The Rediff Interview/G K Moopanar

'My own feeling is that if she comes forward to take up the responsibility, it will be good for the Congress party'

How do you assess the situation of the Congress now?

What can I say? You see it. If I say something, it is criticising the party which I don't want to do.

Are they in touch with you?

I meet all of them every time I go to Delhi. What is in that? Personally, we have no problems.

Do they ask you to join the Congress again?

May be, they... (laughs) They also understand the situation of the TMC.

Did they offer you anything, like the post of prime minister?

It is not a question of offering anything. It is a question of carrying credibility. Whether I will be able to carry whatever credibility I have now in the TMC to the Congress if I shift, that's the question. They understand that. It is not a question of my joining the Congress party alone, I should be able to transfer the credibility also.

Don't you feel sad about the way the Congress is going?

Yes, I feel very sad.

Some political analysts even say the next general election will be the last for the Congress. Do you feel so?

Let's hope the Congress will try to save itself from this destruction. That's all I can say. Yes, I do feel sad. As an all India party, it should not have happened.

Is it due to lack of inner party democracy that the Congress has reached this stage?

Inner party democracy alone is not the reason. There are so many other reasons too; so many aspects. I do not want to comment much upon the Congress because it is not fair on my part to do that having left the party. It is for them to think, discuss and then decide.

Is it due to lack of a strong leader that this is happening?

That's also a point. We can't say, no. Strong leadership had always been there for the party.

Do you also feel someone from the Nehru family alone can lead the party?

My own feeling is that if she comes forward to take up the responsibility, it will be good for the party.

Sonia Gandhi?

Yes. She is one person who can unite the whole party and make everybody come together. That's how I feel.

That is dynastic rule, isn't it so?

What people want is that. If it is dynasty, why do they prefer it then? Many have been writing, papers have been writing, Opposition has been talking, still they want it. It is something more than dynasty.

Do you think it is good for the country and the Congress?

If somebody can unite the Congress and make it strong, how can I say it is not good and it is wrong?

Your TMC is a new party and you had inner party elections. You were with the Congress all these years. Why didn't you try to have elections within the party?

We tried several times, but something or the other came in; sometimes it was elections, sometimes some other problem, anyway it did not happen. When I was the general secretary, twice I tried. To a certain extent, it came in but we had to stop it because of the elections.

Was it because Indira Gandhi did not want any opposition that the inner-party elections did not take place?

That was all in the beginning but she came out of all that later on. People grouped against her and did so many things in the initial stages. But later on she became the sole leader of the party. She was respected by everybody and there was nobody to oppose her also. But that is not the point.

Even if there was an election, everybody would have supported her only. It was not out of fear that the Congress party would go out of her hands that the elections were not conducted. So many other things came in the way that it did not happen.

G K Moopanar's photograph: Sanjay Ghosh

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