INTERVIEW

'Congress under Rahul is more democratic; Sultanate model thing of the past'

Jairam Ramesh (File) Jairam Ramesh | Reuters

“The Congress party under Rahul Gandhi would be a more democratic and a collective force. The Sultanate-model Congress is a thing of the past,” says Jairam Ramesh. “It would be easier for the Congress and the Left to come under a single platform as the Congress is increasingly becoming a centrist party with left-of-centre moorings. But the Left will have to shed its ideological rigidity,'' he added.

Ramesh was in Thiruvananthapuram to delivery the keynote address in the 25th anniversary celebrations of Panchayat Raj, being organised by KILA under the Left Front government in Kerala.

Ramesh, a key player in the Congress 'war room', which devised strategies for the 2009 and 2014 elections, talked about the Congress' prospects in an exclusive conversation with THE WEEK.

The CPI(M) party congress has finally agreed upon having a “political alliance” with the Congress...

It is good that some sense has prevailed upon the CPI(M). It is the need of the hour that all secular and democratic forces must come together to counter the BJP. At present, Left is the only national force in the country other than Congress and the BJP, regardless of the fact that they are in power only in Kerala. As I had said earlier, India cannot afford the demise of the Left. The support of the Left gives an ideological boost to any political composition.

So, do you mean that the stage is set for a UPA-1-model alliance with the Left?

Not yet. Because the Left in Kerala still considers Congress and the BJP as two sides of the same coin. They still treat us like enemies. The CPI(M) in Kerala is trying to shatter the Congress-led UDF and this would only help the BJP.

The Left in Kerala will have to come clean on this. Otherwise, the comrades are nice people with integrity and honesty. But they have this natural propensity to commit historical blunders as they did by opposing Jyoti Basu becoming the PM and also when they quit UPA-1. I strongly feel the Indian Left needs to chuck their rigid ideological positions if they are to hold hands with the Congress.

But the main criticism against the India Left now is that they are increasingly becoming social democratic parties...

The Left have to be more flexible, ideologically, if they are to become a mainstream party. I would rather if they become like the social democratic parties in Europe. There are many areas where Congress and the Left can work together as they did in UPA-1. The contribution of the Left in UPA-1 in creating people-friendly policies was quite commendable until their foolish decision to quit. Many Left leaders now admit that leaving the UPA was a blunder.

Do you think the Congress under Rahul Gandhi, with a little extra push from the Left and other parties, would be able to take on the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah combo?

Amit Shah is a man with a killer instinct. To counter somebody like that, we need equally combative strategies. I believe the Congress is capable of having cutting-edge sharpness. But all will have to put their heads together to develop effective counter-strategies.

You had once said that the Congress is facing an existential crisis after the 2014 defeat. Does that hold true even now?

The Congress leadership has gone through a lot of introspection and that is important to overcome any crisis. The new Congress party under Rahul Gandhi is a democratic one and it gives a lot of focus on collective leadership. Also, many new leaders have come up and they have brought a fresh wave of ideas. It is a great beginning... The new Congress is a great combination of change with continuity.

Way back in 2012, you had predicted that Modi could be a formidable challenge to the Congress and you were lampooned by many Congressmen at that time.

Many get this wrong idea of invincibility when they are in power. It happened with the Congress and now it is happening with the BJP. Any party with a strong connect with the common man will not have such wrong notions of power.