With the current leadership of the Congress having failed to swing the fortunes of the party, a desperate attempt is being made by its leaders to evoke Indira Gandhi as a popular great leader and a bold, decisive Prime Minister the like of which country has yet to see, reads a press statement released by Bharatiya Janata Party countering the press release of the Congress. The present leadership has brought the Party to such a stage that it now is forced to piggy back on regional parties to remain politically relevant. The blind loyalty for the “Family” has made Congress a fiefdom of the Gandhi Parivar where the leadership is not earned but inherited, said Brig Anil Gupta BJP’s state spokesperson.
Scared of being completely wiped out in the 2019 Parliamentary elections, the party is hoping to revive its fortunes by singing paean of its founder President Indira Gandhi. The readers would recall that grand old party of pre-independence era, Indian National Congress was split in 1969 when Indira Gandhi formed her own party Congress (R) or New Congress and later Congress (Indira). She as nation’s Prime Minister was expelled from the party by the then Congress President for violating party discipline. The present day Congress party is the lineage of same split party of Indira Gandhi and is a splinter group of INC contrary to the tall claims made by its leaders of having participated in the nation’s freedom struggle, a ploy used to mislead the nation described Brig Gupta.
No doubt Indira Gandhi was a tall leader and she played a decisive role during the 1971 war with Pakistan. It was for this reason that in keeping with the democratic traditions BJP’s Atal Behari Vajpayee had praised her in the Parliament. But the present day Congress leadership has displayed lack of that decorum and courtesy when it openly challenged the veracity of Surgical Strikes launched in September 2016 under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi accused Brig Gupta. Congress party feels that it was the divine right of Gandhi Family to rule this country and no other dispensation can do that.
Though 1971 war was won due to the valour of Indian Army and the sterling leadership of its military hierarchy yet Indira Gandhi took the credit for having taken the political decision. But at Shimla she surrendered everything to machinations of Bhutto when she decided to return one lakh prisoners and captured territory to Pakistan without securing any benefits for India including vacation of POJK. In the annals of history Indira Gandhi will go down as leader who lacked vision and strategic thinking claimed the statement. As claimed by the Congress, Shimla Agreement was not a victory for India but a classic example of surrendering the victory on platter to the enemy betraying the supreme sacrifices made by the Indian Army blamed Brig Gupta.
Who can forget the dark chapter of India’s history when in 1975 emergency was imposed by misusing the provisions of the Constitution of India for personal interest rather than the national interest? The emergency was declared not because India was in danger but Indira was in danger said Brig Gupta. The nation will never forgive Indira Gandhi for this great betrayal. “The Congress Party rightly decided not to evoke Pandit Nehru because it realised the angst among the nation due to the famous Nehruvian blunders. I would like to warn the Congress that evoking Indira Gandhi may also boomerang because of her image of a ‘dictator’ and a selfish leader who first split her party for personal ambition and later imposed emergency on the nation to save her personal interest,” cautioned Brig Gupta.
