Hyderabad, September 14: There is little doubt that the Congress in Andhra Pradesh faces a Hobson’s choice. Whichever way it chooses to go, it will have to deal with the conflict between organisational coherence and claims to power based on lineage.
Jagan Mohan Reddy’s supporters have come a shade short of open rebellion. Despite the clear warning signals, they have continued to rally behind the son of the departed leader. If it gives in to the claim, Congress will open a Pandora’s Box in other states. It will also enable a strong second generation leadership to crystallise in Hyderabad at a time the state will experience a boom due to the opening up of the gas fields of the Krishna Godavari basin. Should the claim be rejected, it is possible a new leader will find it difficult to impose and maintain order and discipline. Any close observer of the party knows how prone it is to the jostling of rival groups.
There is only one instance of a Congress head of government being chosen by an offspring. In the wake of the assassination of Indira Gandhi on 31st October 2009, just about a quarter century ago, President Giani Zail Singh administered the oath of office to her son, Rajiv Gandhi. The denouement is well recounted in PC Alexander’s memoir, which shows both Zail Singh and Rajiv Gandhi willing and able to shoulder the responsibility of acting swiftly in the face of a gathering storm.
It is notable that the Cabinet had not met nor had the Congress Parliamentary Party. Both gave their approval but the procedure was very different from that of two previous Prime Ministers who had died in office including one, Lal Bahadur Shastri, who expired when overseas. By 1984, there was no question of the Indian equivalent of an interim Pope. The passage of power was swift and unchallenged, and it was within the family.
The Congress did not register any protest and the vote for Rajiv was unanimous. A few weeks later he carried the country with him. The unanimity in the party was only to be expected. For there is little doubt that from the mid-seventies on, Indira Gandhi was clear about who would follow her. She spent time, energy and her considerable political acumen paving the way for her son to succeed her. This period of almost a decade was to be decisive in the future evolution of the Congress.
Precedent
The principle was not new to India as a polity or a society. As Narasimha Rao was to note in his thinly disguised autobiographical novel, The Insider, India’s democracy was vibrant and rich but its underlay consisted of centuries of monarchical rule.
The same principle applied to property in the business world and that of the Indian village. Rao found out to his own cost, how the same party that dumped him after its electoral rout stayed loyal to Sonia for six long years till she eventually led it back to power.
Kin based politics is not unique to the Congress. There is no shortage of parallel cases at the state level. Stalin is poised to succeed his father in Tamil Nadu as and when Muthuvel Karunanidhi’s long innings comes to a close. At the other end of India, Omar is the fourth member of his extended family to be chief minister.
Besides Sheikh Sahib and Dr Farooq there was also GM Shah who was briefly chief minister in 1983.
The Congress itself has had more than one case where a chief minister had a predecessor who was a parent in politics. Ashok Chavan of Maharashtra is the son of late SB Chavan who served in the same post.
Shyama Charan Shukla of Madhya Pradesh was the son of Ravi Shankar Shukla who had been Premier in the 1937- 39 period and again in the post independence period.
Andhra
But Andhra Pradesh is not just any state in the Indian Union. It is today not only the most populous of the southern states but one that has sent as many as 33 of the 206 MPs Congress has in the Lok Sabha.
Its loss was a key reason Congress was unable to prevail at the Centre in three successive general elections in 1996, 1998 and 1999. The road to New Delhi has passed through Hyderabad and until YSR and Sonia Gandhi hit upon a winning formula, it left Congress a bystander in the race for power.
The sense of regional pride is also not far from the surface. Its creation was preceded by a pitched struggle to unify the Telugu speaking people under one jurisdiction. It acted as a trigger for the linguistic re- organisation of much of India.
For forty years it has had a radical left wing challenge that ebbs and flows over time. It was to YSR’s credit that he contained Maoism not just via policing but strong pro- poor public action. Just over five years ago his predecessor was almost killed by a remote controlled mine blast in the Chittoor hills.
Over much of the last three decades it has also had a powerful regional challenger whose old appeal of atma gauravam or Telugu pride can make a comeback unless the High Command of Congress allows for a vibrant and strong regional leader to flourish.
The dilemma is that YS Rajasekhara Reddy combined precisely these qualities but his aftermath has left a vacuum. His son’s claims are buttressed by the economic and political clout of his community, which makes up over a third of the rank and file of the 158 MLAs in the Congress.
It is also clear he is claimant to the mantle of his father. His supporters were quick to point to Rajiv as a precedent, though this may weaken rather than reinforce their appeal to the Congress central leadership.
All this raises questions for Congress that will resonate well beyond Andhra Pradesh. If talent is to be the criterion and the doors are open to men and women of merit, lineage cannot be the decisive criterion.
But is this principle to be applied at the state and not at the national level? True, in a democracy any leader requires the seal of approval of the people. But there is little doubt that those who are preceded in politics by a family member get a handicap in their favour.
Challenge
Andhra Pradesh poses larger questions for Congress. Succession at the top has ceased to be an issue. Raising it is like facing a trick question in a magic show. You can pick any card but it will be the one the magician knows you will take.
But the events in Hyderabad show how tragedy can bring leaders face to face with the most complex of questions.
A strong regional leader was key to the ability of Congress to survive the Naidu period, win back and then consolidate its hold on power.
Yet the legacy of familial power at the provincial level now poses an implicit if not open challenge to the High Command.
After all the command only works when followed by obedience. How it deals with this dilemma will be a test of the mettle of the Congress President and its General Secretary.
—Agencies