SYCOPHANTS ABOUND IN INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS

Devkanth Barooah was a former AICC (All India Congress Committee) President of Indian National Congress. This forgotten man’s name and face came to my mind or appeared before me when I read an interview given by the new Minister of Home Affairs Sushil Kumar Shinde to the Editorial Director of The New Indian Express, Prabhu Chawla flattering UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi who incidentally holds charge of Congress President. This ‘self-proclaimed worshipper’ of Nehru-Gandhi family without any qualms was reportedly quoted as saying ‘Soniaji is my leader and if she asks me to shoot I will shoot to kill’. The man was brimming with pride and gratitude when he got a chance to pour out his loyalty to the Nehru dynasty to the query posed by Prabhu Chawla.

While D.K.Barooah was serving as Congress President he had reportedly made a controversial statement eulogising Indira Gandhi then Prime Minister his words I quote here ‘Indira is India and India is Indira’. This flattery within not time reached the citizens of India and invited scathing criticism as also sarcasm. True, there must have been innumerable numbers in Congress who were left with delight and happiness on listening to his remarks and also many extending ‘Kudos’ to Barooah for making a bold and courageous statement flattering Indira. Indian National Congress from its very inception was carrying such sycophants over its shoulders - there were countless of them - there are still countless of them even after much water flowed down river Ganga. Barooah’s controversial flattery is still etched in the minds of many Indian citizens though many abhor and deplore it in no uncertain terms. Such sycophants are likened to dogs wagging their tails in front of their masters, even if they are kicked around by their masters.

Former Indian President Gyani Zail Singh too had reportedly made a flattering statement about the then Supremo of the party, Indira Gandhi. He was reportedly quoted as saying ‘ if Indiraji orders me to sweep the floors I will sweep them with a broom’.

Sycophants are a bane of this party who are actually making a mockery of themselves but the sad truth is that down Indira Gandhi, all her successors in the Nehru dynasty (?) Rajiv Gnadhi, Sanjay Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and her two ‘kids’ Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi all derives comfort and pleasure whenever they are being eulogized by the sycophants and such elements are blessed with plum posts both in the government and in the party. Realizing their penchant for flattery by the shameless ones, the latter utilize every opportunity to sing paens to their ‘idols’ keeping ambitions of holding at least the posts of spokesmen and spokeswomen of the party, if not Ministers in the Union Cabinet or State level functionaries like Pradesh Congress Committee  Presidents or Secretaries. At least gubernatorial posts will do.

Most of us have witnessed sycophants competing with each other in according warm receptions to the heir-apparent Rahul Gandhi or Priyanka Vadra, while paying visits either to our State or any other States shouting full-throated slogans praising them or dwell upon them to hold charge of Congress President or Ministers and lead all from the front.

Why this so-called dynasty – Nehru dynasty or Gandhi dynasty? aspire for loyalty from each follower rather than ability and the guts to express their criticism or opinions frankly? If they nurture a false notion that those who display loyalty are reliable and those who speak out openly are unreliable and threats to their authority, they are mistaken. It is the latter who are most dependable. They won’t go to the extent of cheating the party or its Supremo, unlike the sycophants who always dance to the tunes of the leader who at the very sign of sensing a decline of the party turn the tables and leave it seeking greener pastures. What all the sycophants aspire for are power and pelf at the expense of whom they sing paens.

As far as Sushil Kumar Shinde is concerned he ‘worships Soniaji’ or for that matter any member of the dynasty except his ‘crown jewels’ no one from any party has done any good for the welfare of Dalits like him. If that be the case why States like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkand, Orissa and a few other States where Dalits and Adivasis constitute a major chunk are being ruled by parties other than Indian National Congress? Why during each election to the assemblies of such States Congress performs poorly and even relegated to third or fourth positions? If Indian National Congress had done anything worthwhile for the Dalits and Adivasis, would the electorate have gone with other parties and catapult them to power?

Close on the heels of Shinde being promoted as Minister of Home – till then he was the Minister of Energy – North India as a whole got submerged in darkness as a result of power grid failure, trains came to a halt at several places, factories and other sensitive establishments drowned in the darkness and though not lethal, a series of bomb blasts shook entire Pune injuring innocents. Now that he has been kicked upstairs by handing over the sensitive Home portfolio and was elected leader of Lok Sabha all his gratitude and obligations naturally go to none other than Sonia Gandhi. True, if Soniaji orders him to shoot, he will shoot to kill. Beware and take care.