Nernber of the Lok Sabha Is 11 R
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S a ha~ahsummer sun begins to provide Sanjay the springboard for firlure easy to exagycrate its tempo. but Mrs roast the Indian plains. and a action. Political fortunes in India have Gandhi and Sanjay are working in tandem pall of to~por descends upon traditionally turned on the power of patro- to induct hordes of young loyalists who will nage. pivc them'lhe unquestioned powcr the old old ~nernber of the Lok Sabha is The Assembly elections are an oppor- yard consistently failed to sustain. 11 r~h~llilrvber~ng up for a carefully planned tune moment to disperse burgeoning armies Dislodging Governments: Sari-lay's emer- t exelclse The prevd~l~nglethargy of the of loyal lieutenants into top jobs in state gence has been neill-rer SIOIY 1101- halting. wmmer ~111be arenchcd as~denext fort- cabinets and administrations. As architect Ruling par-ty leaders loday make no pretence n~yhtas Sdnjay Gandh~.the most powerful of the election and delegator of authority. of the fact that he was instrumental in ot MPs. rn'~l\es d perfectly tuned spr~nt Sanjay is ensuring his own political power engineering his mother's return to power. to~fdtdsthecockp~t of power base for the future. Having had to lean on his "YOLImust understand." says Delhi MP A\ nc'lr ly 16.000 local pol~tic~ansjostle mother's unquestioned authority, he has Jagdish Tytler. a close associate. "that ~a\enou<l)tor the 2.234 \eats In th~smonth's obviously felt the limits of dependence. Sanjay Gandhi has a place in history." A\sembl? elect~onqIn nlne states. nobody But with his own independent political base "Yes." says Ranjit Singh Judeo, a a111 den) Sa~ljay'\ all-powerful master- in the form of loyal cadres in the state as- former princely rirler or Jhansi, who is 3 tactrcran3\ ~olc HIS convlnction that his semblies, he could trade on her political contesring the coming election from Uttar !,! strateyy will pay off is even stronger. shrewdness and populist appeal to make his I-'r;~clesh."it is Sanjay Gandhi's election. i, As he unhurriedly prepares for the grand own role in national politics virtually un- Tell mc. which other new leader attracts 1;. enmanee. the drums are beating the message assailable. ~LICIICI.OW~S. Who else commands the respect loud and clear. There's nothing to suggest that Mrs 01-lakhs of young people In the count~y?" 1 "What we are trying to do," says )1,./I ..Sariiay Gr~pTigl~lens.' raves a recent lndira Gandhi opposes his ambition. Her licadline in Currerlt. Editorial comment is sharp sense of timing and her runcanny feel for Dharam Veer. president of the Uttar Pradesh rc.cognisinp this fact. "The pattern or distri- the popular pulse again and again led her to Congress(1). "is to give Sanjay Gandhi .. bution of tickets Lhr the nine assemblies." jettison the old guard and veterans who official status of somc kind- either in the i;', . remarks a newspaper, "has clearly demons- either proved to be too independent or party or- in tllc Government." !rratcd Sanjay Gandhi's emergence as thc exhibited the slightest disloyalty. Now she's "Sa~ijay Gandlii." says opposition Li 1110~1po\\'erful and ~~ndisputedItader of the done it again, and even a conservative daily leader Tarakeshwari Sinha, "is nobody by r~11i1iFpart!,,.. like the Times of' lrldia called the genera- himself. It is only his mother's patronage." Small wonder. Control of state govern- tional change "India's cultural revolution". By applying his mother's unflinching ments at sirc~i a crucial juncture would It hasn't yet happened, and it would be support, legistimising his authority and esta- 34 INDIATODAY. MAY 16-31. 1980 blishing a new network of youth power. been actix-el? illvolved in the Youth Congress- close to her-and therefore by proxy to him. Sanjay Gandhi is indeed making political (I). Between 8.5 and 95 per cent of candidates Kamlapati Tripathi. is reported to have history. The process bepn soon after MI-s Iin\ ccn~~rtetlarrc\( vainst "Janata's persecu- remarked: "If you want to protect India. Gandhi assnmed ofice as prin~eminister. {inn (>I. h11.y G;~ndl~iand Sn~i-i;iy"during tlie you have to protect Congress (I). A# to Pre<cntcd ~vitlipower in 1111-eeslate\ almo\l l~i51I\\ (. !,cars. hid if the average age in protect the party. you have to-protect immediately K~I-na~aka.Har!an;t ~IIICI i-'c~~-l~:~r~ii.ntha5 beell brought down from Mrs Gandhi." 0 Himachal Prndesli \iashl);ii I<cipoor ;it- .i' -. I !