The “elitist leadership” of the Congress, including party president Sonia Gandhi and her children, are unwilling to go into the countryside in the Hindi belt to engage with the masses and regain their loyalty. Besides, there are the problems of “overreliance on the Gandhi brand to solve all problems” and sycophancy, which is seen as a licence to “backbite and squabble behind the scenes.”
This is the candid assessment of the internal state of the ruling party conveyed to Washington by the U.S. Embassy in January 2006.
The cable sent on January 27, 2006 (50883: confidential), reported that Congress weaknesses had become evident after the party gained power in 2004: “In the crucial Hindi belt, its elitist leadership (including Sonia Gandhi and her children) are unwilling to go into the countryside to engage with the masses and regain their loyalty. Inside the party, there is an over-reliance on the Gandhi brand to solve all problems. The insistence on outward displays of loyalty to the Gandhis has prevented the emergence of a strong and credible second tier leadership capable of mounting effective state-wide campaigns in crucial states like Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka.”
“The coterie surrounding the Gandhis believes that public loyalty to ‘Madam' gives them a license to backbite and squabble behind the scenes.
“The party leadership in Karnataka arrogantly dismissed JD(S) attempts to share power, insisting that Congress should predominate,” the Embassy cabled.
Referring to the All India Congress Committee's January 22, 2006 plenary session in Hyderabad, it noted how 10,000 party leaders and workers went to “extraordinary lengths to demonstrate their sycophantic loyalty to the Gandhi family.” Although Sonia Gandhi herself had requested that such demonstrations be held to a minimum, “participants staged disruptive demonstrations demanding that the party induct Rahul Gandhi into the leadership and provide him a space on the podium.”
Keywords: Congress leadership, cable50883, Rahul Gandhi, WikiLeaks, The India Cables
As everyone knows we have three national level parties: a monrachist Congress, a facist BJP and a stalinist CPM. And then we have regional warlord parties which consist of one supreme leader and his/her armed goons. We definitely need a new party which is none of the above.
Good to see people expressing their interests towards our mother India. I too agree that there are many scandals happened and still happening in Congress, but there is a need for all of us to look into the actual picture from different perspectives. Corruption, which is in the blood and flesh of the many Congress leaders, I agree this with no second thought. But as citizens of India, are we all doing the things in a right way? Do we follow the rules and regulations in our daily lives? Are we all stop giving the bribes in the government offices? I have no question directly to anyone now. As Mahatma Gandhi said, "Be the change you want to see in the world". Have we changed to question the world for their mistakes? As I believe, truth is something that cannot be hidden, I also believe that, one who do not follow their duties have got no right to fight for their rights. It is all we who can change the conditions in India, by being truthful to inner conscience. My humble request is, please do not bribe any one for our own benefits, please do follow the rules and regulations, never question the rules. If we stick to the basics, we can rule ourselves with very much truth in daily life. Congress is the mirror image of the nation. If it is corrupted, we have every right to clean it up by exposing its blackness, so that the true Gandhian congress can be formed again.
Thanks for leaking the Leaks- I remember with pride your publication of 'Bofors' scandal two decades ago. Pl continue your fearless work and never spare any shady personalities be it a politician or a pontiff. Despite the rotten journalism in the North after the advent of electronic media, 'THE HINDU' certainly deserves the kudos! Keep your good work going on till our system is cleansed to the last sewer drop.
I do not understand the importance of this. This is a message sent from one consulate to their country about their view of things. Most American guys working here in Indian consulate may not have any respect for our system. But i agree with their views. So - all the readers here: Who is responsible for this? Is it not people (You, me and fellow friends) here? An election is going to happen in few weeks in TN. How many of you going to vote? How many of you will look in to each your candidates outside of this political gundas gang? Can each one of you look for one nice qualified candidate in your area and work for him 2 hours a day for 20 days and make him visible? If you can do that then we do not have to blame this political gundas for anything.
