Opposition should try an Indira act in the presidential election

It was 1969. Incidentally the year of the presidential election of that time too. It was also the era of Congress dominance in those days. Opposition politics was sort of a mere formality. But ironically, the Congress Party, on crucial occasions, used to turn into its own opposition. That is what exactly happened in the 1969 presidential election.

To recall the then happenings, let me, at the very outset, state that in 1969, Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister of India. The Congress Party had put up Neelam Sanjiva Reddy as its official nominee for the office of the President. The Congress had clear majority in both houses of Parliament and it had its government in most of the states as well. So, Sanjiva Reddy’s victory was a foregone conclusion even before the race begun.

But lo and behold, Sanjiva Reddy lost. And, do you know who ensured the official Congress nominee’s defeat? None but Indira Gandhi herself who was also the Congress parliamentary party leader. But why did she do it? There lies an interesting tale which needs to be told now because it has implications for the current presidential poll which is scheduled next month.

The 1969 presidential election was one of the most interesting presidential polls that India had witnessed till then because it turned out be an Indira Gandhi versus Sanjiva Reddy election, despite both of them being senior Congress leaders. But behind the Indira and Reddy tussle was an ideological battle that at that time had divided India between two poles.

Sanjiva Reddy was the nominee of the Congress organisational wing, led by party president S Nijiling Appa and largely controlled by the right-wing Congress state satraps like Atulya Ghosh, CB Gupta et el, while Indira Gandhi represented the left of centre group of emerging young Congressmen who were then called Young Turks. So, the 1969 presidential election turned into a referendum on what course Indian politics would take in times to come.

It was sort of a whither India poser that Indira Gandhi raised by her call for ‘’conscience vote’’ to Congressmen that eventually led to the victory of Congress rebel and Indira-supported V V Giri in 1969. But Indira’s victory against the conservative and right-wing Congressmen set India on course of a liberal, secular, pluralistic and modern politics wherein common man had a say too.

It is that ideological mooring of India that is being once again challenged by the BJP in the ongoing presidential election drama. Again, the right wingers are challenging the very idea of India in this election. And, the challenge is coming from none but the BJP and its ideological mentor RSS which has always been opposed to the liberal, secular and pluralistic idea of India.

The 2017 presidential poll will not just decide who would live in the luxurious Rashtrapati Bhawan for the next five years. But the outcome of this presidential election will also decide whether India will continue to be a liberal, secular, pluralistic and modern country. Or, will it take a new ideological shift based on conservative and right-wing Hindutva, underlining one nation, one language, one culture philosophy of the RSS? To cut the long story short, India, in 2017 presidential election, is to take a call whether it turns into a Hindu rashtra or continues to be modern and liberal nation.

These are, indeed, challenging times for India. We have been pushed back to sort of a 1969 situation. Tragically, we have no Indira Gandhi around. She was the one who could manage a victory from the jaws of sure defeat. But everything is not lost yet.

These are difficult times for liberals across the world. The entire post-Industrial Revolution liberal civilisation is facing a global challenge where leaders like Donald Trump and Narendra Modi are out to roll back principles of modernity on which humanity has marched for last so many centuries. We are once again facing the prospect of narrow, hyper-nationalist, sectarian, racist and sort of tribal tendencies dictating global politics.

India, too, is going through the similar phase. So, Indian Opposition parties, led by the Congress, need to rally round to face the challenge in the 2017 presidential election. It is a battle of ideas that needs to be fought at any cost. Because the idea of India that our founding fathers bequeathed to us cannot be allowed to be hijacked by the flag bearers of Hindutva.

The Opposition, in this historic battle, needs to go back to the year 1969 and take lessons from Indira Gandhi. Indira was in a minority when she threw a challenge to the official Congress presidential nominee in 1969. She did not have the numbers initially to win the presidential poll. But she had the courage of conviction that helped her sail through eventually.

So, it is time for all secular Opposition parties to stand up to defend the idea of India in the 2017 presidential election. It is time to close ranks and go for the kill as Indira Gandhi did in 1969 and won it.