Tharoor slams Indira Gandhi over Emergency, leaves party fuming

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Thiruvananthapuram: Signalling that he is prepared to part ways, four-time Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has irked the party again by blaming former prime minister Indira Gandhi squarely for the 1975 Emergency.

In a syndicated article, a translated version of which was carried as an op-ed piece by Malayalam daily Deepika today, Tharoor termed the Emergency a “dark chapter” in post-independent India.

While entirely blaming Indira Gandhi for the declaration of the Emergency, which saw a drastic curtailment of political and civil rights enshrined in the Constitution, Tharoor referred to the excesses like forced sterilisation and slum clearance allegedly promoted by Sanjay Gandhi.

Blaming the then prime minister solely, Tharoor holds that Indira Gandhi was determined at the time that the declaration of the Emergency was inevitable to resolve the internal and external crises faced by the country.

He concludes his thoughts on a cautionary note, saying the state of Emergency showed how the erosion of freedom often happens — subtly at first, with the chipping away of seemingly minor liberties in the name of virtuous-sounding causes.

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Significantly, most of Tharoor’s observations sound similar to the ‘Emergency narrative’ of the BJP, rather than the Congress’s refrain that the country is now passing through a phase of “undeclared” Emergency.

Taking a sharply different stand from the Congress’s official position, he says: “Today’s India is not the India of 1975…. We are a more self-confident, more developed, and in many ways a stronger democracy….”

It is difficult to believe that Tharoor has penned such a piece without knowing that it would deeply embarrass the party top brass. In their eyes, by attacking a family icon, he has committed the worst sort of heresy in the party’s rule book.

Tharoor, however, appears to be only a wee bit bothered about the consequences, if there are any. Though not many in the Congress these days defend the Emergency, the party has adopted a tactical silence on the matter, while harping on the alleged violations of civil liberties and democratic rights under the Narendra Modi government.

Meanwhile, Tharoor has also left the party leaders in the state fuming by sharing on social media the findings of a survey that claims he is the most preferred choice for the chief minister’s office among the Congress leaders in Kerala.

Though annoyed by the repeated taunts from Tharoor, senior party leaders rejected the survey, casting doubt on the credibility of the agency that conducted the opinion poll.

The party high command has directed the state leaders not to react to Tharoor’s provocations. However, he is being kept away from party programmes in the state, including those in his constituency, Thiruvananthapuram.

The party high command appears to be in a bind over how to tackle Tharoor, who continues to be a Congress Working Committee member. But how long a rope can the party give to Tharoor, despite his crossing the red line by all organisational norms?

In the event of his being thrown out of the party, that would prove advantageous to Tharoor. In such a scenario, he may be roped in by the Narendra Modi government by offering him some handsome position that aligns well with his expertise in international relations.

While such a scenario is still in the speculative realm, what is keenly awaited is whether Tharoor will be featured as a speaker when the Lok Sabha session begins later this month.
Also, it will be interesting to watch whether he is going to be effusive about the success of the government’s post-Operation Sindoor global outreach or will agree to echo the party’s position of India being isolated internationally?