New Delhi: Senior Leaders Mani Shankar Aiyar On Tuesday, he launched a fresh attack on the Congress leadership, citing the party’s history, warning that the party had always thrived on internal dissent but suffered whenever attempts were made to suppress it.In a video posted on his YouTube channel titled “No room for dissent in Congress today?” the leader said, tracing ideological clashes, leadership rivalries and rebellions since the party’s founding in 1885 to prove that the decisive strength in Congress is disagreement, not conformity. “There was only one outright ban on dissent of any kind.
That was in indira gandhiEmergency,” Aiyar said.
Also read: From ‘chaiwala’ to ‘Rahulian’ – Mani Shankar Aiyar returns, Congress takes cover againAccording to him, the consequences of suppressing dissent during that period were disastrous. “Not only did the Congress lose,” he said, “Indira Gandhi lost her Rae Bareli seat, Sanjay Gandhi also lost his Amethi seat. This is what happens if you suppress dissent in Congress. Congress Party“.Aiyar argued that divisions within Congress existed almost from its inception and were never considered an anomaly. He cited the election of Badruddin Tyabji as Congress president in 1888 and the strong opposition he faced from sections of the Muslim elite as one of the earliest recorded incidents of dissent within the party.He goes on to narrate the ideological clashes between moderates and extremists in the early 20th century, particularly the schism between Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai and Bipin Chandra Pal, and the schism between leaders like Gopal Krishna Gokhale and MG Ranade, which culminated in the 1907 Surat Partition.Also read: ‘From arsh to farsh’ – Mani Shankar Aiyar’s ‘Rahulian’ Outbursts and ‘Uncle’ Syndrome“The real strength of the Congress party is that the Congress has always been accommodating of different opinions,” Aiyar said.He noted that despite sharp disagreements, figures like Tilak eventually became Congress president, while Mahatma Gandhi publicly recognized Gokhale as his political mentor, underscoring the party’s ability to absorb contradictions rather than eliminate them.Father, Son and “Holy Spirit”Recalling the history of 1929, when Subhas Chandra Bose sarcastically said that the Congress was run by the “Father, Son and Holy Spirit”, Aiyar said: “No one expelled Subhas Chandra Bose for his remarks.” He describes how Bose later quit the Congress after fundamental differences with Mahatma Gandhi on the issue of non-violence, forming the Forward Bloc but was never ousted. “He walked out of Congress. He was not expelled,” Aiyar stressed.Aiyar also recalled the bitter disagreements between Jawaharlal Nehru and his father Motilal Nehru, noting that “it was impossible to have dinner at Anand Bhawan as father and son often quarreled”.“This is how dissidents in the Congress party are treated,” Aiyar said.Aiyar believes that Indira Gandhi marked a decisive break with this tradition. He said that while differences with the Congress “syndicate” were initially resolved, her decision to split the party and subsequently impose a state of emergency represented a fatal intolerance of dissent.“She is dividing the party only because of dissidents,” Aiyar said, adding that a state of emergency was “the only way she can continue to be prime minister.”He argued that the verdict came quickly. “The Congress party not only lost,” he repeated, “Indira Gandhi lost her Raibarei seat, Sanjay Gandhi also lost his Amethi seat.”He quoted two words spoken by Rajiv Gandhi in the Lok Sabha on May 5, 1989:Rajiv Gandhi once said, “Only a secular India can survive.” “If India is not secular, then perhaps it is not worth living.”Turning these words into a challenge, Aiyar said: “I said to the Congress high command that they are not letting me into the working committee which now has 60 members. Do you have the courage to repeat the words of Rajiv Gandhi’s son?”“So if the current establishment cannot tolerate dissent, then I’m afraid this is the doom of the Congress party,” Aiyar warned the current leadership.“Congress exists because of dissenters. Congress grows because there are many opinions,” he added.His final message was stark: “If we don’t have the courage to answer our dissenters with polite but firm language, then we don’t deserve to govern.”The video comes amid controversy over his recent remarks on party leadership and praise for the Kerala chief minister. The Congress party has officially distanced itself from Aiyar, saying he has no connection with the party.Hera said in a post on
