With Dhankhar dinner invite, Congress offers glimpse of forgotten art of realpolitik

Congress general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh. (PTI)

Jagdeep Dhankhar's resignation as Vice President and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha resulted in a week of turmoil and left the NDA with more questions than answers. As conspiracy theories flew thick and fast, there was one factor that stood out as an outlier.

The Congress, served an issue to take on the ruling BJP at the Centre on a platter, appeared unusually guarded in its response. A party which designed its entire Lok Sabha polls campaign on how the BJP planned to "change the Constitution" and has kept up its attack on similar lines all through Narendra Modi's tenure as Prime Minister has refused to take on the government over Dhankhar's resignation with the aggression it deserves.

"More than meets the eye" is as far as the Congress went as it restricted itself to expressing concern and, at most, hinting at some back-room happenings between the Centre and the VP that led to his unexpected resignation. So much for capitalising on a golden opportunity.

But one can't fault the Congress entirely for exercising restraint. Under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, currently the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, the Congress has positioned itself as a principled party, but one that lacks the political acumen required to thrive in the face of an adversary as shrewd as the BJP.

However, some gestures by the Congress party over the past two days, however, defy this understanding. During a meeting of the Rajya Sabha's Business Advisory Council on July 23, Jairam Ramesh sought a "farewell function" for Dhankhar.

Notably, Dhankhar's resignation was effective immediately and he did not attend the Rajya Sabha session the next day on Tuesday. This meant he did not get the opportunity to deliver his final speech and the only goodbye he got was a terse one-liner from the Prime Minister, informing that he has had the opportunity to serve the nation in various capacities.

On Friday, reports emerged stating that the Opposition parties have invited former vice president Jagdeep Dhankhar for a farewell dinner days after his shock resignation. While Dhankhar is unlikely to accept the invitation, the proposal to accord a farewell to the former vice president appears to offer a glimpse of the realpolitik that has been missing in the scheme of things within the Opposition, and one that the Congress could take a leaf out of.

The example of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Raj Narain is a case in point. It was on Raj Narain's petition on electoral malpractices in the Allahabad High Court that led to the annulment of Indira Gandhi's victory from the Rae Bareli seat. The Emergency was imposed following the court verdict, but Narain contested against her from the seat in 1977 and won.

Morarji Desai became the Prime Minister, displacing the Indira Gandhi government in power. However, despite the setbacks it received as a result of Narain, it was him whom Indira's son and Congress leader Sanjay Gandhi used to convince Charan Singh to topple the Morarji Desai government and install his own government with Congress' support, reports India Today.

The Charan Singh government, however, lasted just 23 days. The general elections were held and Indira Gandhi returned to power in 1980.

Another example of such realpolitik was when Indira Gandhi used the presidential elections in 1969 to assert the dominance of her Congress (R) over the rival faction Congress (O) led by Morarji Desai and the Syndicate.

Faced with opposition from within following the demise of her father Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964, Indira turned the tables against her rivals by announcing her support to independent presidential candidate VV Giri against Congress (O) candidate Sanjiva Reddy.

It has been widely reported how Indira's call for a conscience vote led to Giri's victory, weakened the influence of the Syndicate to establish her primacy in Parliament as well as her ability to rally support from opposition parties including the Left and DMK.

The BJP, when presented similar situations, reacts very differently from the Congress as has been visible in scoring points such as Shashi Tharoor, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Amarinder Singh and others.

While Dhanhkar may not agree to be a tool at the hands of the Opposition to embarrass the government, the Congress could do well to be more proactive in being seen as making attempts to utilise such opportunities better to its advantage than just sit back and expect power to fall in its lap.