By seizing Patel’s legacy, Modi diminishes Nehru-Gandhi dynasty

It has been a usual practice for the last three decades that on 31 October, the morning papers will be flooded with official advertisements on Indira Gandhi’s martyrdom. Even the NDA or NF or UF would extend that courtesy for the eight years that they were in power, albeit restricting it to the bare minimum. A state function at her cremation ground Shakti Sthal in the presence of Gandhi-Nehru family members has been equally important. Seen as the greatest of Congress leaders with her family controlling the party and the government, it is thus only natural that she should be duly remembered on her death anniversary, particularly when the Iron Lady died a most unfortunate death. [caption id=“attachment_120571” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Modi and L K Advani at the ceremony on Thursday. PTI[/caption] The Iron Man of the country, first home minister and unifier of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s birthday on the same day has been consigned to the mere footnotes. Not many outside of Gujarat knew of his birthday and only a few in Delhi cared about him. Senior BJP leader LK Advani who was earlier touted as Loh Purush (Iron Man) by his own party enthusiasts would fly to Karamsad in Gujarat to pay homage to Sardar Patel. During six years of NDA rule, flying there also meant that he could conveniently escape attending the official function to mark the death anniversary of Indira Gandhi. But 31 October of 2013 was billed to be different. Not because the standard protocol by the government or the Congress was to be changed by any bit. The official union government advertisements were in place. But then there were two other factors, Congress vice president and Indira grandson Rahul Gandhi had been talking about her assassination emotionally. He has told the untold story of how it happened and how it impacted him and his family. He was supposed to have touched upon a raw nerve of Congressmen and women as also a whole lot of party sympathisers. It was thus expected that this year, on this date, the Congress would do something that would connect with them at an emotional level. After all, this is election time and 2014 wills see the mother of all electoral battles. Narendra Modi, however, had other plans, he knew how to hijack the show and have a debate centred around him. The day belonged to him and Sardar Patel. The references to Indira Gandhi’s death anniversary were, for once, relegated to the background and to official releases. No matter what the Congress says on Patel vis-à-vis the RSS, the fact remains that Modi successfully appropriated Sardar Patel’s legacy. The problem for the Congress is not that Modi is or has appropriated Sardar’s legacy but by doing so and presenting an alternative view that “had Sardar Saheb been the country’s first Prime Minister the nation’s destiny would have been different today”, he is questioning Nehru’s credentials and diminishing Nehru’s legacy. Had Nehru not been there as the first PM, there would not have been a Nehru-Gandhi dynasty today. Modi is thus trying to hit at what is the spinal cord of the modern day Congress Party. He has been doing both, idolising Patel and criticising the Nehru-Gandhi family. By laying a foundation stone for the 182-meter tall Statue of Unity, the world’s tallest statue on the banks of the Narmada , twice as tall as the Statue of Liberty, Modi has delivered a masterstroke. How justified is protest of a section of local tribal people, inspired by Medha Patkar is not an issue here. They may have legitimate grievances and need to be redressed. He has grabbed nation’s attention by a grand foundation stone laying event in Kevadia. And if the message had still not reached home to the Congress leadership, he went ahead with television commercials highlighting self and the event. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who had joined issue with him on this a few days ago, saying, “I am proud and happy that I belong to a political party to which Sardar Patel was attached… Sardar Patel was totally secular, and believed in the unity of India.” That comment got some rebuttals from Modi as well. “By aligning Sardar Patel with one party you are demeaning him….We need Sardar Sahab’s secularism, not vote-bank secularism,” Modi said. He added that “Patel who united India…had no hesitation rebuilding the Somnath Temple”.  It’s a known historical fact that though Nehru and Patel both were committed to secularism, their ideas on this and several other key issues including Kashmir was at variance. Modi is without doubt the tallest Gujarat leader after Patel. While Patel served Gujarat Congress and  his landmark work, rebuilding the Somnath temple and unifying Junagarh principality with India, benefitted Gujarat, his main work had been outside of the state. Modi as chief minister of the state for the last 12 years has been focussed in the state and has now got into the national political arena. By creating the world’s tallest statue, he will ensure that the Sardar’s legacy as also his own lives beyond his life time. He thus ensured that his one time mentor and in house “Iron Man” LK Advani was also present to bless him. The Congress is finding it difficult to challenge him, either in rhetoric or in perception. Its only counter argument is Sardar’s banning of the RSS. Incidentally soon after Modi finished his speech, the AICC communication department chief and general secretary Ajay Maken came out and tried to play the same trick that the Congress has played only unsuccessfully – painting Modi as a failed administrator and confining him as a regional upstart. Maken first read out a list on how Gujarat Information Commission and state human rights commission had not been fully functional, CAG report was not discussed in state assembly and the media was influenced. While Maken chose not to respond on Modi’s charge that the Prime Minister was playing petty politics in not allowing gates to be built on raised height of Sardar Sarovar Dam, which could benefit Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharastra, he sought to fight out Modi through a different handle. The Congress general secretary alleged that the RSS had threatened a senior lady journalist (Vidya Subrahmaniam of The Hindu) for writing an article where she placed the RSS in the dock for breach of an agreement that the organisation had entered into with Sardar Patel. The article was published on the opinion page of The Hindu early in October. A report on alleged threat was published a fortnight back in another national newspaper, not in the paper she works. Maken chose to petition home minister today. Vidya is based in Delhi where police is under direct command and control of the UPA government. Maken succeeded in making the headline for his party, `RSS threatens lady journalist’. Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde forwarded Maken’s petition to the home secretary for necessary action. Reacting to the development Vidya Subrahmaniam told Firstpost that “my article appeared on 8 October. Threat calls started a week later after it was translated and used by our Tamil paper (The Hindu). I received around 250 calls and filed a police complaint but did not take the complaint to the Congress. I am surprised that it has surfaced now. I didn’t even know that a Press conference (by Congress) was being held.”