is trying to completely destroy the party. No one can stop the Congress party from destruction,” he said in the resignation letter.
With its opposition to Article 370, Congress has proven again that it has lost touch from the rest of India. Even many opposition parties including BJD and YSRCP has backed the government on the issue but Congress has decided to go against it.
The ‘elitist’ and ‘feudal’ leaders of the Congress have failed to recognize increasing belief of ‘New India’ in meritocracy performance based competitive politics. The top brass of the party is filled with semi-feudal leaders and therefore it is often dubbed as ‘semi feudal party’. If the Congress party does not chose to ‘realign’ itself on the ideological spectrum, soon the party will die.
Even the common Congress members feel that the party is hell bent on making itself irrelevant in emerging nationalist India. The official stand of the party on important national issues is not in sync with that of general populace. The abolition of Article 370 is not the only issue where Congress has opposed general sentiment of the people of India. The party chose not to stand with majority opinion on Triple Talaq Bill, it also expressed doubts over Balakot airstrike by Modi government.
The official stand of the party on ideological issues has ensured that it will not come back to power for another few decades. The new emerging India wants non-dynastic, corruption free, nationalist government. A government which could make the people safe, secure, and enable them to become prosperous. The Congress party has failed to stand for these principles.
From 2004 to 2014, when the Congress was in power under UPA umbrella, the party failed to provide the aforementioned type of government. Instead the party chose to do politics of entitlement where the series of ‘Right’ bills. The Right to Food, Right to Education, Right to Land, Right to Information, all these bills were Congress’s compensation for not being able enforce a rule based transparent capitalist system. The party chose to ‘appease’ different constituencies through these bills and ensured that it gets their votes.
The agenda worked for first 5 years as the UPA government was reaping the benefits of policies implemented by Vajpayee government. But in the next five years, the every loophole in the Congress model busted and the corruption, terrorism, unpopularity, economic decline prevailed. The second term of UPA government was so unpopular that the party was reduced to merely 44 seats in 2014 general election.
The party continued to dynastic politics and kept the unpopular Nehru Gandhi family at the top. It failed to feel the pulse of the nation which became vehemently opposed to dynastic politics over the years. In 2019, most of the dynasts of the party including Rahul Gandhi were unseated from their traditional strongholds. By taking one unpopular decision after another, including on Article 370 the party has ensured it will not be back to power for next few decades.