Right Word | Congress needs a Purushottam Das Tandon, and not Nehru

Bereft of ideology and effective leadership, the present state of affairs in the Congress can be explained best in the words of none other than Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, whose political legacy has been turned into largesse by three generations of his family.

“An organisation without an ideology should not be called a political party ordinarily, it should be more aptly called a drinking den.” (Speech at Patna; 19 June 1951)

Commenting on the process of selection of Congress candidates for the first general election: ‘I have felt recently as if I was in a den of animals.’ (Nehru to Morarji Desai; 22 October 1951)

‘The public appeal of the Congress is getting less and less. It may, and probably will, win elections. But in the process. It may lose its soul.’ (Nehru to Purushottam Das Tandon; 9 August 1951).

Liberating Congress: Lessons from the past

There is a general consensus in the country’s political discourse that Congress cannot revive without the ouster of Sonia-Rahul-Priyanka from the party’s leadership. The party leadership needs to be handed over to some genuine leaders instead of the members of the Nehru family. The common perception, however, is that Congress party’s organisational structure has been rigged so badly over the last seven and a half decades that it is almost impossible to democratise and revive the Congress.

However, the Congress rank and file can learn a significant lesson from the party’s history and dare to challenge the current leadership in a bid to save whatever has been left of this party.

It has happened earlier also when Nehru, who was enjoying a larger-than-life persona, was defeated squarely in an intense struggle for the party’s leadership.  It can happen again also if the genuine leaders of Congress join hands to save their party.

Tandon vs Nehru

In 1950, the Congress was to elect its new party president. Nehru was very keen to block the bid of Purushottam Das Tandon, a veteran freedom fighter. Tandon was known for his clear stand on issues related to Hindus not succumbing to the pressure created by Nehru on his fellow leaders to follow his policy of Muslim appeasement.

Nehru decided to write to Tandon directly to dissuade him from contesting the election for the post of Congress president. Interestingly, this letter, dated 8 August, 1950, seems quite relevant in 2022 also (regarding state of affairs in Congress) as Nehru wrote:

“The Congress is in a bad way and, unless some steps to rejuvenate it are taken, is likely to fade away. As it is, it seems to have lost such inner strength that it possessed and we are concerned chiefly with faction fights and manoeuvring for position and place. It is sad to see this great organisation function in this petty way… It has been our misfortune during the past two or three years or so to have drifted apart to some extent… Probably you think that much that I say or do is wrong. For my part, I have often read your speeches with surprise and distress and have felt that you were encouraging the very forces in India, which, I think, are harmful… I think the major issue in this country today, if it is to progress and to remain united, is to satisfactorily solve our own minority problems. Instead of that we become more intolerant towards our minorities and give as our excuse that Pakistan behaves badly…Unfortunately, you have become, to large numbers of people in India, some kind of a symbol of this communal and revivalist outlook.”

Nehru took the inner struggle of the party to the streets as he went public on this issue. He threatened to resign from the government if Tandon got elected as Congress president. He categorically said that he would not be a part of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) under Tandon’s leadership. To counter Tandon, Nehru asked JB Kripalani to contest the polls.

But Tandon was also not faint-hearted. He was backed by several party stalwarts such as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Govind Ballabh Pant. The majority of leaders in the party were concerned about the way their party was losing popularity among the masses because of the poor functioning of the Nehru government. They also wanted to take the party out of his clutches. The resentment was widespread.

K Hanumanthaiya, then Chief Minister of Mysore, wrote to Tandon on 22 August 1950 summing up the feelings of most of the Congress leaders, “So far as Mysore votes are concerned, almost to a man, they will stand by you and the policies you have publicly propounded. I had also (a) discussion with Sardar Patel. I expect you and Sardar to work unitedly in all matters affecting the destinies of our country and lead us all out of the chaos and confusion that Pandit Nehru’s leadership has landed us in.”

Tandon defeated Kripalani quite convincingly and became the party president despite Nehru’s all-out effort to block him. It was not only a remarkable victory but it also shows that Nehru was quite unpopular within his own party. There was widespread dissent against him within his own party. But he crushed this dissent over the next few months.

Nehru refused to accept this defeat and came up regularly with new ways and means to target Tandon and all those who backed him. His vendetta was quite visible. He targeted Sardar Patel by attacking the functioning of the states’ ministry (which dealt with issues related to state governments at that time). In fact, he had drafted a letter to inform Sardar Patel that he was being divested of this ministry.

S Gopal writes in Jawaharlal Nehru: A Biography (Vol. II. Pp95-96), “The letter was not sent, probably, because Nehru knew that Patel was now a dying man but he let it be known through Rajagopalachari that he was dissatisfied with the conduct of the states’ ministry, particularly in Hyderabad. He also wrote to Patel on the same lines…”

Nehru went after Tandon not bothering about the impact it would have on his party with the prime minister targeting his own party president.

S Gopal describes, “He (Nehru) agreed to serve on the working committee but made known his disapproval of the selection of many other members by Tandon, and claimed the right to raise basic issues at the first meeting of the new committee. He could only continue as a member if he felt that the situation in the Congress would be grasped in the way he wanted and a new turn given to the organisation.”

For the next 13 months, Nehru relentlessly tried to corner Tandon. In August 1951, Nehru triggered a major crisis by resigning from the CWC. This was followed by a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party that led to the Nehru camp compelling all the CWC members to resign. This made Tandon’s position untenable. The first general elections were a few months away. Unlike Nehru who was not bothered about the damage being caused to the Congress Party due to his tantrums, Tandon, as a true Congressman, was concerned about the impact of all these developments on Congress’ electoral fortunes in forthcoming polls. Thus, to salvage the party’s image, Tandon resigned in September 1951. This is what Nehru had always wanted. Now, Nehru took over as Congress president. And since then the party has been run as a family fiefdom.

It is clear that if Congress wants to revive its fortune, it needs a president like Tandon, and not someone like Nehru!

The writer, an author and columnist, has written several books. Views expressed are personal

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