Since Rahul Gandhi or Sonia Gandhi have so far failed to become Prime Minister of India, whenever Congress leaders and members of the old ecosystem see a chance, they choose to criticize the Indian people for not choosing them. It does not matter if their arguments are valid, or have any linking with facts, they just invent some contrived trope to claim India is a bad country because it has not ordained the descendants of Nehru as de-facto rulers.
When Rishi Sunak was declared as the next PM of the UK, with the support of the MPs of the Conservative Party in the UK, the same whine surfaced on Indian Twitter, by the same group of people.
Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor tweeted, “Britain has done something ‘very rare’ in the world, in making a member of ‘visible minority’ in the most powerful office. As we Indians celebrate the ascent of Rishi Sunak, let’s honestly ask, can it happen here?”
If this does happen, I think all of us will have to acknowledge that theBrits have done something very rare in the world,to place a member of a visible minority in the most powerful office. As we Indians celebrate the ascent of @RishiSunak, let's honestly ask: can it happen here? https://t.co/UrDg1Nngfv
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) October 24, 2022
TMC MP Mahua Moitra was quoted by Moneycontrol as saying, “Proud of the UK, my second favorite country for placing a British Asian in Number 10. May India be more tolerant and more accepting of all faiths, all backgrounds.”
Congress leader Chidambaram too joined in, praising the UK for embracing a non-majority citizen at high office.
First Kamala Harris, now Rishi Sunak
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) October 24, 2022
The people of the U.S. and the U.K have embraced the non-majority citizens of their countries and elected them to high office in government
I think there is a lesson to learned by India and the parties that practise majoritarianism
It was not limited to just politicians, berating India indirectly for not anointing Sonia or Rahul as PM is one of the favorite ‘Liberal-Secular’ talking points.
Here is why the above arguments are all hollow and meaningless and are just there to indirectly shame Indians for not creating especially favorable circumstances for the Gandhi family to rule the country.
That is not how electoral democracy works
India is a democracy that chooses its Prime Minister. The Prime Minister has to be the leader of the party (or coalition of parties) that has the most seats in the Lok Sabha. That is how Dr. Manmohan Singh, a Sikh from a minority community that has only a 1.72% share of the Indian population, became the Prime Minister. Dr. Manmohan Singh had the support of Congress MPs and a majority of MPs in the UPA coalition led by the Congress Party agreed to make him the PM. That is how he had become the Prime Minister for 2 consecutive terms.
In 2009, Manmohan Singh was the declared PM face of India, and the UPA won a bigger majority. So it was Indians who voted for a Sikh PM. On the other hand, in many states of India, where Hindus do not form a ‘visible majority’, it is almost impossible to have a Hindu majority CM. Electoral democracy manifests the will of the majority population and that is how it is going to be.
Sonia Gandhi was the President of the Congress Party and the de-facto leader of the UPA coalition. Why did the UPA not choose her to become the PM is the UPA’s problem. Sushma Swaraj and other BJP leaders’ vehement opposition to having Sonia as the PM is often cited, but let us be clear and factual here. The UPA led by the Congress party did not decide its PM face based on the sensibilities of BJP leaders. It chose a name that will be acceptable to the members of its own coalition.
Rishi Sunak has been chosen by Tory MPs as their leader for the present after Truss’s resignation, and after Boris Johnson declined. The same Sunak was rejected just a couple of months ago. He now has the support of Tory MPs that currently has a majority in the UK parliament because that is how their democracy works. He has not been appointed PM under some minority quota.
India does not need to learn democracy, minority rights, or representation from anyone.
India has had a Sikh PM, a Sikh President, 3 Muslim presidents, a Parsi Chief Justice, and currently a President from a remote Tribal community. It has had ministers, senior party leaders, judges, and CMs from a varied range of diverse communities and tribes. The constitution of India gives any Indian of the appropriate age the right to contest elections, form a party, gather a coalition, and hold a constitutional post. It has happened, and it will continue to happen. India does not need lessons in diversity or democracy from anyone, especially not the UK.
The UK is a monarchy, an Anglican Christian monarchy
The UK elects a parliament and appoints a PM, but it still bends the knee before a monarch. The monarchy is hereditary and the monarch is the head of the Church of England. When Rishi Sunak assumes office, one of his first jobs will be to visit King Charles and bow down before him.
India is a sovereign democratic republic. Our PM does not bend the knee before any monarch. Even the servile attitude displayed by Manmohan Singh before Sonia had created a negative impression in the mind of Indians and that is one of the major reasons why they rejected the Congress. Indians have refused to be ruled by any one family.
Shashi Tharoor and Chidambaram failed to become the leaders of their own party
It is not even a week since Shashi Tharoor lost the so-called ‘election’ for the post of Congress President to Mallikarjun Kharge by a huge margin. Despite the pretensions by the Congress that the elections were ‘fair’ everyone knows that Kharge won because he had the support of the Gandhi family. Tharoor himself had lamented how he was opposed by his own party members and how they had gone to Rahul Gandhi to make Tharoor drop out of the election.
So, it is a bit rich for Tharoor to comment on things like diversity, minority representation, democracy, etc when his own party is still under the rule of ‘one family’, almost like a sad, twisted version of a bankrupt, vanquished monarchy.
The thing is, just as Sunak has got the support of his party MPs to become PM, Rahul, Sonia, Priyanka Gandhi, Mamata Bannerjee, or anyone for that matter, can gather the support of their leaders, contest elections, and if their MPs are in majority, and they agree to accept them as the leader, can become the PM of India. There is no law that can stop them. We hold elections every 5 years.
