No soap opera this

It's the same old theatre of the absurd. One family as the saviour of the party. One family which must rule

Vijay Sanghvi Delhi

The national elections in India and Pakistan in March 1971 catapulted three personalities to new heights from where they dominated the political arena of their countries for years. In India, Indira Gandhi received a massive mandate in the Lok Sabha polls. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto emerged victorious in what was then known as West Pakistan, while Mujibur Rahman swept to power riding a massive popularity wave in what was then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). 

All three met their ends in a violent manner. Mujibur Rahman was assassinated in August 1975. Military dictator Zia-ul-Haq hanged Bhutto on April 4, 1979 after a farcical trial. Indira Gandhi was shot dead by her own security guards on October 31, 1984.

The March 1971 elections to elect Pakistan's national assembly was the beginning of an internal strife between the east and west wings of the country, as the west wing was not willing to accept Mujibur Rahman as prime minister even though he had the numbers. The political friction culminated in a short armed conflict between India and Pakistan and mass upsurge and armed struggle in East Pakistan. The defeated Pakistani army had to surrender to Indian forces, and Bangladesh was born.

These three personalities have transformed the politics of their nations — this cannot be defined in traditional terms. It was a dynasty for their parties rather than for the nation. They made their political apparatus absolutely dependent on one family's dominance. So much so, all other dominant or talented personalities faded away into oblivion.

Indira Gandhi was not a tall political personality when she became the prime minister in January 1966 in a ballot to decide the leader of the Congress in Parliament. She could win against formidable Morarji Desai because other regional leaders were afraid of the rigid Desai. They chose her so that they could wield power from behind. Ironically, later, she sensed danger from the same regional leaders who were instrumental in her installation. To close confidantes she even confessed once that “if nine men could make her prime minister, they could also unmake her”.

She was driven by political compulsion when she removed the firmly entrenched regional bosses who controlled the party structure. She seized the opportunity provided by the death of President Zakir Hussain in May 1969. She forced the great divide of the Indian National Congress in November 1969 and called for early elections in December 1970, after pretending to drive Indian politics to the Left of the Centre, leaving the bewildered old guards utterly clueless.

Her slogan of “two square meals to everyone as fundamental right” and 'Garibi Hatao' made the masses identify with her. Her success beyond expectations in the March 1971 polls against united opponents led to the belief that she did not really need a party to mobilise the masses. The party moved away from the Congress's mass-based political culture to an individual-centeric, authoritarian apparatus.

Indira Gandhi was again disenchanted with her colleagues who stood by her during the crisis when she was unseated after the Allahabad High Court verdict dismissing her victory in Rae Barelli. Some of them attempted to marginalise her after the electoral debacle. After her defeat in the March 1977 elections, party president DK Barooah — who had earlier coined the infamous slogan 'India is Indira and Indira is India' — did not even bother to invite her for the first meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC). It was a crude attempt to ignore her.