The story of Yayati from the Adi Parva of Mahabharata remains relevant in contemporary times. Girish Karnad had famously improvised on the legend to create his first play in 1961, albeit with minor changes. Its theme revolves around unbridled ambitions and worldly pleasures – and how Yayati’s son forsakes his youth to realise the unfulfilled desires of his father. Yayati’s tale is almost as compelling as the exile of Lord Ram – so as to keep his father’s word – in the other epic, Ramayana.
In present-day politics, the predicament of the Indian National Congress is reminiscent of the legend of Yayati. With Karnataka being the latest instance – after scoring a thumping win at the hustings – the epithet of the “Grand Old Party” might as well literally apply to the Congress on account of its sheer helplessness in executing generational changes.
Unlike the past when the Congress High Command could enforce its writ, the conciliatory approach followed post Sonia Gandhi’s ascension has seen the party propping up older faces than planning for the longer term. Her term also coincided with the weakening of the institutional mechanisms within Congress, including the disbanding of the Congress Parliamentary Board, and the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meetings becoming sporadic.
That ensured that decision-making was mostly confined to 10 Janpath Road and later, at 12 Tughlak Lane. The status-quoist approach was all fine as long as the Congress held power at the Centre, with sulking faces finding accommodation in the Union Cabinet and those past their prime posted to Raj Bhavans.
Perils Of Safety-First
Playing safe often leads to unforeseen consequences and, in many ways, it was the rebellion of Himanta Biswa Sarma in Assam that set off the exodus from the Congress to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In his recently-released biography Azaad, former Congress veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad narrates how Rahul Gandhi, then vice-president of the Congress, took the call to let Sarma go in 2014, despite the latter having majority support among legislators. The rest is history.
It was followed by Punjab in 2017 where Captain Amarinder Singh, who famously declared it to be his last election, was the face before polls, with Navjot Singh Sidhu waiting in the wings. Captain reneged on his word and the severe infighting that followed eventually led to the Congress losing badly to the Aam Aadmi Party last year.
In 2018 when the Congress romped to victory in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Congress was once again left with a tough choice to pick between veterans and their youthful counterparts. In Rajasthan the High Command backed Ashok Gehlot, despite the victory being attributed more to Sachin Pilot’s preceding five-year term as Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief.
Likewise, Kamal Nath was backed by the High Command in Madhya Pradesh – although it was more straightforward as he was also the incumbent PCC chief. In Chhattisgarh, where a Maoist attack had wiped out the entire Congress top brass in 2013, it was a three-way race among Bhupesh Baghel, TS Singh Deo and Tamradhwaj Sahu to be the first among equals – with Baghel eventually getting the nod as PCC president.
These choices were brokered after conciliatory talks with the stakeholders by Rahul Gandhi whereby, promises extended to those who lost out were supposedly unkept, resulting in a loss of government in Madhya Pradesh and a running feud in Rajasthan. More recently in Himachal Pradesh, however, Congress displayed the gumption to back Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu over the older Pratibha Singh’s claims.
Ominous Signs In Karnataka
The choice for the Congress in Karnataka was between the 75-year-old Siddaramaiah and the 61-year-old PCC chief DK Shivakumar, with the High Command backing the former’s claim after reportedly working out a power-sharing formula.
Curiously, Siddaramaiah had announced on the eve of the polls in 2013 that it was going to be his last, which he conveniently went back on in 2018, when he once again vouched it would be his last. Now in 2023, the erstwhile socialist who has been affiliated with half-a-dozen parties since 1983 has once again announced that he wouldn’t contest an election again.
Back in 2013, when Siddaramaiah was picked as CM over the claims of veteran Mallikarjun Kharge and then KPCC president G Parameshwara (who lost that election), it was at once surprising and a gamble – which worked out well for the party. In 2023, however, with the choice once again in Siddaramaiah’s favour, the Congress seems to be going back to its safety-first playbook.
Now, the argument being forwarded is that Siddaramaiah is more of a mass leader than Shivakumar. But that is also down to the fact that he has served a full term as chief minister apart from twice being deputy-CM in the past.
For all his supposed popularity, Siddaramaiah had a tough time searching for a safe seat this time around, and had to finally ask his son Yathindra to vacate his Varuna seat to contest from there – drawing us back to Yayati’s tale.
Whether the Congress High Command manages to ensure a transition at half-term – as is being speculated – remains moot, but going by the insatiable appetite for power by politicians, and drawing parallels from Rajasthan, it is extremely unlikely.
Anand Kochukudy is a Kerala-based journalist and columnist. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.
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