The Hindu is giving too much importance to what the WikiLeak has provided: the subject matters of these 'Confidential Memos' are public knowledge for several years..What's new in this piece, anyway? Yes, Gandhi tag has been an excellent brand name for more than a century.. much superior than Advani/ Modi/ Karunanidhi/Other tags. The relevant question is what's the quality of the Media, the Corporates and the Opposition Parties in India.. Will the Hindu write credible articles on that front? Will the WikiLeaks add value to this matter?
In an age where perceptions (and, hence a brand) are all important while factual data is accidental, it is quiet a normal and natural course for most humans ~ not just the Congress workers (path of least resistance). While most of us love to hate (and, abuse) the politicians for our 'messy situations', we forget they are a sample of us only. While we hate them for all the scams, we ourselves indulge in 'petty' manipulations/scams/bribes ourselves.God gave us a life (at least) with a choice : sit in our cushy positions and complain all our lives OR do what we can.
One has not seen so far in the print or electronic media any critical assessment of the power behind the throne which Sonia Gandhi has been for several years now. Anyone in the Congress party or the UPA government will be faulted by the media for various reasons; but Sonia Gandhi always remained just a witness to all these and nothing more. The India Cables page@wikiLeaks however shows no inhibitions in taking a critical look at her. The Hindu should be thanked for publishing the leaks. We are having a new experience of seeing Sonia Gandhi in a different way.
US diplomats have rightly assessed the situation. Nothing is going to change in the Congress. Everyone knows that Rahul will be the next PM if the Congress wins the elections next time.
This article is just the reconfirmation of the established and well-known fact with respect to Congress. Except the supporters of the Congress everyone will agree with this. We need to look the other aspect of the article. We need to look into how the USA and its government functions. We need to appreciate the fact that the US Embassy in India does so much of analysis with regard to Indian political system in general and Congress in particular. This type of work keeps them(USA and its govt.) close to the reality and on top of everything. I doubt Indian embassy elsewhere will do such things.
Rightly said, good assessment by the US embassy. Does'nt matter through what media it is coming out but very good assessment about our political system. We should accept our weaknesses and not think of the mouth where from it is coming out.
Thanks to The Hindu for the IndiaLeaks. Exposure of this kind is very much necessary for reducing the gap between the ideal and the reality. While a group of elite, pro-west, educated men actively take the country to hitherto unknown arena with total disregard for environment and the people, it is high time we expose them of their real intentions. However, this would be effective only if this material reach every citizen who can at least appreciate the long-term trouble in having such rulers.
The whole world agrees with this. I wish the opposition parties make use of such behaviour of the Congress leaders and make a mark for themselves
Gandhi tag is a brand value. With so many divisions in the party, literally they cannot find a single name to get them into ruling. So they always fall back on the brand image and give the reins for management. Question is how good has been this family's running the country so far? Abysmal. Lacked foresight, forthrightness, ability to make people to think, act and come up in the order with equal opportunities and more than all could never imagine that dividing people on caste and religion actually works backward than forward. If this family had decided in 1947 that all within the boundaries of the country shall be treated equal as 'Indians' and spent money on education in a massive way, India would have been a different country today.
Nothing new in the cables sent by the US ambassador. Every Indian knows that to the Congress, Madam Gandhi is Goddess Durga to be prayed , praised and worshipped every day. Their jobs are at stake if they don't sing praises in the loudest volume possible. They are all eunuchs including the prime minister. Nobody can save India from this party.
The sycopancy of the Congress leadership and cadre is nothing new. We don't need wikileaks to highlight this. From D K Barua's 'Indira is India and India is Indira' speech to the latest exhibition of boot-licking shown by Suresh Kalmadi during the closing ceremony of CommonWealth Games praising the sagacity, wisdom (sic) and leadership of Sonia Gandhi.The rank and cadre of Congress lost its backbone immediately after independence.
India will be paying for the crimes of this current UPA regime for decades. In the past 5-6 years, this government has fared very very badly on the economic front, been very double-minded and unsure on foreign policy and totally non-commital on national security. This country needs a firm leadership at this time, which this government has not provided at all. The woman who was just voted the 9th most powerful person in the world is quiet about all the shenanigans her party is committing, instead, creating scapegoats in every scam and convincing the citizens to forget and move on.
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