The spotlight has been on Congress veteran Kamal Nath, easily an exceptional senior leader who has won more elections than anyone else in his party. There has been intense speculation that he is disillusioned with the manner in which the High Command has treated him despite his long service, and could be headed towards the BJP, a party he has trounced more than a dozen times in his Chindwara constituency. The conjecture is the outcome of a series of events following the Saffron victory in Madhya Pradesh in the last Assembly elections, and where many minions, have been accusing him of taking the entire exercise casually, thus leading to the Congress defeat. The question is why would Kamal Nath, of all the people, work against the interests of the party he joined in 1969, in the wake of the first split and has been a loyal soldier for more than 55 years.
If the buzz about his future moves is to be given any credence, factors that need to be taken into account concern his contribution to the Congress, from the time Indira Gandhi led from the front to the period when his Doon School classmate, Sanjay Gandhi was virtually running the show, till the present day. At the Congress Working Committee meeting following the Assembly defeat, many members attacked him and held him responsible for the failure, and short of moving a resolution to expel him, they put the blame entirely on his shoulders. The point is that if the Central leadership had doubts over his ability, they should have appointed leaders whose compatibility with him would have helped, rather then sending those, who from day one had a view contrary to that of the State president.
Randeep Surjewala, Bhanwar Jitender Singh and before them, Jai Prakash Aggarwal, had an approach which was not consistent with how Kamal Nath was taking things forward. Therefore, the issue is that if the Congress lost, the EVMs is also made out to be factor in internal discussions, the blame for the defeat besides the State Chief should have been also shared by others. No such thing was done and Kamal Nath was singled out. Now whether this was fair, is something the High Command would or should address, but losing him, that is, if he was to cross over, is something that is unthinkable so far as the common party worker is concerned.
Kamal Nath is synonymous with the Congress and has held key positions within the organization and the government. He is regarded by many as the most structured politician in the country and thus undoubtedly deserves to be respected both by his peers and the juniors. While Ashok Gehlot has always been given a preferential treatment over the years, Kamal Nath, who has innumerable achievements under his belt, is not accorded the same respect.
The Congress seemed to be in a tearing hurry to relieve him of both the positions of State president and the leader of the Opposition, once the results were out. Obviously, anyone in his place would have felt humiliated even if he has not said a word against the Gandhis to anyone. The issue which gets raised within the Congress these days is that who was running the show? Mallikarjun Kharge is the national president and the Gandhis enjoy an envious position. But according to a section of the party, all major decisions are influenced by KC Venugopal, the organizing secretary and Jairam Ramesh, the Media in-charge.
This brings up the matter on whether these two gentlemen are equipped to understand the repercussions of their actions or just because they enjoy close proximity to Rahul Gandhi, they can get away with anything. They can be always absolved of the errors. The Congress has to do some serious thinking on what would be the consequences of Kamal Nath walking out, if at all he chooses to do so. There are indications that he may stay back but his son, Nakul Nath, who was elected from Chindwara in 2019, could move away.
In real terms, even Nakul Nath’s leaving would amount to Kamal Nath withdrawing himself from active politics, even if he decides to stay back. The Congress High Command needs to introspect on how it should deal or treat with its veterans. The CWC which was very harsh on Kamal Nath, includes mostly those who are there because of being sycophants rather than due to their contribution to the grand old party. Looking at the CWC list, one would be left wondering that an overwhelming majority of the members and special invitees are people who have never won any direct election.
They have an opinion on most issues but lack a people connect because they rarely inter-act with the common people. Rahul Gandhi has a strange attitude and is mostly inaccessible or access to him is denied by a coterie that is isolating him from the ground realities. For instance, a large number of newly elected Congress legislators from various states, wanted to come and meet him besides getting themselves photographed with him.
But he has not had any time. Kamal Nath has nurtured his constituency so well that it is today the only Congress bastion where the Lok Sabha MP, and all the MLAs belong to the Congress. His decision would imply that this bastion would stand breached. The High Command without any further delay should pacify him before it is too late.