<;\I-.: to 46.2 years.' an even more That being the mode of self-protection < tempted danglinf c~irrot5 hcfol-e otllc'r ytl-ij\i~l; p::r;~IIcl is heilly enacted in the prevalent in the party today, the organisa- rn chief ministers. A ka ilibhle~l. hut no- ,!:il~' .ii~cnihljc~. tional structure has understandably under- body bit. Even \\.liilc \enlor ~;II-IIc;~lc.~-\ Yew I.eaderchip: With an almost brand- gone radical changes. Says a Tamil Nadu were trying a mol-c c;itrtiou\ ;ipli~-oaclilhy nc\\ leatlci-\hip ttnanating in the new power Congress(1) leader in his 70s: "This Congress -I0 encoul-aging tlekction\, Sanla! ,~\c.1.t ;i\~iic \II.IIC~LI~~.the older Congress guard has no (1) is not the old Congress Party. It revolves n thcsc t~.:iclition;rl I;IL.II~\;II~LI \CI~CCI ct~llt1.01 clioicL~n~licr than rallying a~-oulidSanjay around Mrs Gandhi and because the He capira11~c.Jon llic Nal-i~~npi~i-outrage :I, i\cil 44;iii\ take R4rs Galidhi's implicit- people won't recognise any parb but hers. by demandins instant I.eilgnatlan ol the a\ o\\:!l <)I S;il~la\.'\cause as reason to stick we are all hers." Congress(1) today is driven Banarasi Das Governruent. "Tllerc n;is i.i\n- II plete hre?kdo\~.nof Ian ;inti or~1c.r in rl?c state." he burst out. ."Tlic. Centr-tr cannor sleep over it." Proliferating Youth Congrs\s calnp\ took up the cry in the qtrcetx. i\mid the raucous dcmands fol- dismissins lht. hIP Government. Sanjay's design cry.;talliscd. His viewpoint prevailed in the politlwri expediency thc situation ~.equire~i:uith elec- tions due in the Rajya Sahha in March. thc Opposition was due to has rhe 111;1jorityof seats and set up hurdle.; for thc r~ilin~j>;i~-ty. A rapid decision \\.;is i~liperativc. S:l~iia~ provided the i117pc'tu, 01' the I~IOII~CI~~.R! direction from the Go\c~-nment.tliz P[-c\~dent in February 01-dercd nine btatc az~crnhlici dissolved and fi-esh election\. AnJ almost immediately the Con_rres<II)machiner!. werlt into top gear to prepare I'or tliis linal leap to the kind of control the party hasn't Iiad since the early '70s. Looking back on the p:r\r. when the apparent1 rnilnnlilhic p;irth clvmhled ~indcl- I.;~clional pre\iui-e.; ancl irreconciliahlc dill;.rcnc.es hct\\c.cn the part\'\ power brokers. Silnjn!. apllarcntl! dzcidctl tlie same ~nistakesiiould nor he I-cpcntctl. No one ~ro~~ldag;~in clc.<z~-t IIIC G;rn~lhih. Loyalties: Loy;~lt\ conwquenll) bc- came the keyword of 111s ca~l~paigr~.Speak- ing in .4jmer on April 71 Sarija! said that those who had remained loyal lo the patry during the Janata Party regime ~vou!d be given priority in thc distribution ol' tickets. A week earlier. on April 15 he had declared in Patna that he was opposecl to iioniinating those who had not hc-en in the party l'or at , least three years. The growing ranks of Sania!, follower-s responded faithfully. Whole new cadres of loyalists emerged to share in the nem power stakes. Said chubhy Yolirh Congress (I') General Secretary Vasutleva Panicker: "This is a youth election." Vijay Sabbarwal. treasurer of the UP Youth Congress(1) rationalised further: "We want lo give a youthful look to the Govcrliment : therefore the averase age of our c;~ndiilatcsis ~~nclcr 40 as compared 10 crier 51) in thc la\[ Assembly elections." According to estimate!. from ~LII-I! in- siders, cvery fourtli calldidate ill UP. Maharashtra and Raja5than. every scconcl in Punjab, every lifth in Bihar and cxry si~th in Gujarat entering the electoral fray has Srrrrjqv Gandlzi :.stc,ppl,in,c out INDIA TODAY. MAY 16-31 1480 35 rise to politics in 1975-76, he suffered a serious setback in 1977. By 1979 Sanjay was no longer politically irrelevant, with ruling kingmakers li&e Raj Narain and Biju Patnaik virtually eating out of his hand. Sanjay emerged as a master strategist. With the triumphant success in the parliamentary poll behind him, he is in a position to root himself in the states. Nor is he applying any of the radical rhetoric that characterised Mrs Gandhi's block- busting election planks. He avoids the ideolo- gical trappings of the left or right, taking a pragmatic if openly opportunistic middle road. He remains reticent about expounding his political philosophy, but his lieutenants are more forthcoming. Says Ramchandra Rath: "Since the 1969 split, the Congress(1) has become a definitive, ~deologically-oriented by the centrifugal force of its leader. Just as daughter. In the elections the following year party. Today there are no groups like 1 Mrs Gandhi eliminated the regional satraps her party suffered a setback and she was socialists, communists and capitalists.