The list of leaders who left Congress during the party’s long run since independence is very long. Some of them went on to start their own political venture, while some chose to switch to other parties.
The Sachin Pilot episode unfolding in Rajasthan has not only put the century-old Congress Party in a spot of bother but has also reminded the Congress of its legacy of losing considerably powerful regional leaders who didn’t get their share of power or respect in the Congress party.
The “high command” culture or the centralization of power in Delhi has come back to haunt Congress on a number of instances, but the party doesn’t seem to be bothered about it. The list of leaders who left Congress during the party’s long run since independence is very long. Some of them went on to start their own political venture, while some chose to switch to other parties. While many leaders in the early phases of Congress post-independence left the party over ideological differences owing to their principles they didn’t see reflected in the Congress party, a considerable amount of leaders since the early 90s have left the party and it’s purely because they did not get their share of respect or validation in Congress.
Sharad Pawar: The Handy Negotiator
Sharad Pawar was not only one of the mainstream Congress leaders in Maharashtra, but also his political understanding and planning had often brought results for Congress. Congress president Sonia Gandhi staked her claim to the post of Prime Minister after the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government collapsed in 1999. This decision by Sonia did not go well with Sharad Pawar, who thought his contribution to the party was being undermined.
“Manmohan Singh or I was the right claimant to that post (of Prime Minister). I was at home when I came to know from media reports that the Congress president had staked claim to form the government. That was the moment when I decided to quit Congress,” Sharad Pawar told India Today in 2018.
Pawar went on to form the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which presently rules Maharashtra along with Shiv Sena & Congress. Pawar not only showed his decades of experience of politics and negotiations but also made many in the politics reconsider the name “Chanakya” designated to BJP’s Amit Shah, when the 79-year-old seasoned leader from Baramati managed to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra, keeping the single largest party BJP out of power. Many who understand Maharashtra politics think Pawar has the ‘remote control’ to the Maharashtra government, mainly because he is the one who has produced this alliance and can make it collapse whenever he wishes.
Though Pawar allied with Congress soon after he formed the NCP, he has been a very important part of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) since 2004. In critical political circumstances, which required marathon meetings and negotiations, Pawar has always come handy for the UPA government in its both tenures.
One can only wonder what an asset he could have been for the Congress party, had he not left the party over the power games.
Mamata Banerjee: The Firebrand Didi
In 1997, during the shaky political period of Indian politics when IK Gujral swiftly followed Deve Gowda as Prime Minister, another storm was brewing in West Bengal. Mamata Banerjee, who was considered close to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, was feeling sidelined in Congress after Gandhi’s assassination. Mamata, who had emerged in West Bengal as a young firebrand leader, felt caged when she lost her chance to be state president of Congress in 1992. She intended to win in 1997.
But fate had some other plans for Mamata. Among the 416 West Bengal PCC members who made it to the list that year, there were none from Mamata’s camp. Mamata felt that a conspiracy has been executed to suppress her attempts of becoming state president. In the end, Mamata quit Congress.
In her book called ‘Didi: The Untold Mamata Banerjee’, writer Shutapa Paul says, “It is romantic to support the rebel, the underdog, the one who has the audacity to slight her masters while facing the full might of the enemy. The people of Bengal thought that at a time when Mamata needed support from the Congress, the party and its leaders were unnecessarily marginalising her. They realized that she was the heroine of the piece and that they must rally around her. They must cheer, clap and goad her on so that she could vanquish the Left regime.”
Mamata went to form the Trinamool Congress (TMC). While addressing the rally at Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata with over 3 lakh attendees, at the same time when Sonia Gandhi was slated to formally join the Congress at the plenary session, Mamata roared and asked her supporters, “Indira-ji nahin hain, Rajiv-ji nahin hain, to ab Congress mein kya hain (Indira-ji is not there, Rajiv-ji is not there, so what is left of the Congress)?”
Though Mamata also lent her support to the UPA, she is often considered as an ally who would step back if her demands are not met. She showed that during UPA when she withdrew her support to the Manmohan Government. Mamata was also made union minister during the UPA rule. Mamata’s TMC is presently ruling the West Bengal.
Ajit Jogi: The Collector Sahib
A boy from a small village in the Achanakmar forests of central India went on to become a civil servant and a full-time politician later. Fondly called “Collector Sahib” in areas where he was posted, Ajit Jogi was well known as a collector for his easy accessibility. Congress back then enjoyed its supremacy in Madhya Pradesh. Ajit Jogi played his cards accordingly.
He was behind Sonia Gandhi during her initial years at Congress, guiding her through the political chaos in MP. And he was awarded for that. When Chattisgarh was created in 2000, and the Congress held 48 out of 90 seats in the new assembly, Ajit Jogi was made the Chief Minister of the new state.
After almost 3 decades of a political career filled with controversies, Jogi announced he was breaking his affiliation with Indian National Congress in 2016. Many said the decision by Jogi came after he was refused a Rajya Sabha nomination.
Though Ajit Jogi forming his new political Janta Congress Chattisgarh (JCC) had no damning consequences for Congress party, he is still one of those leaders who were once considered as formidable political horses.
Jogi passed away in May 2020.
Jagan Mohan Reddy: The Able Son
YS Rajasekhara Reddy, the then chief minister of Andhra Pradesh and a prominent Congress leader from south India, passed away in 2009 after a helicopter crash. Jagan Mohan Reddy, YSR’s son, reportedly requested Sonia Gandhi for approval for the Odarpu Yatra, which he described as a condolence tour for the people who had committed suicide on hearing of his father’s passing. This reportedly began his drift from the Congress party. Moreover, Sonia opted for Konijeti Rosaiah instead of Jagan as the new chief minister after YSR.
Jagan Mohan, though, continued to remain in Congress, he appealed to the leadership for permission to begin the yatra. The party, however, was uneasy with the prospect of him barnstorming the state and solidifying his grip on the legacy of YSR. Jagan, on the other hand, described it as an attempt to prevent him from keeping his promise.
Jagan went ahead with his yatra, which brought him to open conflict with Congress party.
After numerous instances of friction between the party and Jagan, he finally announced his resignation in an emotional open letter to Sonia Gandhi. In his family’s hometown of Pulivendula, Jagan announced his new party to carry on YSR’s memory.
“I have been thinking about all that has happened in the past 15 months. I don’t think I’ve committed any mistake. Everyone knows what has happened and who is responsible for my decision to resign from the Congress,” Jagan said in Pulivendula as the crowd shouted, ‘Sonia, Sonia’.
He worked as a leader of the opposition from 2014 to 2019 in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly until he emerged victorious in 2019 polls. Jagan Mohan Reddy is presently the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. The YSR Congress won a record 151 seats out of 175 seats, their best poll performance to date.
The recent exit of Jyotiraditya Scindia from the Congress and the ongoing episode of Sachin Pilot again bring back memories of these leaders, who routed for their own potential and left Congress. Though Congress remained momentarily dented by their exits, the current situation of Congress party provides food for thought. Congress is having a leadership crisis and it badly needs leaders who have a mass appeal to voters. However, when we look at the names above, it is evident that some of those leaders who had a mass appeal had already left Congress.
Congress now finds itself in a spot of bother, probably oblivious of the fact that it is losing all the leaders one after another who could have handled the Congress party in a crisis that has unfolded in the last few years. To fight a formidable electoral machine like the BJP, Congress needs regional leaders with people backing them and not those appointed by the old guard sitting in Delhi.
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