On the day of election result of the 17th Lok Sabha, I, in my capacity as Congress spokesperson of Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee, was engaged from 10 am to 9 pm on different television channels, based in Manipur. I spoke with grace, accepting the people’s verdict and congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party on their electoral win.
It has been five days since the result’s day, but the electoral defeat of Congress President Rahul Gandhi in Amethi and the overall electoral result of United Progressive Alliance have deeply moved me to a point of an emotionally unexpected loss, which, to me, feels like a personal tragedy. I kept a stoic silence, thinking where to go and what to think. So, I kept travelling and walking, besides asking question to myself – where have we gone wrong?
In 2014, I could bear our electoral loss. But, in 2019, I feel I am totally devastated, yet I have not been uprooted because my roots are as deep to my nation as Nelson Mandela to his South Africa. With a heavy heart, I am writing after months of selfless dedication with honest hard work for our organisation. We fought well but we lost in Manipur.
‘Rahul Belongs More to the Congress than to Himself’
I, as the youngest candidate, had applied for a Congress ticket in 2019. However, I didn’t get it and the ticket went to my college senior, with whom I campaigned extensively. After the result, we discussed to further strengthen the morale of our organisation.
Unlike others who quit the party after a ticket being denied, I followed what the party’s decision was. Hence, I proactively and publicly participated in supporting our Congress’ Member of Parliament candidate from Manipur Inner Parliamentary constituency so that the Congress could have Gandhi as the Prime Minister. Yet, we lost by a small margin.
Yesterday, I attended the death anniversary of the architect of modern India, our first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, at Congress Bhavan in Imphal. I reached an hour ahead of the scheduled time, and I kept strolling in a courtyard where Rahul Gandhi had come before the recently concluded national election, to speak to the Congress workers.
It was a sunny day. I did not prefer to be in the shade. I looked at the statue of Nehru and rolled my eyes at the grandmotherly Congress women who were entering the gate to remember Pandit ji. What struck me was a question – what would be our tribute to Nehru? The question lingered on in my mind, which was filled with news on Congress President’s resignation.
I am disheartened because Rahul Gandhi is reportedly contemplating quitting as party president. For me, Rahul Gandhi belongs more to Congress workers than to himself. He is the living symbol of truth, honesty and sincerity. His fight – for truth and love against hate – is what our party will need more to proteect our nation and our Constitution.
My Dream of a Better Nation Was Shattered on 23 May
I had the opportunity to interact with him, on the sidelines of a congregation at Jawahar Bhavan. During that conversation, I discovered the aura of honesty, simplicity and straightforwardness in him. While going through the Congress’ manifesto, I got a strong sense of being a part of our future developed nation.
After it was released, I went through the entire text and wrote those points which, according to me, were strikingly significant and more useful to our different categories of societies, people from different walks of life and for our Northeast India.
Eighty percent of my election speeches were on the manifesto. With a deep sense of serious sincerity, I must admit – as I did admit in some of my speeches, publicly – the lack of seriousness in our system to fully utilise the manifesto and instil the future fruits of it in the minds of our people. Manifesto must not be dumped for a mere television discussion, it must percolate down to the heart and the mind of our people.
The Congress’ manifesto, to me, was a genuine motivation to witness the betterment of our nation. That dream of mine for a better nation was shattered on 23 May 2019. I do hope that under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, we can and we must do it again for our better nation.
The defeat of Rahul Gandhi in Amethi came as a personal loss to my life. It is still a deep shock to me. Many Congress workers, like me, feel the pain so deep and the pain must not be allowed to go further deep with the resignation of Rahul Gandhi. There is an emotional connect with Gandhi, and this non-verbal and non-describable connect of relationship between Gandhi and the Congress workers is beyond any strategic discussion for running a political organisation.
This relationship, which I would like to confer the title of ‘love’ is what binds me to the philosophy of our Congress. We and I, as a Congress worker, exist because of this love. And, this very fundamental philosophy says that Rahul Gandhi must and should stay as our Congress president.
With this philosophy of love and hope, we, together, can and will bring our better India.
(The author is the spokesperson for the Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee and tweets @BupendaMeitei. This is a personal blog and the views expressed are the author's own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)
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