At a time when the Indian National Congress has been thrown into a state of chaos after 23 senior leaders of the party wrote a dissenting letter demanding elections for the post of party president, most of the party’s allies have decided to refrain from commenting on the development. However, Sanjay Raut and Shiv Sena have waded in and had wholeheartedly backed Rahul Gandhi for the top post, leaving many perplexed. The reason behind Sena’s unabashed backing of Rahul Gandhi lies in Aaditya Thackeray.
Even by Sanjay Raut’s standards, Shiv Sena meddling in Congress’ internal affairs is a huge leap. Raut went as far as claiming that stopping Rahul Gandhi from taking over the reign of the INC will lead to the “extinction” of the party.
“Activeness to stop Rahul Gandhi will be instrumental in destroying the party and lead to its extinction,” said Raut. He added, “Congress veteran late VN Gadgil described the Congress as an old woman who will never die. Rahul Gandhi has to decide what to do with the old lady.”
An editorial in Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece Saamana read, “Rahul Gandhi was active and he singlehandedly took on the Modi-Shah duo. He led a change in the country in the Assembly elections. Where were these active letter-writing champions when the BJP attacked him below the belt? The old Congress leaders have demoralised Rahul Gandhi more than the below-the-belt attacks of the BJP under Modi-Shah.”
The question on everybody’s mind right now is that why Sena is showering rich praises on Rahul Gandhi? The same Rahul Gandhi who refused to acknowledge the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance until recently?
Let us consider a scenario where the flag bearers of dynasty politics, the Gandhis are removed from the Congress leadership. It might start a chain reaction where dynasty ruled parties like Shiv Sena will face a rebellion and force the party to adopt inter-party democracy.
If that happens, Aaditya Thackeray’s political career will be put in serious peril. The hardcore Shiv Sainiks who devoted their lives to fighting the Congress and the Gandhis, are now finding themselves in an alliance with the grand old party; thanks to the greed of the Thackerays.
Uddhav Thackeray is yet to stamp his authority in the Shiv Sena and when the Maharashtra government will fall, which is a certainty, Uddhav will face tough questions and might stage a drama where he resigns to hand over the reign of the party to Aaditya Thackeray.
The removal of Gandhis from the INC which remains a pipe dream will have far-reaching consequences which will go far beyond the grand old party. If the INC can bring about a change and remove the mighty Gandhis, what’s stopping the regional outfits from doing the same? It is no secret that dynasty politics is on the wane since 2014, and a purge on the Gandhis will almost certainly start a chain reaction.
The way that the Shiv Sena has criticised the dissenting leaders in Saamana is startling. “Those who have written the letter are reaching the age of 70. And none of them is a mass leader even at a district-level, let alone country- or state-level. Despite that, most of them have enjoyed chief ministerial posts, Union ministership, and several other important posts. P Chidambaram is a noted lawyer, when did he become a leader… What do we say about Prithviraj Chavan and Milind Deora? Prithviraj Chavan had to seek the help of Sharad Pawar to win an election in Satara. It is laughable that such people have sought active leadership in the Congress,” attacked Sena in its editorial.
It is clear that Shiv Sena is rooting for Rahul Gandhi to lay the platform for Aaditya Thackeray under the pretext of being a “youth leader”. Only a party accused of dynasty politics can back other party accused of the same issue.