Sanjay Raut feels misperception being created about opposition unwilling to unite under Rahul Gandhi

Despite its sagging fortunes, one cannot say the Congress is finished, opines Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut 

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Pune: Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP and Sena’s chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut on Sunday argued that the perception that the non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) opposition parties were unwilling to unite under the leadership of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, thereby leaving the political field wide open for the BJP was not true. 

The senior Shiv Sena leader made his remarks in his weekly column Rokhthok in Sena’s mouthpiece Saamana. The remarks reinforced the Sena’s growing affinity to the Congress which has been increasing since the Lakhimpur Kheri incident.

Raut at length spoke about his recent back-to-back meetings with Gandhi and with his sister and Congress general secretary Priyanka Vadra in Delhi. He further said that despite West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s criticism of Gandhi and the Congress wishing to create an opposition without the Congress, Gandhi had told him that he would refrain from criticising the West Bengal Chief Minister.  

“There is this greatest misperception being created and doubt being sown regarding Rahul Gandhi’s leadership… A picture is being painted that the opposition is unwilling to unite under his leadership, thus leaving the political field wide open to (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi and the BJP. This is not true,” remarked Raut.  

The Sena leader’s praise of Congress scion Rahul Gandhi comes ahead of the latter’s scheduled visit to Mumbai on December 28. The Sena, Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress share power in Maharashtra in the three-party ‘Maha Vikas Aghadi’ (MVA) ruling coalition.

Raut further said that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been raising questions on the United Progressive Alliance’s (UPA) existence, adding that the West Bengal Chief Minister wished to forge an opposition without the Congress party.

After hobnobbing with the West Bengal Chief Minister while she was on tour of Mumbai, in a subtle rebuke to Mamata Banerjee, the Sena leader remarked “Banerjee is touring the country cobbling up an opposition against the BJP-ruled Centre. At this time, the question arises as to where is the Congress? When I met Rahul Gandhi to ask what he thought of Banerjee’s challenge to the UPA, he told me that despite her persistent jibes at the Congress and himself (Rahul Gandhi), he would not criticise her”.  

It may be recalled that the West Bengal Chief Minister had met Sanjay Raut along with Sena Minister for Environment Aaditya Thackeray during her three-day visit to Mumbai on November 30.  

In a complete U-turn since Mamata Banerjee’s Mumbai visit, the Sena has admonished the Trinamool Congress chief in a Saamana editorial stating that any attempt to create an opposition against the Modi-led BJP without the Congress would only serve to strengthen the hands of the ‘fascist forces’. 

Raut opined that the Congress is facing its biggest existential challenge today. He added that when he raised the issue of Congress old-timers like Captain Amarinder Singh and Ghulam Nabi Azad being upset with the party, Rahul Gandhi told him that despite the Congress party having given them so much in the past, they were taking a different stance when the Congress needs them today. 

The Sena leader further remarked “Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra face a big challenge of keeping the party alive today… while the Congress has faced several existential crises in the past, the current period is the most critical that the party has ever experienced”.

Raut further added that the end of the Congress would signal the end of India’s parliamentary democracy – something that the BJP was eagerly hoping for. The Sena leader further argued that the Congress party was far from finished while stating it had successfully tided over every crisis facing its existence in the past. 

“Following Pandit Nehru’s death, the Congress was defeated in eight states in the 1967 general election. While opponents at the time had written its political obituary, the party rose again. Despite the fact that the Congress party’s fortunes had been declining since the past decade, one cannot say that the Congress’ days are numbered. One must remember that the party’s recent successes in the by-polls in 13 states had compelled Prime Minister Modi to repeal the three farm laws,” said Raut.

The Sena leader further alleged that central agencies, particularly in Maharashtra and West Bengal, worked at the behest of the BJP. 

“There is a fear being created…ministers of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra are being pressured by the investigations by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Income Tax Department (IT) … Priyanka Vadra told me she and her husband had received 69 notices from the IT department before she travelled to Lakhimpur Kheri,” Raut said. 

Ironically enough, before the Lakhimpur Kheri incident in Uttar Pradesh, the Sena leader had been unsparing in his criticism of the Congress and Rahul Gandhi, ruing the party’s failure to lead a coordinated opposition to take on the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Center.   

In a complete volte-face after the Lakhimpur Kheri incident in October, Raut after meeting Rahul Gandhi in Delhi had lavished praise on him while remarking that the Gandhi brother-sister duo were the “only leaders” who could provide an alternative to the BJP at the Centre today.  

Despite being ideologically dissimilar parties, analysts argue that the Sena feels that hitching its star to the Congress’ bandwagon may help it reap indirect dividends for crucial local and regional polls while helping check the growth of the BJP in Maharashtra.