'RJD is making a big mistake'

'The Congress has indeed become overly dependent on the RJD.'
'A few Congress leaders have successfully convinced the national leadership about the benefits of maintaining ties with the RJD.'

Shakeel Ahmad Khan does not believe in mincing words.

An outspoken Congress leader from Bihar, he is a national secretary at the All India Congress Committee and an emerging face of the party in recent years.

Unhappy with the Rashtriya Janata Dal's decision to sideline the Congress in the legislative council elections in the state, Khan -- the Congress MLA from the Kadwa assembly constituency in Bihar's Katihar district -- is critical of both his party and its ally.

The RJD, he says, is making a mistake by ignoring the Congress. And the Congress, he warns, need to set down strong and effective groundwork and improve its effort at the grassroot level so that it does not need to rely on any other party.

In 2020, his decision to take his oath in Sanskrit as a newly elected MLA -- he wanted to pay tribute to India's unity in diversity -- made the headlines. Now, he says, more is needed. Khan, who is in his mid-50s, recently wrote to his party high command to share his views and suggest ways in which the Congress could again become a force to reckon with in Bihar.

Inclusive politics, he tells Rediff.com Senior Contributor M I Khan, is the only way forward for the Congress.

Why did the Rashtriya Janata Dal, your major ally in Bihar, refuse to share even one of the 24 Bihar legislative council seats with the Congress?
Is it not humiliating that RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav refused to meet state Congress leaders to resolve the matter after his son Tejashwi Yadav refused to share a single seat?

I don't know why, despite our ties over two decades, a regional party like the RJD chose to behave in this manner.

The Congress is an alliance partner in the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan in Bihar and the seat-sharing should have been decided on this basis. But it was not.

Why did this happen? Firstly, I believe, it was because the Congress leaders could not understand the situation on the ground and failed to put pressure on its ally for seat-sharing.

Second, our ally did not want to share seats as per the alliance as it no longer treats us like it used to in the past.

That may be the result of our performance in the 2020 Bihar assembly polls when we contested together. We did not expect that result; our performance should have been better. (While the RJD won 75 seats and emerged as the largest party in the state, the Congress won only 19 seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party (74 seats) and the Janata Dal-United (43 seats) -- with their combined strength -- formed the government in the state.)

The Congress has failed to bargain in Bihar; the party leaders here were not successful in gaining more and were satisfied with whatever they got.

Several times, they compromised for the vested interests of a few and that harmed the party.

Look, regional parties in the Hindi belt -- particularly in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh -- are very cunning and their leaders are experts at bargaining. Their support base includes the OBCs (other backward class), EBCs (economically backward classes), Muslims and Dalits.

Laluji is a great communicator who understands politics on the ground well and knows when and how to communicate issues that impact the RJD's support base.

The RJD's vote bank comprises Yadavs and Muslims. Yet, seven of RJD's Muslim candidates were defeated in the 2020 assembly polls. If those candidates had won, the RJD would have formed the government in Bihar.

This fact has been downplayed by the RJD. No one discusses it as it will expose Lalu Yadav's commitment to secularism.

Unlike Lalu, the new RJD leadership led by Tejashwi Yadav is widely seen as indifferent to the Congress.
Tejashwi reportedly blames the Congress's poor performance for the NDA's return to power in the state.
Apparently, this is why he has decided to experiment minus the Congress in the legislative council election. It will reveal the Congress's strength as well ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The RJD is making a big mistake. In trying to project that the Left parties are stronger than the Congress, the RJD is creating a perception that is far from the truth. The Left parties are not stronger than the Congress.

By not sharing seats with Congress, the RJD is not being loyal to the politics of alliance, it is exhibiting the politics of opportunism.

If the RJD is doing this as a trial run of the Congress's strength, the BJP will take advantage of the situation.

The RJD's move to sideline the Congress is a stupid one. Its top leadership either has no understanding of politics or is not ready to accept the reality of the Congress and its role.

