Rita Bahuguna joins BJP, Congress leadership needs to listen to mass base leaders

Law Kumar Mishra

Patna: Rita Bahuguna, daughter of former CM of undivided Uttar Pradesh (UP) H N Bahuguna and sister of former CM of Uttarakhand Vijay Bahuguna,  quit the Congress and joined BJP on Thursday.

Former president of UP unit of Congress Rita Bahuguna while addressing a press conference with BJP President Amit Shah complained about Prashant Kishore Pande and AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi. Different channels and newspapers had been releasing reports about her joining the BJP. However, small time UP Congress leaders and even senior party leaders were in denial mood about her impending departure. Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was in Patna two days back to attend the Dalit Muslim conference at S K Memorial and is UP incharge, too had denied such reports while attending a dinner hosted in his honour by Bihar Revenue and Land Reforms minister Madan Mohan Jha at his bungalow.

Ostrich like behaviour of leaders close to AICC president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul too are responsible for the downhill journey of the party which was once headed by Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi too. A three time chief minister of Congress, who had been associated with even Pandit Nehru, had told this reporter once- “I do not know whether Soniaji even knows me or not.”

This reporter would also like to recall a similar incident in Srinagar(J&K) when Mehbooba Mufti, then leader of opposition, had deserted Congress. She had released a six page letter addressed to Sonia Gandhi and her political advisor Ahmad Pael , who was the incharge of the Congress. This scribe informed Ahmad bhai Patel about the resignation of Mehbooba from the Congress. He was not even aware of it and later inquired about the contents of the letter. I told him it is with me and I am at TOI office. I got repeated calls from him telling he was sending his staff to collect a copy of the letter as it was to be shown to Madam. He made frantic calls for copy of the resignation letter.

Similar incidents have happened  in Bihar too, when party veterans like Ramjatan Sinha and Mohammad Ali Qaiser had quit the party just before elections. There is total lack of communication in the organisation even though it is not in power now.

Congress is weakening everywhere because of its leaders only. No appointments are given to state presidents for weeks ,no letter reaches them because of middlemen in their offices and residences who manage and destroy even Fax messages. This happened with one of the Congress ruled CMs too.

No attempt is made to assuage the anger and discontent of the leaders who dedicated their youth to the Congress. If anyone is responsible for the downhill journey of the Congress-it is the Congress leaders who have no mass base but still run the party because they have connectivity with the top. Other parties will also face the same fate if its leaders behave the way the Congressmen/women are doing.