Respected Sir,
Through
the Bharat Jodo Yatra – Kanyakumari to Kashmir – you have made meaningful
contacts with the vast multitudes of people of India. Only rare politicians
have had the urge and energy to undertake this pilgrimage.
You
have rightly not allowed your time to be wasted in reciprocating to the name calling
indulged in by the right wing forces inimical to you over the last 8 to 9
years. The name calling only reflects their utter insecurity; it is a phobia
which haunts them particularly since you refuse to be drawn to their level of
political discourse. This further infuriates them.
Hence
their rhetoric ‘Congress Mukt Bharat’!
People
recall that you and your family have personally and publicly forgiven the
assassins of Mr. Rajiv Gandhi; so forgiving these name-callers comes naturally
to you. The nation remembers the services and sacrifices of both Mrs. Indira
Gandhi and Mr. Rajiv Gandhi who achieved martyrdom. These two examples symbolize
highest form of nationalism. Equally true Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination
resulted out of extreme abhorrence of secularism.
The
mentors of Indian National Congress include Jawaharlal Nehru who was in the
forefront of the struggle for freedom from British colonial rule and was jailed
for about 9 years. Your tormentors cannot come to terms with the fact that a
right wing ideologue of majoritarian theocratic state wrote about half a dozen
mercy petitions to the British rulers. Yes, indeed asking for mercy!
People
of India remember how your mother sacrificed her imminent Prime Ministership in
favour of Mr. Manmohan Singh. Presently the political environment in India
needs an extraordinary sacrifice from you for a much higher calling by publicly
announcing:
·
that you would not be the Indian
National Congress candidate for Prime Ministership,
·
that you would spend all your energies
till 2024 General Elections to try getting opposition parties to fight
elections unitedly; that this united opposition will pitch only one candidate
against the ruling party’s official aspirant in all constituencies of the
country,
·
that a broad based committee having
representatives from each of the political parties – howsoever small – would
oversee that this process is set in motion and reaches its mandated conclusion,
and
·
that the Indian National Congress party
will exhibit an attitude which makes it clear that it is not bigger than any of
the constituents of this united opposition.
Through
your padyatra you have shown that in
a democracy people are supreme. In consonance with the constitutional
enunciation of “WE, THE PEOPLE …” sir, you have won the hearts of the people. Now
ensure that their political energies are channelized in a direction which would
ensure negation of one-party rule.
Yours
Sincerely,
P.
S. Sahni & Shobha Aggarwal
