Visit to Sadaiv Atal: Rahul Gandhi’s message to political opponents

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday visited the memorials of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi, and former Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Choudhary Charan Singh, Rajiv Gandhi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee apart from ex-deputy Prime Minister Jagjivan Ram.

While all others are from the Congress family, Vajpayee belongs to the rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Hence, the decision to visit Sadaiv Atal as part of his Bharat Jodo Yatra is significant.

Quite clearly, Rahul Gandhi wanted to show that he has a deep respect for leaders from all shades of opinion, including political and ideological opponents, and that his vision is to work with all to unite the Indians.

The Congress has always been soft on Vajpayee and held him in high esteem as compared to other leaders from the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS). The grand old party has also sought to make a clear distinction between Vajpayee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, insisting that the late leader was respected by one and all, including his detractors.

Congress leaders argue that Vajpayee had a reconciliatory approach towards his opponents and that he was very accommodating and widely acceptable as a statesman and a political luminary.

For his part, Vajpayee too had praised Nehru and Indira Gandhi on several occasions and his relations with former Congress president Sonia Gandhi were cordial. When Vajpayee was the Prime Minister, Sonia Gandhi was the Leader of the Opposition, and the two leaders would often hold discussions on matters of national interest.

But the Congress was not that generous with former deputy Prime Minister LK Advani at least till 2014. The equations changed with Modi becoming the Prime Minister in 2014.  

From attacking him consistently, Congress suddenly started courting him. On his 50th wedding anniversary on February 27, 2015, Sonia Gandhi penned an emotional letter to Advani, congratulating him and his wife Kamala Advani. In the letter, she also wrote that it would have been her 47th wedding anniversary too had Rajiv Gandhi been alive. The two had tied the nuptial knot on February 27, 1968.  

A few years ago in 2011, Advani had apologised to Sonia Gandhi for wrongly mentioning her name in connection to black money stashed abroad in a report prepared by a task force set up by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

After Sonia Gandhi sent a protest letter to Advani, he reciprocated with an apology for the mistake. Advani later released the letter, much to the embarrassment of the BJP.

Unsparing on the RSS, the BJP and Modi throughout his Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul Gandhi wanted to show his accommodating side too. In line with the broader theme of the yatra to unite India, the Congress leader sought to send a message that he was not averse to paying respect to even a political opponent and Vajpayee was an ideal choice for that.