CONGRESS PARTY’S CONFERENCE INDIA AWAITS DECISIVE LEAD FROM MRS GANDHI

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31597, 7 February 1968, Page 12

CONGRESS PARTY’S CONFERENCE INDIA AWAITS DECISIVE LEAD FROM MRS GANDHI

(By

HAROLD SIEVE,

writing to the '‘Daily Telegraph,” London, from New Delhi!

(Reprinted from the "Daily Telegraph” by arrangement)

Congress at the Crossroads” is the invariable headline trotted out on the eye of .practically every annual conference of India’s ruling party. Equally invariably, the crossroads turn out to be a roundabout, and the creaky machine goes chugging along the same old road. The seventy-first session just held in Hyderabad proved little different. Perhaps it was illusory to hope otherwise.

This time, though, the advance warnings were shriller than usual, and the political climate radically altered. For Congress was meeting for the first time since last year’s electoral reverses. True, it retained power at the centre. But its majority was sharply reduced and it lost nine of the 17 States. The movement which fought for and won Independence, which held undisputed sway for almost 20 years, had in fact become one (be it the most powerful) party among others. Self-recognition of this mutation would have been a healthy portent in the present tenuous condition of Indian democracy: unfortunately, Hyderabad did not provide it Mutual Back-slapping It was more the occasion for a> flood of fine phrases and mutual back-slapping, just as if the protest vote by so many of the former faithful had never happened. Criticism from the rank and file went largely ignored; only lip-service was paid to demands for reorganisation and injection of new blood. Much time and heat were expended on a wordy resolution which, far from admitting any culpability, laid the blame for the country’s woes squarely on the Opposition and its patchwork coalitions running non-Congress States. It sounded very much like a declaration of war. The more sceptical suspected it of being a cover-up for the party’s own failures.

Undoubtedly the heterogeneous make-up of united fronts in places like West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Bihar has rendered effective government nigh impossible. But Congress blocking tactics at the centre and in the States also contributed. These manoeuvres are beginning to pay off. The Hyderabad decision to allow Congress, for the first time, to enter coalitions, has practically assured a return to “de facto” power in Calcutta without the risk of fresh elections. The shaky regimes in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are more closely menaced. At The Apex A Congress come-back would certainly help restore theparty's confidence. Confidence in itself, however, is no substitute for a sense of purpose towards the vital issue of the day or in preparing for the future. At Hyderabad there was hardly any discussion on fundamentals such as agriculture or education, let alone the emergence

of a new approach to them. The weakness seems to rest not so much in the party’s structure. This could be revamped, notwithstanding the solid entrenchment of the old guard regional “bosses.” In a pyramidal organisation, direction and dynamism depend finally on the person at the apex—in this case, Mrs Indira Gandhi.

Here a paradox arises. For unquestionably Mrs Gandhi has matured politically after two years as Prime Minister. Her self-assurance, her skill, her control have all been reinforced.

She is less dependent on her so-called “Kitchen Cabinet,” while still making good use of her “brains trust” of top civil servants. She successfully influenced the choice of Mr S. Nijalingappa as new Congress president. To All People The States’ Chief Ministers continue to back her. She is fortunate to be a native of the Hindi-speaking North without being tainted with the Hindi nationalism distasteful to the South. The Congress Left considers her Left-of-Centre; the Right wing regards her as an amenable middle-of-the-roader. She has been able to operate deftly between the Finance Minister, Mr Morarji Desai, and the Home Minister, Mr Y. B. Chavan—two formidable contenders for power in the past, potential rivals in the future. Of course, she is also the daughter of her father. Perhaps this is still today her main source of strength in a nation nostalgic for the charismatic presence of a Nehru, although there are some who wonder if it is not a primary negative factor. At 50, Indira Gandhi may well be turning out to be a better politician than her father. Given fair luck and good health, she could hold on to her high office for another 20 years. She would like nothing more than to follow in her father’s footsteps. The snag is she does not have the right size shoes. Years Of Drought Only the starry-eyed would expect Nehru’s successors, his own progeny included, to attain that same stature. General de Gaulle will certainly not be followed by a second “Grand Charles.” But, whereas the General will leave behind a more stable nation than the one he found In 1958, Mrs Gandhi inherited a mess of unsettled problems which two successive years of drought and economic recession have only aggravated.

Confronted by Herculean tasks, it is encouraging that Mrs Gandhi has been able to secure a firm grip on the political reins; but, while resilience lies beneath the charm, not enough toughness can be detected. Political acumen she has proved; between that and the rare quality known as statesmanship lies an unbridgeable gap. And statesmanship is what India is most in need of today.

Her speeches in Hyderabad gave no glimpse of it. Though promises, appeals, denunciations there were in plenty, even the fine print revealed no hint of action. It was almost as though the people were being urged to decisionmaking instead of the Government.

A deep malaise cannot be cured in the agora. The language agitation is a case in point. Threatening as it does Indian unity, drastic treatment must be prescribed. The Bill, now law, which provoked the uproar was innocuous enough in itself. It satisfied the Hindi demand for access to those highlyvalued Civil Service posts without compulsory know-

ledge of English. If anyone had reason to protest—and they are likely to do so more and more vigorously—it was the Southerners who now have to qualify in another tongue, Hindi. Hindi Excesses The worst violence, though, has been by Northern students, stirred up by narrowminded politicians as well as professional trouble-makers. We have not seen the end of it—Hindi excesses produce a Southern backlash and vice versa.

Some observers contend that the intolerance is dictated less by pro-Hindi than by anti-English sentiments—and English not as a language or a vestige of foreign domination but as a symbol of the ruling elite: attacks on other symbols such as the Princes* privy purses and the alleged Biria monopoly are similarly proving popular. They could be the first symptoms of a revolt of the “have-nots” among tiie urban classes from which the Communists and the other Leftwing groups are bound to benefit. In which event the absence of any real attempt by Congress to erase the more glaring social and economic differences is doubly lamentable. While the fervour over language takes on highly emotional and regional colourings, it is largely rooted in fear and insecurity. The aim of the mass of half-baked graduates is to dust off dossiers in a Government office. In an impoverished, stratified society, there lies the regular pay-packet, promotion, pension and prestige. Sharper Little Men The sharper little men from Madras and Kerala, more adept at languages, have always had the edge over the Hindi speakers. The betting is they will hold it despite the burden of learning another language. But the competition for jobs will become fiercer—and more B.A.s will end up punching bus tickets. The basic issue would seem to be education rather than language. The subject is too vast to explore thoroughly here. Essentially it requires, first, the raising of academic standards both for university entrance and degrees; second, a switch from the present over-emphasis on arts to science and technology. A competent educationist. Dr Triguna Sen, another of Mrs Gandhi’s men, now holds the Education portfolio. A transformation of the system should not be beyond his grasp. One fears, however, yet another seminar, another symposium, another commission laboriously giving birth to recommendations destined for the waste basket. As with so many of India's crucial problems, a decision is wanted. Unhappily, 1968 does not look like a year of decision.