The Hypocrisy Of Congress And The Left In Using Mahatma Gandhi For Political Propaganda

Congress Party leaders are again raising the charge that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) killed Mahatma Gandhi, hoping to score political points through false allegations disproved in the courts decades ago.

This happens routinely at important election times, now relative to the upcoming Uttar Pradesh polls. The issue has nothing to do with the Mahatma and his legacy. It is only about using his image as a ploy to gain sympathy and provoke a misinformed sense of outrage.

The greater question arises as to what the Congress has done to preserve Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy or to follow his practices.

Nehruvian Socialism Replaces The Gandhian Congress

After the praise for Gandhi and lament about his assassination, Jawaharlal Nehru did not continue Gandhi’s policies but, made easier by Gandhi’s demise, consistently abandoned them. Nehru did not promote Gandhi’s vision in his own educational, social and economic agenda.

On the contrary, a new group of Nehruvian socialist Congress leaders was trained to replace the old Gandhian Congress that was systematically eliminated. Agnostic Nehru’s guru for his national policies was not Mahatma Gandhi, but the radical Left from Europe and China. This is not surprising as Nehru was a Fabian socialist and never claimed to be a Gandhian, much less a Hindu with the Bhagavad Gita as his favourite book, as Gandhi identified himself to be.

The Gandhian Congress of satyagraha, brahmacharya, ahimsa, ‘Ram Rajya’, prayer gatherings, and a spiritual aura— which would probably be classified as right wing by political standards today— was replaced in a radical turn to the Left by the Nehruvian Congress. The Nehruvian Congress government catered to pro-Chinese and Soviet influences, disastrous Soviet-modeled economic plans that alienated the business class and Marxist dictated, anti-Hindu educational policies. The Mahatma was called the ‘Father of the Nation’, but Nehru had the reins of power and made it follow his different inclinations, which were rarely Indian. The Mahatma became reduced to a convenient background image to bolster Nehru’s lack of spiritual and cultural credibility.

False Leftist Usage Of Gandhi To Hide Their Violent Actions

Strangely, not only the Nehruvian Left but even the communists in India— whom Gandhi firmly opposed for their violence, atheism and materialism— joined in the chorus that their political rival right-wing RSS/BJP murdered the Mahatma, who was some sort of hero of the Left. The Left found propaganda value in the allegations about the Mahatma’s death but ignored the Mahatma’s critique of their own policies, which was staunchly against class and caste warfare.

If the radical Left in India honours Mahatma Gandhi, why don’t they place his teachings above those of Karl Marx and renounce their own violent and atheistic tendencies? They can at least remove Joseph Stalin from their list of respected leaders. Instead, the Communist Party of India (CPI) directed killings have continued for decades, mainly targeting RSS workers— who are seldom militant as they are accused of being. Rather than ahimsa, India’s radical Left prefers Mao’s view that “power stems from the barrel of a gun”.

JNU Radicals, Not New Gandhians But Old Marxist Revolutionaries

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) arose not to carry on a Gandhian legacy but as the propaganda arm for Nehruvian socialism. It has remained a voice for the radical Left, often with support from the Congress, emphasising not ahimsa but the same old social division and caste warfare, with an emotional sympathy for marauding Naxalites and violent separatist movements.

JNU student radicals do not post pictures of Mahatma Gandhi but those of Che Guevara. Their mindset nostalgically looks back to the failed leftist revolutions of the twentieth century, not in developing India’s national or cultural ethos for the benefit of the country as a whole. They are still hoping to divide India further.

Congress Neglect Of Mahatma Gandhi And Promotion Of The Nehru Dynasty

If Nehru dynasty leaders truly wish to carry on Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy they need to do something more than to wear white kurtas as if they were merely humble servants of the people. Obviously, the Nehru family has never followed an austere Gandhian lifestyle but that of wealthy aristocrats everywhere, starting with Nehru himself. Similarly, socialist and communist leaders in India are among the richest people in the country, bemoaning the state of the poor from the pulpits of affluence. It is the RSS that follows a Gandhian lifestyle and has a connection to the villages.

The Congress has named every possible institution in the country after members of the Nehru Dynasty, not after the Mahatma whose name is mainly limited to roads. For them, the Gandhi name is, first, the Nehru dynasty since Indira Gandhi assumed the name from her husband. Indira herself was dictatorial in her actions and ruthless with her opposition— hardly a political Gandhian.

Meanwhile, the last Congress government at the centre had more scandals and corruption than any previous government in India, robbing the public of billions of rupees. Such money could have been better spent on projects to uplift the poor and the backward classes, with which the Congress has always feigned sympathy at election times yet has done little for them otherwise.

This hypocrisy of appealing to the emotions around Gandhi’s assassination is only “political posturing.” There is no genuine regard for the Mahatma or his teachings, which was marginalised by the Congress itself many years ago. It is not about Mahatma Gandhi, but about raising the failing prestige of the Nehru dynasty. It shows an intellectual bankruptcy that has no real forward vision for the progress of the nation or its spiritual revival.

On a broader level, the real reason why the Congress continues to highlight and propagandise its past icons, from Mahatma Gandhi to Nehru and Indira, is because the party has no effective leaders today who can run on their own merit.