Grand Old Party Changes Spots, Chants Ganesh Mantra
COIMBATORE/DELHI: Faced with an existential crisis, the Congress party is literally planning to go to the hoary past to revive itself and reclaim some of the glory. If its central leadership is busy in agitations inside Parliament and outside, the Tamil Nadu leadership is reclaiming its roots and links to popular festivals to once again become an umbrella party and not a last resort of the liberal elite.
Come September, the Tamil Nadu unit of the Congress is all set to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi as a national festival, popularised once upon a time by legendary Congressman of yore, Bal Gangadhar Tilak. For Tilak, who was looking to create an Indian cultural identity that could connect the Congress to the people and take it away from the restrictive clutches of the well-heeled anglophiles, the Ganesh festival was the answer.
A century-and-a-half later, the Congress seems to be falling back on the same idea to woo its way back into the hearts and minds of the majority community. That is if the party’s TNCC spokesperson Americai Narayanan, is to be believed.
“Congress party members will celebrate Vinayakar Chathurthi as a national festival this September 17 by unfurling the National Flag. This is to teach a lesson to the BJP which is trying to divide the people. We will celebrate by following the footsteps of one of our great leaders, Tilak, who had integrated the country,” said Narayanan, while interacting with the media on Tuesday.
The idea to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi, Tilak style, was proposed to the Congress leadership about a month ago by three of the State units, Tamil Nadu, Maharshtra and Karnataka. Though it is no less of a festival in Telangana, it’s not known whether the Congress unit there too wants to join.
AICC sources said, “No final decision was made - but the State units have been persistent that the party needs to do something to woo back the Hindu votes.”
While unveiling his party’s Ganesh Chaturthi plan, TNCC spokesperson Americai Narayanan could barely hide what the Congress feels it is up against - the Modi phenomenon and the BJP’s attempt to consolidate the Hindu vote behind the lotus banner.
“The PM announced so many projects in the last 16 months. But, he has done nothing for the welfare of the people. The government is trying to grab land from farmers and not concerned about farmers’ suicide,” he said, not quite revealing how the celebration of the popular Ganesh festival by the Congress would come to help the agrarian crisis.
As for the Congress central leadership, which never fails to reiterate its commitment to the secular agenda, celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi as a national festival may be the top priority, especially before the Bihar polls. But “the leadership is giving the State units full freedom to chose their political agenda and which festival or issues they want to take up”, said party’s media in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala, one of the key persons in the AICC now.