Priyanka Chaturvedi Quits Congress: And joins the Shiv Sena. Why I think this is just politics, and far from feminism
In July 2018, former Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi had approached the police to register a complaint against a Twitter handle which had reportedly issued rape threats to her minor daughter. Taking to Twitter to express her shock and anger, she wrote, "Despite having a picture of Lord Ram as his profile picture, the accused did not hesitate from making such remarks."
Today, similar Twitter handles with Lord Ram’s photos are calling her ‘Priyanka ji’ and making similar threats to other women and their daughters, because they dared to question Chaturvedi on her decision to resign from the Congress party — and immediately join the Shiv Sena.
Ms Chaturvedi now belongs to 'their' camp.
The far-right radical, militant, hyper-masculine and communal camp which has mastered this art of gender-based violence, abuses, heckling and trolling, be it on social media or on the street.
How could she make such a radical shift? As she herself posted in January 2015:
The primary reason she presented for this is that she felt humiliated as some Congress party workers who apparently ‘misbehaved’ with her months back were recently reinstated, after a brief suspension. On April 17, she shared a letter, dated April 15, 2015 (presumably a typographical error), which reinstates some Congress workers, and said she was, “deeply saddened that lumpen goons get preference over those who have given their sweat & blood.”
This was the first time Ms Chaturvedi has publicly shown any disappointment or difference of opinion with the party with which she stayed for ten years. She had always been considered one of the most powerful and talented Congress leaders, among the most fierce spokespersons, with immense popularity among Congress workers and supporters. The slightest hurt to her was bound to open up a floodgate of emotion in her support — and she was all set to receive accolades and solidarity for bravely standing up against a male-dominated political atmosphere.
The left-liberal camp, particularly the feminist and activist lobbies, were all set to hit out at Rahul Gandhi for not being able to walk the talk on women’s equality.
But, with the news of her joining the Shiv Sena, within hours apparently of quitting the Congress, all the sympathy and empathy bubbling up for her has vanished.
This is because from left-liberal secular camp to the far right, such a radical shift defies all logic.
It is ironical that having faced 'misbehaviour' from ‘lumpen goons’ in the Congress, Priyanka Chaturvedi promptly joined the Shiv Sena — the party infamous to so many for its goons who are often charged with harassing the whole city of Mumbai.
It is no secret that the Shiv Sena has a history of violence, hooliganism, vandalism. Every Valentine’s Day, they reportedly attack young couples and harass them. In the 1960s, Bal Thackeray, the party founder, gave the call "Mumbai for Marathas" and labelled non-Marathas 'outsider', which led to a violent anti-South Indian movement. Long before the BJP, the Shiv Sena was the original fascist party in my view, with its Hindutva card and the politics of hate, fear and violence.
The irony is obvious — and it puts Chaturvedi's original reasoning to doubt.
Firstly, we don’t know the full story about those men. Unless we know the story, we cannot be sure of the quantum of punishment. Should they be thrown out of the party for life? Should they be in jail? We don’t know.
And, as I see it, the timing just doesn’t add up with the narrative. You get upset with your family or loved ones, you walk out, take a break — but you don’t join another family the same day, do you? You may feel neglected and undervalued in your marriage, you'd probably walk out of it. But not marry another person the same day! If you do, it would mean you have cheated.
Any momentous shift in life goes through months of deliberation. But evidently, the letter of reinstatement of those men who reportedly misbehaved with her was dated April 15 — and she quit the party on April 18, joining a rival party — in the middle of the most crucial election in Indian history.
Just how vengeful would one be to do this? It is clear to me that she has no ideology of her own to hold onto. She was, to my mind, either poached by the Shiv Sena or deliberately went looking for greener pastures and got a deal. What appears to me is that she had already apparently done her planning and was merely looking for an opportunity to quit.
Compare this with the way Mr Shatrughan Sinha made a radical shift from the BJP to the Indian National Congress. Firstly, for years, he made clear his disapproval of the way the party leaders, including the Prime Minister, had been functioning. He put out his criticism in front of the public. He showed that the party and nation are bigger for him than individual aspirations, and finally, when his party gave the message that they were not even interested in holding onto him, he quit.
There is nothing wrong in having a gradual change in ideology and defecting to the other side — the trouble here, to my mind, is how Priyanka Chaturvedi apparently made the ‘misbehaviour’ an excuse, played the 'woman' and 'victim' cards, and attacked the party to cause damage in the middle of the elections.
That is just textbook treachery as I see it.
My feminist friends rebuked me for not standing by her.
“There is nothing wrong in having ambitions. The party should stand by its women cadres. If it doesn’t, they have all the right to take care of their own interests,” they said. “What would you have done if something like this had happened to you?” they asked.
There is absolutely nothing wrong in being ambitious. We all have aspirations and dreams and women must put themselves first — but my aspirations won’t make me give up on my ideology, ethics and dignity. Hypothetically, if I faced such a situation, I would have raised hell inside the party, all the way to the top, expressed my anger and disappointment, threatened to quit and go to the cops, etc. If they still didn’t pay attention to my demands, I would come home, write a long heartfelt blog sharing the story which needs to be told — complete with evidence, and then, I would have waited for the universe to give me the next cue.
I would not join another party — not immediately at least.
Because that would mean I am so weak that I have no identity of my own — without a party’s patronage.