It was the summer of 69, and the Congress was feeling the heat of perhaps the biggest battle of its post-independence era. The fight was between Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the Syndicate (the name given to a powerful group of senior leaders controlling the Congress organisation). Congress MPs had to take a big decision – to choose the new President of the country between Neelam Sanjiva Reddy and VV Giri.
While Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was the choice of the Syndicate – a group that included stalwarts like S Nijalingappa, K Kamaraj and Morarji Desai; VV Giri was an independent candidate who had unofficial support of Indira Gandhi.
The Congress, till this time, was not owned by the Gandhi family.
However, what happened after that changed the future of the party forever.
While Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was the clear favorite for the presidency, the incumbent Vice President VV Giri managed to defeat him in a historic electoral battle.
How and why did this happen?
In 1967, top Congress leaders – also known as syndicates – chose Indira Gandhi – a naive and inexperienced leader – for the job of prime minister, believing that she would remain as the state’s rubberstamp chief and Will silently follow his instructions. This is the reason why Indira Gandhi was nicknamed ‘Gunga Gudiya’ (dumb puppet) in her early years as Prime Minister.
However, it didn’t take long for the dumb doll to open its mouth and show signs of assertiveness. He started making decisions – as big as the nationalization of banks – all on his own. With this, his popularity among the public grew – something that threatened the syndicate at its core.
Then came the summer of 69.
Outgoing President Zakir Hussein died in office, necessitating an election for the legal head of the nation.
The syndicate declared senior leader Neelam Sanjiva Reddy as its choice for the top post without taking Indira Gandhi into confidence. Indira chose to silently support independent candidate Giri in a catch-22 situation.
Ahead of the elections, PM Indira Gandhi asked her party leaders to vote on their conscience (or inner-soul voice) to choose between right or wrong for the future of the country and the party.
As a result – VV Giri defeated Reddy by a margin of less than 15,000 votes.
The elections proved to be a cornerstone in making the Congress party an asset of the Gandhi family.
Will the summer of 69 be repeated?
More than 50 years after that event, today, Gandhi and Darbari (a term used for family loyalists) are the new syndicate. And there is no Indira Gandhi to fight them.
A situation has come where the centralization of power in the hands of the Gandhi family is being seen as the biggest weakness of the party. Such is the clout that election as the top leader of the party may be required – with Rahul Gandhi, his mother Sonia Gandhi and sister Priyanka Gandhi deciding not to sit in the main chair. Everything was smooth until a leader decided to contest the election against the wishes of the Gandhi family.
This leader – Shashi Tharoor – a three-time MP and former bureaucrat – knows quietly that it is almost impossible to win this battle. Still, he has shown no signs of being a coward.
The other contender – Mallikarjun Kharge – a staunch Gandhi family loyalist – is confident of a victory.
For political pundits, this election is just a hoax. They assume in advance that Kharge will win. The biggest curiosity is the number of votes Mr. Tharoor will get, for the choice of this writer (who unfortunately agrees with the pundits).
Will Congressmen vote on the voice of the inner soul?
While everyone in the party is already assuming that the Kharges (read: the Gandhi family) will win with a comfortable majority, they also know that there is an undercurrent against the Gandhi family. Many veterans of the party have left, or openly rebelled against the family. The grassroots worker – depressed, dissatisfied and helpless – wants to change the situation.
While there is no Indira Gandhi to charm the Congressmen like in 1969, the inner-soul is present, and so is its voice – loud and clear.
What can change? What will change?
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