To take on Sangh Parivar, Opposition rediscovers the radical Mahatma

Opposition parties mull fielding Mahatma's grandson as their joint presidential candidate

Opposition parties, not just the Congress and socialists but also communists, are rediscovering Mahatma Gandhi.

But their Gandhi is not the sanitised Mahatma - the docile brand ambassador of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Clean India’ Mission.

As the Modi government prepares to celebrate 150th birth anniversary of the father of the nation in 2019, the Opposition plans to resurrect the radical Gandhi.

Their Gandhi is the satyagrahi, a seeker of truth, who fought against the exploitation of Indigo farmers of Champaran and mill workers of Ahmedabad, who spoke inconvenient truths to Hindu upper castes about discrimination of Dalits, who believed in religious harmony and paid with his life for opposing Hindu right wing’s exclusionary nationalism.

Some of the Opposition parties hope to start their campaign of rekindling the memory of the radical Gandhi in the forthcoming presidential polls.

According to two senior non-Congress opposition leaders, one of the names being discussed as the joint Opposition candidate is that of Gopalkrishna Gandhi.

A grandson of the Mahatma, Gopalkrishna Gandhi is an eminent intellectual. In his writings and speeches, the former civil servant has been critical of “the growing intolerance of dissent and the misrepresentation of criticism as anti-national” in the three years of the tenure of the current government at the Centre.

A former Indian Administrative Service officer, the 72-year-old was the governor of West Bengal from 2004 to 2009. He has also served as India’s High Commissioner in Sri Lanka and South Africa.

Gopalkrishna Gandhi is one of the four children of Gandhi’s youngest son Devdas Gandhi. He is the maternal grandson of freedom fighter and last Governor General of India C Rajagopalachari.

Gopalkrishna Gandhi couldn’t be reached for comments on this report. But two senior Opposition leaders confirmed to Business Standard that efforts are being made to convince him to be the joint Opposition candidate.

Opposition parties have little illusion that Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance is close to the majority mark in the electoral college that elects the president of India. But as Communist Party of India (Marxist) chief Sitaram Yechury said last week at an event, the presidential election is a symbolic battle to protect the Constitution of India that is under attack from the Sangh Parivar and the government of the day. Opposition parties are set to hold a meeting in the next two weeks to reach a consensus on the issue.

Beyond the presidential polls, Opposition leaders have felt the need to turn to Gandhi’s life and teachings to counter the polarising discourse of the Sangh Parivar.

Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar has led the way. Since April 2016, Kumar has championed the cause of prohibition, which was close to Gandhi’s heart. In April, the Bihar government celebrated the centenary of Gandhi’s Champaran Satyagraha of 1917. Among others, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi attended the event.

Gandhians and historians were invited to speak about the Mahatma and his teachings to an audience that comprised students and young people below 30-years.

In the Congress, senior leaders like Janardhan Dwivedi have felt the need for the party to take ownership of Gandhi. Last week, senior party leader Digvijaya Singh surprised many when he said at an event to mark the 95th birth anniversary of veteran socialist leader Madhu Limaye that Gandhian secularism was more relevant to Indian conditions than Nehruvian secularism. Singh, known for his combative statements against Sangh Parivar, told the audience that Gandhi’s secularism was primarily responsible for keeping the influence of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in check.

Rahul Gandhi has also taken to talk more about Gandhi’s idea of nationalism and secularism. On May 3, the world press freedom day, he tweeted a quote from Gandhi: “Freedom is never dear at any price. It is the breath of life.”