Right Word | Congress’ VP candidate justifies Emergency, says ‘kept mum and fell in line’

Margaret Alva, the Congress candidate for one of the most important constitutional posts in our democratic set up, i.e., vice-president of India, supported the biggest attack on Indian democracy’s body and soul that happened in 1975 in the form of Emergency. She went a step further to hail Indira Gandhi as a true democrat in the context of Emergency! [caption id=“attachment_10947701” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Margaret Alva (third from the left) sitting behind Indira Gandhi. Twitter/@nivedithalva[/caption] Alva justifies Emergency in her autobiography, Courage & Commitment: An Autobiography. Incidentally she has also made some scathing observations regarding the party’s functioning, especially during the reign of Sonia Gandhi. But first about Emergency. Alva admits in her autobiography, “As I witnessed the Emergency take root, I grew increasingly confused, worried and afraid. But I kept mum and fell in line.” Alva was a Rajya Sabha member when Emergency was imposed by the Indira Gandhi-led Congress government, crushing all the democratic institutions and subverting the Constitution of the country. While talking about Emergency, Alva defends Indira Gandhi’s actions as she observed, “She (Indira Gandhi) was a committed democrat, with faith in the people of India. Yet circumstances had driven her to take these extreme steps, to safeguard the unity and stability of the nation.” Nothing could be far away from the truth if one goes by what happened during that dark era of Emergency. Moreover, the authoritarian streak that was the hallmark of Indira Gandhi’s style of functioning is too well known. Alva published in her memoirs for the first time her resignation letter from the post of general secretary of All India Congress Committee in 2008. She was asked to step down after she had publicly questioned the party leadership for denying her son a Congress ticket for Karnataka Assembly elections

The excerpts from this letter also provide a glimpse of the deep rot in the Congress and why Congress is losing its popular leaders to other parties. Alva, who as a general secretary was made in-charge of eight important states, wrote in this letter, “A look at our recent candidate lists show a distinct pattern of patronage to the wealthy and rich lobbies like mining, education and real estate.” Addressing Sonia Gandhi, the then Congress president, Alva exposes the ‘true Congress culture’ as she lamented, “The manner in which the change of PCC (Pradesh Congress Committee) presidents was affected in the states under my charge, hurt me. My opinion was neither sought, nor was I part of any discussion process before resignations were taken. Pros and cons were not weighed collectively. In fact, I was merely asked to send a recommendation with the pre-decided names for Maharashtra, Mumbai and Punjab saying they were your direction.” In one of the most damning observations about the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government which was in the second last year of its first term in 2008, Alva said, “I have very strong feelings about reversal of Congress policies as we learnt them under Pandit Nehru and Indira ji. And I know things are going to move much faster now for obvious reasons.” Alva vs Antony Alva’s autobiography also brings to the fore how rampant is factionalism within the Congress. Alva blames Antony for his ouster from the post of general secretary. After she publicly criticised the denial of a ticket to his son, the party was quite embarrassed. Alva writes, “I came to learn from friends in the inner circle of the AICC that (AK) Antony, who had been asked to look into the entire controversy, had actually recommended my expulsion. While everyone else Sonia consulted ruled this out — recalling my years of unstinted service to the Party — Antony’s campaign against me finally yielded results.” Her ouster was the result of an old feud. According to Alva, she was sent to Kerala along with RL Bhatia by Sonia Gandhi. The latter was upset with the party’s poor performance in parliamentary elections in 2004. Both the leaders conveyed to party leadership that there is widespread discontentment against the sitting Congress Chief Minister AK Antony and most of the legislators want a replacement. Following this report, Antony was replaced by Oommen Chandy. Alva observes, “Antony never forgave me for this (even though the decision was Soniaji’s) and used every opportunity to get even.” She also blames her party leaders for her 2009 Lok Sabha defeat from Karwar (Karnataka) seat against Bharatiya Janata Party’s Ananth Kumar Hegde. “Every report suggested that I would win. But RV Deshpande (who was president of the state Congress unit at that time), using his money and muscle power, ensured last-minute manipulations. An independent Muslim candidate, Rahmatullah Qazi, his protégé, whom he fielded and funded, tilted the balance. I lost by 21,000 votes.” Humiliating PV Narasimha Rao Alva has made some sharp observations about the way Congress disrespected party stalwart and former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao. The latter died in 2004. Alva mentions that while leaders like Rajesh Pilot (killed in 2000 in a car accident), Jitendra Prasad (died in 2001) and Madhavrao Scindia (killed in a plane crash in 2001) got all the honours due to them as Congress leaders — with shamianas erected at the AICC to receive their remains before the last rites — PV Narasimha Rao, the tallest of them all, was denied a state funeral in Delhi. “His body was not even let into the AICC compound; instead, the gun carriage carrying the former Prime Minister and Congress president was parked on the pavement outside the gates, with chairs lined for party leaders. I was shocked to see this when I arrived. Ever since I have regretted not protesting and walking away.” Alva raises these questions in her autobiography, though at that time as party general secretary, she didn’t utter a word of protest, “Why was he (PV Narasimha Rao) humiliated in this manner? Was it because he was a south Indian? Even today there is no picture of him on the AICC walls otherwise lined with Congress leaders — including those who left the party at crucial times. This, despite the fact that he was a freedom fighter, a Prime Minister who lasted a full term, a former Chief Minister, Congress president and AICC general secretary, and a visionary who contributed to the nation’s development.”  Rahul’s strategy destroyed youth leadership Alva has also mentioned an interesting incident where she cautioned Rahul Gandhi about the dangers of open membership of Indian Youth Congress (IYC) which he was pushing for. “He was not happy with my advice. Soniaji told me later that he was trying his best to bring new life and blood into the IYC through a democratic process, and I ought to encourage, not discourage, him. However, it bears mentioning that everything I warned Rahul about has come to pass, with money and clout of local politicians deciding elections and destroying loyal youth cadres, forcing the party to rethink its strategy.” The writer, an author and columnist, has written several books. Views expressed are personal. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.