COVID-19, the
pandemic induced by the Chinese virus continues to claim celebrity victims. In the
past few days, two senior Congress leaders Tarun Gogoi, the ex-Assam Chief
Minister and Ahmed Patel, the political secretary to the Congress President succumbed
to the post COVID-19 complications. They were two contrasting leaders who
contributed in different ways to the Congress and perhaps their loss is irreplaceable
to the party in the short run. The Congress had lost Shri Pranab Mukherjee
ex-President few months back and thus the woes do not seem to end. It would be
pertinent to have a look at what their loss would mean to the Congress.
At the outset,
it must be said, no one is indispensable and thus everyone have their own shelf
life. Nature would have its own replacements. What Ahmed Patel was the UPA-I
and II, the same role was executed in different means, but same intended ends
by RK Dhawan during the days of Indira Gandhi. While the Congress would await
its new Ahmed Patel, it would be instructive to look at these leaders who were
perhaps in great measure, Congress’s key assets.
Tarun Gogoi was
perhaps the last mass Congress leader in the North East. He came to power in
Assam in 2001 and rebuilt the state drowned in militancy, terrorism, economic
disruption, illegal immigration among many other issues. He put an end to the
menace of ULFA and at least reduced the potency of many other militant groups. Though
the unease and disruption of peace has not completely stopped, Assam definitely
is a much better and safer place than what it was in the beginning of the
2000s. the Congress under Hiteshwar Saikia and later AGP both had failed to
arrest the decline in Assam nor sort the illegal immigration issue. Gogoi did
not solve the illegal immigration issue but at least he put an end in
substantial measure to violence unleashed by other terrorist groups. Ironically,
while he was planning a tie-up with Badruddin Ajmal for the forthcoming
elections, he was unhesitant to use the fear of Ajmal being CM to draw the
Hindu votes in favour of the Congress and keep in power for fifteen years. His journey
might have been of an U-turn for political survival but it is unlikely that
Congress will find a replacement for him soon in the critical state of Assam
that also is the gateway to dominance in North-East politics.
Ahmed Patel was
in sharp contrast to Tarun Gogoi. Through the UPA years at least 2012, Pranab
Mukherjee used to be the public face of the crisis management. Pranab-da headed
numerous inter-ministerial groups and co-ordinated with the alliance partners
for any crisis management. It was Pranabda who finally resolved the Anna Hazare
fast at Ram Lila Maidan after being messed up P Chidambaram among others. Though
Pranab was a disaster on economy, his political skills remained invaluable for
the Congress. Yet while Pranab was managing publicly the face of the Congress,
the backroom manipulations seemed to be forte of Ahmed Patel.
Ahmed Patel was
a protégé of Sanjay Gandhi in the Youth Congress days and later warmed up to
Rajiv as well who made him a Parliamentary Secretary. Interestingly, Ahmed
Patel in his long career never held any ministerial positions. He last won a
direct election in 1984 riding on the Indira Gandhi assassination sympathy
wave. He entered the Rajya Sabha in 1993 and remained so till his death. In
fact, his 2017 elections was a pyrrhic victory barely managing to cross the
finishing line in a challenge masterminded by Amit Shah himself. The way Ahmed
Patel struggled in that election indicated the loss of power he had suffered in
the post 2014 years. For Ahmed Patel was seemingly one of the most powerful men
in the political circuit just three years before. As Sonia Gandhi’s political
secretary he commanded one and all. Not a single whisper could be uttered
without his knowledge. Anyone who refuse to kowtow would simply be banished and
face retributions. He fiercely protected the Gandhis from scandals and
allegations. It was said, that once in a BJP internal meeting, it was decided
to highlight the scandals of Robert Vadra. As Arun Jaitley was walking in the
corridors of Parliament shortly after that, Patel accosted him and told him not
to pursue those allegations. Such was his network of intelligence that he had
his men and women across parties and perhaps in their most powerful bodies.
Every newspaper editor and editors of op-ed pages were on his roll call and no
one dared to go against the Gandhis. Any deviation would invite a swift call
from Patel and an end to the so called dissent. For all the adjectives that are
thrown at Modi calling him fascist etc. it was Ahmed Patel who exercised a
tight lid on dissent through the power corridors of Delhi in those years of 2004-14.
It was Ahmed Patel who led the witch hunt against the Gujarat Chief Minister
Narendra Modi and his Home Minister Amit Shah on various cases relating to
Gujarat riots and terrorist encounters.
Ahmed Patel
dwarfed every leader in Gujarat Congress yet he was in many ways electorally
irrelevant. His political fixing skills were however legendary. He was the
backroom manipulator who made it possible the Uddhav Thackeray led government in
Maharashtra. He was the one who managed to hold the Congress in post-2014
scenario. He was certainly not one of the favourites of Rahul Gandhi, but Rahul
could not do without him. He was sidelined initially after Rahul took over as
the party president, but had to soon bring him back as treasurer as the party
funds ran short. Ahmed Patel used his network of industrialists to shore up the
funds in the run up to the 2019 elections. He was the one who managed to
diffuse the crisis in Rajasthan. He was often the man who defused crises across
the states and centre through the years of the UPA. His methods might have
certainly not stuck to the polite but the ends nevertheless suited the party
objectives.
As Congress
grapples with the loss of its key strategist, it would be instructive to
understand how important is to groom people with understanding of political
strategy. It might not be easy for the Congress to replace him. Like Anil
Biswas in West Bengal Communists, Ahmed Patel played the role to perfection in
Delhi for the Congress. Given the ripples or perhaps the storm the Congress is
undergoing, it would certainly miss AP.
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