Wise Or Unwise?

The Congress may see itself as a pro-Hindu party, but thorny issues are likely to draw blood in Maharashtra

Sonia Gandhi, it seems, has managed to hit several birds with one stone. Her method of consultation — talking to as many people as possible and then taking a decision — is largely being seen as a smart move in the context of recent developments in Maharashtra. And that is why November 28, 2019, will be marked as a significant day in the 135-year-old history of the Indian National Congress.

That was the day when the Congress joined a government in Maharashtra headed by its former political foe, the Shiv Sena. Though the Congress president was not present at the magnificent swearing-in at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park, Madhya Pradesh’s Congress chief minister Kamal Nath was right there in the front row, in the company of other party stalwarts such as Ahmad Patel, Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi, as well as DMK supremo MK Stalin and other allies.

The Congress decision to support the Sena was not an easy one. Insiders point out that a range of leaders — from Gandhi, her son Rahul and former prime minister Manmohan Singh to former minister AK Antony and Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel — were “instinctively” against it. But Nath passionately argued for it, recalling how in 1979-80, when the party was out of power, it had adopted a “pragmatic” approach to seek friendship with Sena leader Balasaheb Thackeray who, incidentally, had supported the Emergency. It was also argued that while the Sena, since its inception, was a chauvinistic and boisterous party, it was not a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-affiliated body.