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Journalism of Courage
Congress president Sitaram Kesri8217;s equivocation on the Jain Commission report is a reflection of the party8217;s inability to take a forthright stand on the issue. If the confusion in the party is anything to go by, the Congress has bitten off more than it can chew in trying to derive political mileage from this inconclusive report of dubious value.
In retrospect, the party might not even have insisted on an early tabling of the report if it had an inkling of the crisis it would cause. After all, the party had little compunction in trying to keep the lid on the Thakkar Commission report that went into the assassination of Indira Gandhi. It suited the party then to keep the report under wraps, particularly when the 8220;needle of suspicion8221; pointed inwards 8212; at a member of the Congress Working Committee. So much for the party8217;s moral authority to insist on publicising the Jain Commission report! What should follow from the party8217;s stand that it will not let those responsible for Rajiv Gandhi8217;s assassination escape is to ask for the DMK8217;s blood. Since the United Front has made it clear that it would sink with the DMK rather than sacrifice it, nothing should have prevented the Congress from withdrawing support to the government. But to expect such a logical process from a highly fractured political party is to ask for the moon.
One thing that Congressmen expect in their leader is his or her ability to get them votes. Indira Gandhi and, before her, Nehru could ensure them votes. Rajiv Gandhi was a total failure in this regard. His victory in the 1984 election when he won a massive mandate was a fluke 8212; the benefit of a sympathy wave following the assassination of his mother.
In the subsequent election, the Congress was virtually wiped out in several states and lost power at the Centre too. The party8217;s performance in 1991 would have been the worst ever but for Rajiv8217;s tragic death, which dramatically tilted the scales in the party8217;s favour. If this is the worth of the dynasty, what difference can a foreigner-turned-Indian make to the fortunes of the party? More so, when evidence suggests that Rajiv Gandhi8217;s own foolhardiness was as much responsible for his tragic death as those whom the Jain Commission pinpoints in its voluminous report.
