The chicanery of Congress..

 

The following article was written for Niti Central. Pasting it here for reference:

 

Back in 2011, when the census was being planned, there was a demand by some political parties like RJD, SP, JD(U) that a caste census should be done. At that point of time, the Congress and the BJP had not taken any call. The Prime Minister as usual appointed a Group of Ministers (GoM), which was not able to take a decision given the deep divide within the Congress and therefore, wanted a written assurance from all the political parties (putting the onus on the BJP and others) about caste census.

 

It waited till all the Parties (including BJP) gave an assurance and then announced that a caste census will be carried out. At a time when the Congress was not able to take a decision, it majorly pinned hopes on others not being able to decide. However, a decision was taken just because the ruling party (UPA) had no view, but all other parties had a view on this! The Congress expected that the BJP (or any other significant Opposition party) will say no and then it (Congress) will pass the blame on other parties perhaps!

 

This exact same chicanery is now being exhibited by the Congress at a time when Andhra Pradesh is burning. In the past six days, in a manner that only Congress can resort to, the Congress workers have blamed both Chandrababu Naidu and YSR for the current predicament. ‘Mother Sonia’ of course! has nothing to do with this.

 

Why are they blaming TDP and Chandrababu Naidu?

TDP took a decision in 2008 to support the formation of Telangana. They submitted a letter to the Pranab Mukherjee led GoM (yep, another one of those GoMs!) It reiterated it’s support in 2012. Ministers from the Congress are saying that because TDP and Chandrababu Naidu supported the split of the State, this situation has cropped up! It is because of him that ‘madam’ came under pressure to take a decision it seems, and therefore, she ended up taking this decision. If ‘madam’ merely follows TDP in taking important decisions, then she might as well give up power and let TDP rule. Right?

 

Why are they blaming YS Rajashekhar Reddy?

While announcing the Congress Working Committee (CWC) resolution, Digvijay Singh has tactically mentioned that as the Leader of Opposition in 1999, YSR led a contingent of 40 MLAs to Sonia and demanded that a separate State of Telangana be formed. Congress then submitted a memo to the NDA Government in 2002, asking for a second SRC (which the Congress never formed during its 9 years reign).

 

State Congress leaders, including Ministers and PCC chief have started throwing the gauntlet on the YSRCP, blaming YSR for stoking the Telangana fire in the first place. Ever since Jagan quit the Congress, the party has made a desperate attempt to separate itself from YSR. YSR was a lifelong Congressman, and a known staunch loyalist of the Gandhi family. Does Congress really want to believe that Sonia Gandhi had no role in writing the letter to the NDA Government? Does Congress want the people to believe that whatever YSR did, was not approved by the Congress high command?

The latest resolution signed by none other than the Chief Minister!

 

On Saturday, the Chief Minister and PCC chief met nearly 80 elected representatives of the Congress from the Rayalaseema and Andhra region at the Chief Minister’s residence. Amongst the many resolutions they passed – the key one was urging Sonia Gandhi to withdraw this decision. The Chief Minister and the PCC chief have both signed this document and has been sent to Sonia Gandhi.

 

How do these people expect others to not to look their chicanery? If the AP CM and PCC chief are so disheartened and are so disapproving of this decision, why don’t they just resign and make a stronger statement. What value does this resolution even have? This particular meeting went on for four hours. A couple of days earlier, Ministers met the Chief Minister for nearly four-and-a-half hours. The AP CM and PCC chief would have been privy to the plans of the high command – if so, are they sharing them with one section of their party so as to plan more effectively? What is it that they know, that we don’t?

 

The deafening silence of the AP CM

 

It has been nearly 135 hours since the CWC resolution was announced. Since then, the State has been burning. In the typical Congress way of working, the AP CM has not yet found the need to communicate with the people of the State. Not a single word about the current crisis. Who is stopping him from communicating? What is with the Congress and their hatred towards effective

communication?

 

Finally, here’s a poster put up by the Ministers belonging to the Congress. This is in Telugu – translation of the first line reads thus: “This (Telangana) is a blessing given to us by Mother Sonia.” Truly, this chicanery knows no bounds.