NEW DELHI: There is bickering and discontent in the ruling Congress I and the leadership of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi has been criticizing even as the general elections draw near,
Even supporters of Gandhi have denounced what they call “ad hoc decisions” by the party leadership and called for democracy within the party and elections to organizational posts, Party elections have not been held in nearly 20 years and most officials are nominated to their posts.
Gandhi retains the support of a large majority of the 390 Congress Party legislators in the S42 member lower house of parliament. But rebels say there is a large pool of discontent waiting to spill over.
An adviser to Gandhi said that the prime minister was unconcerned about the developments and that important members of the opposition had defected to his party in recent months.
There have been prominent opposition defectors to the Congress Party, including a former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh state and a top official of the Janata Dal Party. But the advisor who asked that his name not be used is himself an example of what critics perceive as the Congress Party’s deeper problems. He is among a powerful group of bureaucrats who frame foreign and economic policy and are special targets of the dissidents wrath because they are seen as people without a political base insensitive to public opinion and other viewpoints.
On dissident, H.D. Nanje Gowda who was expelled from the Congress Party this month called his group” a bunch of rootless wonders.”
A party spokesman dismissed the internal discontent as a problem endemic to every political party but acknowledged that the party was concerned by a new surge in opposition unity. The new vigor in the opposition ranks which have often feuded among themselves following an ombudsman’s report that said that illegal payments had been made in a billion dollar Government arms deal. The government rejected the report, and more than 100 opposition legislators resigned in protest.
“I think that the hard core in the Congress will stand together, especially because there is a great threat from a united opposition,” the party official said. But Chimanbhai Mehta who was suspended from the Congress Party this year for his frequent criticism of Gandhi leadership and for demanding an “alternative leadership,” predicted that many would bolt the party after the announcement of a general election, which could be held as early as December. Lame Excuses
“This Government has achieved a phenomenal amount but public perception of us is zilch. We’ve been terrible communicators,” said Visjit Singh an influential Congress party lawmaker with access to the top leadership. But the government control radio and television.
Senior Congress Party members say that many within the party feel happy with the way the government handled the arms scandal rising prices growing sectarian violence and the imbroglio in Sri Lanka where Indian troops have fought for two years to quell a Tamil insurgency. New Delhi is refusing to pull its troops out despite demands by that nations leaders.
- Kulkarni, another party lawmaker, said that the party was suffering from a “demolition of inner party democracy ad hoscism and knee jerk reactions” to crisis.
Mr. Kulkarni, a respected member of Parliament who has been a Congress Party member for 47 years said in an interview that elections to party posts had not been held for decades despite promises by Gandhi and his mother and that inner democracy was hurt by frequent dismissals and changes of state political leaders by New Delhi.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 25, 1989
