In a significant political statement, Congress MP Karti P Chidambaram on Sunday underscored the collective responsibility of leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, for the party’s defeats, even as he strongly backed the leadership.
However, he said the average Congress cadre has a special relationship with the Nehru-Gandhi family, and backed Rahul Gandhi’s leadership despite consecutive losses. Speaking exclusively with a news agency, he asserted that every political party, barring one or two, is run by families. When asked about Rahul Gandhi’s responsibility for defeats in elections, Chidambaram said, “Everybody is irresponsible. Of course, the leadership is responsible. But the point is the average party cadre has a special connection with the Nehru-Gandhi family. And they want that family to be the centre of the leadership of the party.”
Chidambaram further cited examples of the Samajwadi Party, the National Conference, the Nationalist Congress Party and others whose leadership has always remained family-centric. “If you go to the National Conference, it will be unthinkable for anybody outside the Abdullah family to be a leader. Mufti breaks away from this, and what does he do? I mean, he’s only succeeded by his daughter. Mamata Banerjee breaks away from the Congress and starts a new party. Who’s her successor? Her nephew. Sharad Pawar breaks away from the party and forms a new party. Who is his successor? His daughter or his late nephew? You and your father also tried to break away at one point. My father was not the leader of the party,” she said.
Chidambaram also admitted that his father, P Chidambaram’s decision to leave the Congress was unsuccessful. Chidambaram formed the Tamil Maanila Congress in 2001, which eventually merged with Congress in 2004. “We broke away unsuccessfully. We came back. Not many, everybody can run. Pranab Mukherjee did not run a successful political party. We came back to the Congress. Everybody doesn’t succeed,” he said.
He further said many NDA alliance parties are also run by families, citing examples of Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP and Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (RV). “And look at the other parties, the parties in which the BJP has an alliance; they have an alliance with Chandrababu Naidu’s party. Who do you think is going to succeed him? It’ll be his son in Tamil Nadu. What about Paswan’s party? What about the Shiv Sena, when the BJP had an alliance with them?” he said.
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