The Congress has distanced itself from the entire Rohith Vemula affair. That is one reason why the party leaders were nowhere present when the University of Hyderabad handed over suspension letters to two professors in mid-June. A stir by the professors and their supporters for four days forced the University to revoke the suspension, but unlike earlier, Congress ka saath was not seen protesters ke saath.
What explains this turnaround? In terms of return on political investment, the Congress feels the returns have been next to nothing. In electoral terms, Congress lost Assam and Kerala, two states it was on power and the feeling is that the Rohith Vemula episode, which became a national issue, largely because Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi visited the University twice, did not help in any way. For all of Congress chest-beating for Rohith, branding BJP as an anti-Dalit party, its own Kerala unit did precious little when a Dalit law student was raped and murdered on April 28. The Congress government in Kerala blundered its way through its handling of the case. That undid all the work the Congress had done to acquire a pro-Dalit image post Rohith Vemula.
Two, Uttar Pradesh comes up next and according to the blueprint prepared, the Congress wants to woo the upper caste vote. The Rohith Vemula association may end up hurting the effort to woo the Brahmin votebank.
Three, Telangana Congress leaders were disapproving of Rahul Gandhi’s second visit as they felt not much thought had gone into how it would help the party. Hyderabad Congress leaders even blamed the excessive focus on the University issue for the party’s loss in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Elections, even though the two had nothing to do with each other.
From the 4th day after Rohith’s suicide in January till recently, the Congress from behind the scenes, was funding much of the campaign. But its leaders were dismayed to see how the Left-leaning student leaders were shouting slogans against all parties, including the Congress, even though at a national level, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury had no issues with a partnership with Rahul Gandhi.
Congress leaders in Hyderabad say the Joint Action Committee was not able to reach out to other student bodies in other Universities in the country. “Leave alone other parts, it was not able to make it even a Hyderabad agitation. Unlike JNU, no committees were set up. For the kind of platform they had, they squandered away the opportunity,” said a Congress leader.
Within the students themselves, there was resentment over one or two students or research scholars getting most of the media attention. Such lack of unity hurt the movement, is the opinion. The final nail in the agitation’s coffin was when entry of outsiders was banned inside campus. “That was a masterstroke by the VC because that effectively finished off the movement,” said a protester who was closely involved with the agitation.
