If the Congress party had a mantra, it would probably be: Thou shalt not speak the inconvenient truth. Over the years, the grand old party has mastered the art of silencing, sidelining, or outright ejecting anyone who dares to hold a mirror up to it.
The latest victim? Mani Shankar Aiyar. His crime? Stating a rather unflattering, yet historically accurate, fact about Rajiv Gandhi’s academic record. In any other party, a bit of internal debate might be welcomed – perhaps even encouraged. But in Congress, it is akin to self-sabotage.
The art of shooting the messenger
Aiyar’s revelation that Rajiv Gandhi failed twice in academics, at Cambridge and later at Imperial College, has led to the predictable meltdown within the party ranks. Instead of engaging with the substance of his remarks, Congress leaders rushed to discredit Aiyar, some even calling him a ‘sleeper cell of the BJP.’ Because in Congress’ world, any truth that doesn’t fit the narrative must surely be a conspiracy.
Aiyar joins an ever-growing list of Congress leaders who have been cast out for daring to think independently. Remember Sanjay Jha? The former national spokesperson was shown the door for merely suggesting that the party needed urgent introspection. And Rohan Gupta? He was dropped like a hot potato for calling out the inefficiency in Congress’ digital strategy. Congress has an uncanny ability to turn even its most loyal members into outcasts the moment they deviate from the official script.
The BJP’s gift that keeps on giving
Aiyar’s comments couldn’t have come at a better time for the BJP. The ruling party, always on the lookout for Congress’ self-inflicted wounds, seized the moment. BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya gleefully amplified Aiyar’s statement on social media, posting, ‘Let the veil be stripped’.
Predictably, Congress’ damage control strategy involved rewriting history. Tariq Anwar rushed to say that ‘failing is not a big deal’ because Rajiv Gandhi was a ‘highly successful’ prime minister. Others like Charan Singh Sapra went into full attack mode, accusing Aiyar of hurting the party’s image – because, clearly acknowledging facts is more damaging than running a party in denial.
Rewind to 1985, when Aiyar was the party’s darling
Interestingly, back in 1985, Mani Shankar Aiyar was very much an insider. As a young bureaucrat serving as Joint Secretary to Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, he exuded confidence and charm -something I personally witnessed during our Osmania University BCJ media tour in Delhi.
Aiyar had then spoken passionately about the role of the press as the Fourth Estate, advocating for a cooperative relationship between the government and the media. He stressed that constructive criticism was welcome and even shared an example where the government had acted on press reports regarding flaws in the education system.
Congress’ history of punishing dissent
Fast forward to today, and the same Aiyar who once preached about the value of feedback is being vilified for offering it.
Aiyar’s fall from grace is just another chapter in Congress’s long history of punishing dissent. The irony? His statements about Rajiv Gandhi’s failures are far less damning than the party’s consistent failure to learn from its own mistakes. Maybe Congress should take a lesson from Aiyar’s past wisdom – before it runs out of people left to expel.
(Inputs from Sudha Kumar, BCJ classmate, based on our 1985 media tour interaction with Mani Shankar Aiyar.)