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Journalism of Courage
The Congress is certainly a party on the move 8212; but the movement for the moment seems to be largely confined to falling at Sonia Gandhi8217;s feet. New Delhi8217;s Talkatora stadium 8212; venue of the All-India Congress Committee session 8212; witnessed a full-scale Mexican Wave as Congress men and women of all shapes and sizes paid their fawning obeisance to their reigning Goddess, even as cries of 8216;Sonia Gandhi zindabad8217; rent the air.
Perhaps it is a measure of Sonia Gandhi8217;s own comfort level with traditional Congress politics that she did not seem to have much of a quarrel with this orgy of sycophancy on display and, in fact, graciously accepted all the tributes, floral and verbal, that came her way. Ma-in-law did it in her time, so why mustn8217;t she? Right? Wrong. The fact is that times have changed from the days when D.K. Barooah crooned the 8216;Indira is India8217; song, or Zail Singh let it be known that if he were asked to sweep the courtyard by his prime minister, he would have no hesitation in doing so. A party that wishes to come across as a modern political outfit with a modernising message 8212; as the Congress clearly wishes to do 8212; cannot be held prisoner to the manacled mindset of an era long gone by. Consequently, if the Congress wants to be taken seriously as a party with a future, it cannot afford to appear shackled by the fawning practices of the past.
