The Congress party organized ‘Bharat Bachao Rally (read Gandhi Family Bachao Rally)’, which was attended by all senior Congress leaders and the first family of the party. The rally, held at Ramlila Maidan, Delhi, was organized to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Bill (hereafter CAA), which seeks to provide Indian citizenship to members of the minority communities (Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jains and Parsis) from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who have fled religious persecution. The farmer’s distress and unemployment were also the themes of the rally.
The rally was organized against CAA but, as usual with any Congress party event, it turned into PR exercise for the Gandhi family. Rahul Gandhi used the rally to set personal scores, instead of speaking on the issues faced by the government and why BJP is responsible for these issues, which should have been the theme of his speech, ideally. “BJP leaders told me in Parliament yesterday that I should apologise. I want them to know that my name is Rahul Gandhi and not Rahul Savarkar, I will not apologise. Nor will any Congress worker,” said Rahul Gandhi, commenting on the BJP’s demand for the apology on ‘Rape in India’ remark.
The large poster of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi were displayed on the ground, and not a single Congress party leader other than those of Gandhi family found space in those pictures.
Priyanka Gandhi repeated the same old template of her family sacrifice to save the nation, and she shall not allow the BJP to turn it into communal land, which discriminates to the minority community.
The Congress party’s Twitter handle posted a series of tweets, which highlighted the speech of the Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi.
My dear sisters have to sacrifice to raise their family, they work hard day and night. They too are having sleepless nights due to inflation: Congress President Smt Sonia Gandhi#BharatBachaoRally pic.twitter.com/HDKYhLfCRv
— Congress (@INCIndia) December 14, 2019
“We want to assure the people of India that Congress would stand by the tenets of Constitution and fight for Indian democracy till the end,” said Sonia Gandhi. “Every Indian who loves their country should stand united and fight to save the idea of India. Congress party is ready to sacrifice whatever it takes to support people’s fight,” she added.
The focus on the Gandhi family in the Bharat Bacho rally once again ensures that the reins of the Congress party will be in hand of the first family. There is rumination that Rahul Gandhi will be once again made the President of the Congress party. He resigned from the President post of the 130-year-old party after the humiliating performance of Congress in 2019 general election, which the party fought under his leadership.
The other able leaders like Sachin Pilot, son of senior Congress leader, Rajesh Pilot, who played an instrumental role in reviving Congress in Rajasthan and getting it back to power, will be ignored.
Some other leaders like Jyotiraditya Scindia, who has taken ‘Nationalist’ stand with the support of Article 370 abolition and CAA, is also being sidelined by the party, as he is a competition to Gandhi family. Scindia has shown that he has what it takes to boldly dissent in the Congress against the will of the Gandhis, but he has also shown that when it comes to the national interest, he can abandon ideological and political considerations.
By defying the Gandhis and showing his nationalistic spirit at the same time, he has made a strong case for becoming Congress party president at a time when the party is leaderless.
Keeping the limelight on the Gandhi’s despite the presence of senior leaders like Scindia, the Congress party has turned the Bharat Bachao Rally into Gandhi family Bachao rally.