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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Congress’ solo path for ‘ideological survival’

Mumbai: The Congress party’s decision to contest the forthcoming BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections independently is being viewed as an attempt to reclaim its ideological space among the public and restore credibility within its cadre, senior leaders indicated. The announcement - made by AICC General Secretary Ramesh Chennithala alongside state president Harshwardhan Sapkal and Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad - did not trigger a backlash from the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi...

Congress’ solo path for ‘ideological survival’

Mumbai: The Congress party’s decision to contest the forthcoming BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections independently is being viewed as an attempt to reclaim its ideological space among the public and restore credibility within its cadre, senior leaders indicated. The announcement - made by AICC General Secretary Ramesh Chennithala alongside state president Harshwardhan Sapkal and Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad - did not trigger a backlash from the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) partners, the Nationalist Congress Party (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT). According to Congress insiders, the move is the outcome of more than a year of intense internal consultations following the party’ dismal performance in the 2024 Assembly elections, belying huge expectations. A broad consensus reportedly emerged that the party should chart a “lone-wolf” course to safeguard the core ideals of Congress, turning140-years-old, next month. State and Mumbai-level Congress leaders, speaking off the record, said that although the party gained momentum in the 2019 Assembly and 2024 Lok Sabha elections, it was frequently constrained by alliance compulsions. Several MVA partners, they claimed, remained unyielding on larger ideological and political issues. “The Congress had to compromise repeatedly and soften its position, but endured it as part of ‘alliance dharma’. Others did not reciprocate in the same spirit. They made unilateral announcements and declared candidates or policies without consensus,” a senior state leader remarked. Avoid liabilities He added that some alliance-backed candidates later proved to be liabilities. Many either lost narrowly or, even after winning with the support of Congress workers, defected to Mahayuti constituents - the Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena, or the Nationalist Congress Party. “More than five dozen such desertions have taken place so far, which is unethical, backstabbing the voters and a waste of all our efforts,” he rued. A Mumbai office-bearer elaborated that in certain constituencies, Congress workers effectively propelled weak allied candidates through the campaign. “Our assessment is that post-split, some partners have alienated their grassroots base, especially in the mofussil regions. They increasingly rely on Congress workers. This is causing disillusionment among our cadre, who see deserving leaders being sidelined and organisational growth stagnating,” he said. Chennithala’s declaration on Saturday was unambiguous: “We will contest all 227 seats independently in the BMC polls. This is the demand of our leaders and workers - to go alone in the civic elections.” Gaikwad added that the Congress is a “cultured and respectable party” that cannot ally with just anyone—a subtle reference to the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), which had earlier targeted North Indians and other communities and is now bidding for an electoral arrangement with the SS(UBT). Both state and city leaders reiterated that barring the BMC elections - where the Congress will take the ‘ekla chalo’ route - the MVA alliance remains intact. This is despite the sharp criticism recently levelled at the Congress by senior SS(UBT) leader Ambadas Danve following the Bihar results. “We are confident that secular-minded voters will support the Congress' fight against the BJP-RSS in local body elections. We welcome backing from like-minded parties and hope to finalize understandings with some soon,” a state functionary hinted. Meanwhile, Chennithala’s firm stance has triggered speculation in political circles about whether the Congress’ informal ‘black-sheep' policy vis-a-vis certain parties will extend beyond the BMC polls.

Deadly Neglect

Tamil Nadu, long celebrated for its industrial prowess and political theatre, has lately distinguished itself for a far grimmer reason. In a horrifying medical scandal, at least 22 children have died across Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan after consuming Coldrif, a cough syrup manufactured in the Southern State by Sresan Pharmaceuticals. What was supposed to ease sniffles and sore throats turned lethal. Tests revealed that the syrup contained diethylene glycol, a toxic chemical used in printing ink, far above safe limits.


G. Ranganathan, the Kancheepuram-based owner of Sresan, was arrested in Chennai by the Madhya Pradesh police. It came to light that the company had been adding up to a staggering 48 percent of DEG to Coldrif against the legal limit of 0.1 percent. And yet the syrup was allowed to flow into markets for years, leaving behind a bitter trail of grieving parents and children suffering from liver and kidney ailments.


This shocking has exposed Tamil Nadu’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Two senior drug inspectors have been suspended, but the real failure is systemic. Sresan Pharmaceuticals, first registered in 1990 and later struck off the Ministry of Corporate Affairs register, continued operating under a proprietary structure. Unbilled containers of toxic chemicals lay hidden in its factory. Stop-production orders and license suspensions, issued only after deaths occurred, are belated gestures, a bureaucratic fig leaf over a scandal of lethal negligence. Chief Minister M.K. Stalin may trumpet governance reforms, but these words ring hollow when a regulatory system allows children to die from preventable poison.


The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has rightly called for Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda’s intervention, noting that innocent doctors who prescribed Coldrif are being wrongfully targeted. The root cause is the manufacturer’s reckless adulteration and the FDA’s years of oversight failures. The deaths demand a national reckoning on pharmaceutical regulation, stricter quality control and accountability mechanisms that are enforced rather than papered over.


The Tamil Nadu government, predictably, emphasises the arrest of Ranganathan and the dramatic police operation that captured him. Yet. these are distractions. The real question is why a deadly syrup could be produced unchecked in the first place. DEG-laced Coldrif crossed state lines, killed children, and raised the possibility that other batches might have been exported, prompting the World Health Organisation to seek clarifications from Indian authorities. In a state that boasts of effective governance, this is a damning indictment of incompetence.


Oversight in pharmaceuticals amounts to the difference between life and death. If Tamil Nadu wishes to salvage credibility, it must conduct a thorough, transparent investigation into its FDA department, the political accountability of ministers and the chain of regulatory failures that allowe people like Sresan to operate with impunity. Meanwhile, Nadda must ensure that such lapses do not recur nationwide, making it clear that public health cannot be sacrificed on the altar of bureaucratic negligence. The federal government must act decisively before another preventable tragedy unfolds.

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