Letter to Mr. Milind Murli Deora
To
Mr. Milind Murli Deora
Mumbai-400 026
Dear Mr.Deora,
I wanted to write this letter to you as soon as I saw your tweets on Congress’s disasterous defeat in the 2014 elections. In Maharashtra and in Mumbai the defeats are telling. We, the old-time Congresssmen, why, even as otherwise, as former timers we appreciated such leaders like George Fernandes and even Minoo Masanai and others, however they were ideologically diverse and different as personalities, one thing that characterized the Mumbai electoral contests was the high level of the idealism and political commitments and the stature the candidates brought to their own calling. I know most of the old time leaders, why even now I can claim I am a close friend of Saharad Pawar and Antulay besdies, knowing such personalities like Minoo Masani and even Rajni Patel.
I was a close friend of such writers and artistes like Mulkraj Anand and K.A.Abbas.The poet Dom Moraes was with me at Oxford. Oh, so many faces and so many memories of Mumbai, the great cosmopolitan city. To know more about me please see www.isvarmurti.com
Now, as for your tweet, I congratulate you for your courage and candour.Knowing you eminent father as well I have to say so openly and so candidly it is your moral fibre that drove you to say what you have said.
Of course you have been a bit discreet even then.
What is there to hide when it is really your bounden duty to the country and to the party to which you owed all your credibility?
In fact, you must now take some thoughtful stand and come out with some constructive thoughts for reviving the Congress party.
I am now engaged in writing a book on how to revive the Congress party.
Now, lot of nonsense is being bandied about in the guise of saving the party. Party discipline is invoked to gag free expression of opinion and ideas regarding what to be done next.
I say: kill the thought of continuing with the status quo.Can this be a sensible thought?
Already I feel that any continuation of this thought blocks us from taking on the new government. Every day when we hear of news about the Gandhi family members, it evokes a sort of nausea and discomfort.
So, sooner or later we have to cross the bridge, so to say. You can’t dither and look back anymore.
Let us go by time-tested methods. Resign and make way for others to come out with democratic, open and transparent and honest ways. Please ponder over what I have said.
You can see how deeply l committed to I am with the Congress party and its ideologies.
You one of the younger age groups must do serious study of history and parliamentary history of Britain and other Western democracies how the parties there operate.
We have to have a research and analysis wing at the AICC and must come out with periodical pamphlets on the lines of the old Fabian Society. I was once a member of the Fabian Society and also Oxford Labor Club. They were great learning experiences. I also debated on the platform of the famous Oxford Union Debating Society.
So, how can we take things as we find them just now?
I wonder whether Sonia Gandhi and Rahul have grasped the enormity of the defeat they had caused?
Can they imagine continuing to hold on to the positions they are now in?
It is time we have to warn them and ask them gracefully to step down and make way for a new leadership.
It is a painful decision, I admit.
Otherwsie, the party might face unexpected revolts and splits and some other forces might come into play.
Time and tide wait for none!
Politics is such a ruthless power structure that any vacuum or non-performance invites counter-forces!
Looking forward to seeing you sometime when I am in Mumbai next time.
With warm regards,
Yours sincerely,
V.Isvarmurti
Encl: Some magazines we publish and they may give you some idea of our thinking processes.