Diplomatic Pranab Dada At RSS event

Pranab Mukherjee,  as Prsesident of India and cabinet Minister, must have addressed the nation several times in the past; however same never evoked the kind of response,his speech at RSS HQ in Nagpur generated on last thursday. Before his address, whole nation was discussing about it as if his address at RSS event was going to be a national event and When he was speaking whole nation was listening to him with rapt attention.

However after listening to Pranab Dada, many would have wondered, was Pranab Dada, simply doing a balancing act like a seasoned & shrewd politician or did he really say, what was expected of him like a true statesman, remaining unperturbed  by any kind of  pressure, being exerted by Congressmen & his own family members?

It was really very mature and sensible of Pranab Da to have accepted invitation  to visit RSS HQ and address RSS swayamsevaks. His acceptance of invitation from RSS simply illustrated once again that he is really several notches above other senior Congress leaders.He showed the guts to accept the reality that RSS is not a   communal organization and hence can't be treated like a political pariah as was done  by Congress leaders starting from Nehru and same continues to be done by present generation of Congress leaders including his Great Grandson Rahul. For them, engaging with RSS in any form is like a sacrilege. It was really heartening to note that Pranab Da at least transcended above Nehru and other  parochial  Congress leaders. However, once he accepted the invitation and subsequent to hue & cry, which was made by other  Congress leaders, including his own daughter,a senior Congress Leader in Delhi Unit, Pranab Da probably got scared. After accepting the invitation, it would have been discourteous to decline the same, and hence ,he decided to act like a seasoned politician. Like a seasoned & shrewd politician, although he went to RSS HQ, engaged himself in all the official activities of RSS as an Hon’ble Guest, however, when it came to address RSS swayamsevaks, which was a kin to national address only, he chose to appease Congressmen, who were showing anger against his visit to RSS HQ. 

In the backdrop of above, Pranab Da made his speech, which was nothing more than an attempt to assuage the ruffled feathers of top leaders of Congress party, which he was associated with for more than five decades. His speech was plain and drab. He made his speech from a prepared text, which was carefully crafted to appease his ex colleagues of Congress party. His speech was like a school teacher giving sermons on "Nehru 's concept of Nationalism". Pranab Da was under so much pressure to please Congressmen that he even forgot the lofty ideals related to Nationalism nurtured by great personalities viz. Dayanand, Vivekanand,  Aurbindo Ghosh etc belonging to  his own native place, Bengal. For all these great people, Hinduism is the essence of Nationalism & idea of Nationalism in India can't be thought of in isolation of hinduism. However, while making his speech, Pranab Da forgot all these great ideals of the above  great personalities. And, what he consciously remembered was the Nehru 's ideals of Nationalism. And hence Nationalism according to him is  anything but not directly or indirectly  associated with hindus or hinduism . At the end, however, he chose to invoke  "Vandematram" , the  slogan raised by Shri Aurbindo Ghosh during pre independence era to identify with India's nationalism.Aurbindo Ghosh,during pre independence era, once said “Vande Mataram was an expression of nationalism. It quickly spread throughout India and was on the lips of millions”.  Unfortunately, however, Aurbindo’s slogan of “Vandematram” was  rejected by Nehru, after independence, just because same sounded like a Hindu idea of Nationalism.

At the end, Pranab Da like a clever politician pleased RSS as well as his ex colleagues of Congress party. Looks like ,if in 2019, if no party gets clear majority, he may emerge as Consensus PM candidate. In a nutshell, Pranab Da 's political innings are far from over. Wait for 2019, may be, political uncertainties may catapult him to centre stage of power.