Tabu Rao, wife of Dinesh Gundurao, has reflected on youngsters in the Congress not getting their due.
Facebook/TabuRao
Amidst the spats between two former chief ministers Siddaramaiah and HD Kumaraswamy on who is a vulture and a parrot and who nurtured whom and also the verbal duel within the seniors in the Congress, a post on social media titled, "What ails the Congress? (Karnataka)", has put in perspective the mood in the party. The post on Facebook assumes significance as it has been written by Karnataka unit Congress president Dinesh Gundurao's wife Tabu Rao, who at the outset, has clarified that she is writing it strictly in her personal capacity. "It reflects my own views as a close observer of the party and nobody else’s,'' she added. Active on social media, this is not the first time Tabu has been forthright on matters. In January this year, she lambasted former Union minister Ananth Kumar Hegde for what she called his "misogynistic and provocative" remarks. Hegde had said that he only "knows Gundurao as a guy who ran behind a Muslim lady." In her current Facebook post, Tabu has reflected on youngsters in the Congress not getting their due. "There is a growing dissonance among young leaders as the old guard is not conceding them any space. While the party can benefit from the experience of seniors, there is an urgent need to bring young and dynamic leaders to the forefront. The young leadership should not be just redundant...they should be allowed an opinion of their own,'' she said. Speaking to TNM, Tabu said: "I have my opinion on politics and everything. This is my point and not of the KPCC president, who was not even aware of my FB post. I will not compromise on my opinion and am not ashamed of expressing the same. I am not a Congress member. What I have expressed is the truth, I am witnessing it," she said. When media contacted Gundurao, he dismissed it saying it was Tabu's personal opinion. "She is not a Congress member, go and take her opinion,'' he maintained. In another reflection in the same post, Tabu touched on the internal bickerings in the party without naming anybody. In recent days, Siddaramaiah's efforts to continue as the Congress legislature party leader, former deputy chief minister G Parameshwara reported lobbying with the party high command for the state Congress president's post and the spat between Siddaramaiah and former Kolar MP KH Muniyappa (who has blamed Siddaramaiah for his defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls) has been out in the public domain. "There is rampant infighting in the party. It is no secret that many a time some Congress leaders themselves work towards the defeat of their colleague's... both electorally and personally. One of the biggest problems of the Congress is sycophants and hangers-on who fill the ears of leaders with what they want to hear rather than what they should hear, especially those in the capital. Thus, many leaders are cut-off from ground realities,'' Tabu wrote. Admitting that her views in the past have annoyed the Congress top brass, Tabu said the young Turks in the party have been ignored for long. Instead of indulging in criticising each other, focus should be on rebuilding the party and looking at the competency of the workers, she said. "I don't think I have embarrassed the party with my views and will continue doing so in future,'' she maintained. Her post also touches on the poor PR by the party, which Siddaramaiah had been highlighting as CM. According to him, one of the reasons for the party's defeat in the 2018 Assembly polls was because the welfare programmes taken up by his government were not highlighted by the party. "PR is perhaps one of our biggest drawbacks. We have failed to tell our lofty stories to the voters, especially how Congress changed India into a super power. Professional PR is the need of the hour,'' she signed off. Naheed Ataulla is a journalist who covered Karnataka politics for over two decades and is former Political Editor of The Times of India.
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