Congress has lost the plot, says Ashwani Kumar at book launch

Former union minister Ashwani Kumar on Friday said the Congress was a great legacy institution which had lost the plot and it must look inwards for its revival.

Kumar, who quit Congress in February 2022, also counselled his parent party to walk the talk on ‘vote chori’, noting that “It loses the moral high ground on the matter when it accepts a favourable EVM verdict and questions the polls where it loses.”

In a conversation, following the launch of his latest book “Guardians of the Republic”, published by Om International publication, Kumar lamented the disappearance of civility as a bane of democracy and called for a restoration of balance.

On a question about the state of the Congress, Kumar said, “The Congress is a great party and there can’t be an effective opposition without it. But it has lost the plot. It must look inwards to revive (itself). The BJP is under no obligation to strengthen the Congress… Rahul Gandhi is an idealist but messaging of the Congress has gone wrong. The leaders of Congress have to decide. The Congress has a national obligation to revive itself.”

Asked about Rahul’s vote theft charges, Kumar said the opposition must walk the talk. “The Opposition is claiming about elections being stolen... I don’t know enough to comment but if the entire opposition is saying something it is entitled to be considered. Having said that, a party that chooses to accept a favourable verdict and forms the government loses moral credibility when it questions the elections where it loses.

“If Congress is truly convinced that elections are rigged it should say we will not fight elections. Your basis of challenge gets diluted when you accept EVM verdicts when favourable and reject these when you lose. Take the moral high ground by walking the talk,” Kumar said after former Supreme Court Judge Madan B Lokur launched the book at India International Centre here in the presence of IIC President Shyam Saran.

Saran said, “I think the success of democracy in India is the guarantee that it will be alive in the rest of the world. Why do I believe that democracy will not only survive in India but in fact endure…? The greatest guarantee is its very diversity… its plurality. It is not possible to put a monochromatic frame over this very-very diverse and colourful nation. Every time anybody has tried to put that monochromatic frame over this country, tried to force a certain kind of homogeneity, it has not been successful and I think it never will,” Saran said.

The audience included former vice president Hamid Ansari and Gursharan Kaur, the wife of late Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to whom Kumar dedicated his book. Former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Mukul Wasnik were also present.

Kumar said Sonia Gandhi never personally attacked anyone in her life and she chose Singh as PM for his civility when she could have chosen anyone.

The gathering at the IIC comprised influencers from varied fields from jurists to politicians, including former CJI KG Balakrishnan.