The Unintelligent Faction Dominates the Intellectual Faction in Congress

Before independence, there used to be two factions in the Congress party known as the 'Narm Dal' (Moderates) and the 'Garm Dal' (Extremists). The people of the Garm Dal believed in giving a befitting reply to every atrocity of the British, while the Narm Dal wanted freedom through Satyagraha and peaceful means. The Garm Dal was always overlooked in the party, and the Narm Dal, led by Gandhi, dominated the party.

Now, there is no Narm Dal or Garm Dal in the Congress party. But there are still two factions in the party – one that thinks in the right direction and plays the role of a positive opposition, which can be called the intellectual faction, and the other faction that remains constantly aggressive towards the government without thought or logic, which can be called the unintelligent faction. Needless to say, the intellectual faction is overlooked, and those whose intelligence is questionable dominate within the party.

On Sunday, the performance of both factions of the Congress party was seen simultaneously. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wrote a letter to the current Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in which he gave several important suggestions on how the country can fight the corona pandemic effectively, which Modi should have no hesitation in accepting. On the other hand, the unintelligent faction led by Rahul Gandhi gave such a message to all parties that it could only make everyone laugh. Rahul Gandhi is also troubled by the increasing outbreak of corona, but in his suggestion, as is often the case, logic had no importance. A statement from Rahul Gandhi came out in which he had suggestions on how to control corona. Rahul Gandhi announced that in view of the increasing outbreak of corona, he will not hold any more rallies for the West Bengal elections.

So far, it is understandable why Rahul Gandhi is trying to find an escape route using corona as an excuse, but beyond this, he also preached to other parties that they too should not hold any more rallies in West Bengal. In West Bengal, polling has been completed for a total of 180 out of 294 seats in five phases so far. Polling for the remaining 113 seats is to be held in the next three phases on April 22, 26, and 29. The election for one seat, Jangipur, where polling was to be held in the seventh phase on April 26, has been postponed due to the death of the Revolutionary Socialist Party candidate Pradip Kumar Nandi. According to election rules, in case of the death of a candidate of a recognized party, the election is postponed and a new date is announced, so that the party gets a chance to field another candidate.

Rahul Gandhi's decision to stay away from the election campaign on the pretext of corona can be understood. Until the first four phases of polling were held in West Bengal, the people of the state had been waiting for Rahul Gandhi with bated breath. Finally, on April 14, Rahul Gandhi gave a darshan to the people of West Bengal; Rahul Gandhi's rallies were held in Golpokhar and Matigara, and now he was scheduled to hold two rallies in Malda and Murshidabad where polling is to be held on April 22. While Rahul Gandhi was seen constantly campaigning in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry, he was mysteriously absent from West Bengal. One reason was that the Congress party is contesting the elections in West Bengal in an alliance with the Left parties, and in Kerala, the fight was between the Congress party and the Left parties. Now, it was not possible for him to praise the Left parties in West Bengal and criticize them the next day in Kerala. Until the elections in Kerala were over, Rahul Gandhi stayed away from West Bengal.

After Rahul Gandhi's rally on April 14, there was nothing to suggest that his speech made any difference to the possibility of the Congress party or the Left parties' alliance losing the election. Malda and Murshidabad are among the few remaining strongholds of the Congress party in the state. And now, Rahul Gandhi's absence there is not going to make any difference to the election results. The Congress party's candidate from Malda is the current MLA, Mohammad Mottakin Alam. This was the stronghold of Barkat Da, i.e., A.B.A. Ghani Khan Choudhury, and his family still holds sway there. Similarly, in the Lalgola area of Murshidabad district, Abu Hena of the Congress party has won the election twice in a row and does not need Rahul Gandhi to win or lose. Rahul Gandhi must have thought that staying away from the election campaign under the guise of corona could be his masterstroke, which would trap the BJP and the Trinamool Congress. But the fact is that Rahul Gandhi has full knowledge of what is going to happen in West Bengal, and he now wants to avoid embarrassing himself or his family.

There are only 10 days left for the elections to end in West Bengal. Like other states, there has been an increase in corona cases in the state, but the situation there is still better than in Maharashtra or Delhi. Large rallies, violation of mask or other safety rules are common there, but the situation has not yet gone out of control. In such a situation, Rahul Gandhi's decision not to hold meetings and advising other parties to do the same does not have much justification. As for the intellectual and unintelligent factions within the Congress, there is a severe shortage of people like Manmohan Singh in the party. Those who were there have either been marginalized or silenced. The only regret is that the people of West Bengal will no longer be entertained in the elections being held in these difficult circumstances, because the prince has done the symbolic campaigning he had to do in the state and now he does not want to tarnish his name.