In the fight for secularism and secular politics, all roles -- of individuals, of small political parties, of big political parties -- matter.

If the RJD is really serious about secularism and its fight is against BJP, it must walk with everyone. It is not an easy task for secular forces to defeat communal forces.

Last year, the RJD unilaterally decided to contest by-elections for two assembly seats and refused to share with the Congress. This resulted in a war of words between the two parties.
The Congress leader in charge of Bihar, Bhakta Charan Das, reportedly stated it marked the end of the alliance with the RJD.
Now, the RJD has again left the Congress in the lurch. Is this the end of the alliance?

In politics, nothing ends with one or two decisions.

The Congress, however, has to think seriously about strengthening itself by regaining its traditional support base. It has to create a new base among the backward and marginalised sections of society.

Party leaders and workers have to work hard on the ground to connect directly with people and fight to resolve their day-to-day's problems if they want to revive the Congress.

We have to face the harsh truth that party leaders and workers are cut off from the struggle of the common people.

If we will not stand by the people in their times of trouble, why will they support us? The working style of the party leaders, the party's structure, activism and stand on different issues at present do not meet the people's expectation.

Due to Capital-centric politics, party leaders and workers have lost touch with the people on the ground. There is no shortage of leaders in the party but they are not seen fighting for the people on the street.

As the gap of our connection with the people has increased, our support base has declined.

Hum individual aspirants ki party ban chuke hai aur vyaktiwadi vyaktiyon ka samuh ban chuke hai (We have become a party of individual aspirants and groups of people with individual interests).

There is no collective vision despite the big challenge and threat from the BJP and its ideological agenda.

BJP leaders and workers have been working hard on the ground through different works, programmes and activism to spread their ideological agenda. This example proves that one has to work hard even to spreadn jhoot (misinformation).

But Congress leaders and workers are not working hard to counter this. It seems we are waiting for our turn at power without struggling to help the people. Our connectivity with people is a big problem.

Some Congress leaders have expressed their reservation about the party's dependence on the RJD for short-term gain instead of looking at big gains in the long run. What is your opinion?

The Congress has indeed become overly dependent on the RJD. A few individual Congress leaders have benefited from this for years at the& cost of the party and at the cost of a large numbers of leaders and workers.

What worries us is the fact that this small section of leaders has successfully convinced the national leadership about the benefits of maintaining ties with the RJD. But a big section in the party strongly believes that the Congress should expand on its own strength.

We have neither good communicators nor articulators who can present our agenda to the people. In the age of media and social media, this is one area the party needs to concentrate on.

How can the Congress revive itself?

The party has to work hard and identify such leaders, who are well connected with people and are working hard on the ground.

The main thing is that the party has to improve and change its structure. Unless that happens, it will not attract people.

It is high time for the party to decide whether it will represent 100 per cent of the people or indulge in politics for a few.

The Congress has to represent politics for all if it wants to stay true to itself.

Can you explain further?

Unlike regional parties, the Congress has a support base among all -- including upper castes, OBCs, Muslims and Dalits.

The Congress has to correct its structure to revive and regain its base.

Today, each community wants its share in power and politics. If you want to the support of 100 per cent of the people, the party has to divide everything equally for all -- including MLAs, MPs, tickets, party posts and different organisational posts at the state, district and block level.

The Congress has to represent inclusive politics, politics for all. There has to be collective leadership. The Congress should represent activism.

The party should not be dominated by a certain class or a specific group; it should be a party that adjusts and accommodates.

Since the early 1990s, the upper castes have shifted to the BJP due to its Hindutva agenda. The few upper caste people who remained with the Congress tried to take over the leadership of the party.

There is no lack of issues. The Congress has to highlight the failures of the double-engine NDA government led by Nitish Kumar and fight on the streets. We have the opportunity to reach out to people.

The Congress will have to play its real role. Hard work in the streets is the only option.

I have written a letter to the party high command recently about the change needed in the party structure and have other suggestions that will help strengthen the party in Bihar on its own.

Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com