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The Congress on Friday chose to observe the 25th death anniversary of the OBC leader and its former president, an issue the BJP has latched on to
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi paid tribute to former party president Sitaram Kesri on his 25th death anniversary. Image/X
The white two-storyed Kesari Bhawan stands out in the hustle and bustle of the dense market in Danapur, just a few kilometres away from Bihar’s capital Patna. A huge lock and chain greet us. But the house is locked with memories, which were brought back into the spotlight by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and with Rahul Gandhi’s sudden visit to the Congress office in Delhi to pay tribute to the man who was ousted to make way for Sonia Gandhi as party president.
The pain of the family cannot be hidden. Sitaram Kesri’s grandson, Santosh Kesri, told News18, “The PM has always mentioned my grandfather. Thank God Rahul Gandhi remembered him after 25 years. Obviously, it’s election time. But I can never forget the fact that a man who was president of Congress was treated the way he was. I was there; he was locked up; and there was an attempt to burn his dhoti. There is no picture or mention of him anywhere in the Congress books.”
Sitting at an adjacent grocery store is Sachin Kesri, who is the grandnephew of Sitaram Kesri. “The PM has many times remembered Sitaram Ji, but in the last 20 years, no one from Congress bothered. But suddenly, Rahul Gandhi went to pay tribute. This has got to do with elections, I guess. But the people of Danapur won’t forget how Kesri Ji, an OBC leader, was treated.”
The parting of Sitaram Kesri from his party was bitter. In 1998, a strong pitch was made to debut Sonia Gandhi into active politics. Kesri was voted out on the grounds of non-performance and the defeat of the Congress in the 1998 elections. But the irony is that Sonia Gandhi, who too had campaigned for the 1998 elections, was not held accountable for the performance of the party. It was clear that the decision was made to remove Kesri to accommodate Sonia Gandhi. Party insiders say that Kesri resisted his removal and tried to whip up a rebellion against seniors and Sonia Gandhi. There are reports of Kesri having been locked up in the bathroom of the AICC headquarters in Delhi.
For the BJP, this incident is etched in political memory. For the party and the PM, this is an example of how the Congress bends over backwards to accommodate the Nehru-Gandhi family. In fact, like with PV Narasimha Rao, the Congress leaders maintained a distance from Kesri’s family members. The only time they remember him is when there are political reasons to do so. Like, ahead of Andhra Pradesh polls, Narasimha Rao’s family was reached out to. Similarly, the sudden visit of Rahul Gandhi to pay tribute to Kesri too is mired in the political scenario of Bihar.
Sitaram Kesri belongs to the OBC community, a vote bank Rahul Gandhi is trying to woo. And in a state like Bihar, where the OBCs matter in terms of a vote bank, the forgetting of Sitaram Kesri and the way he was removed as Congress president is being used by the BJP to make the point that anyone who does not belong to the Nehru-Gandhi family is ill-treated. And Rahul Gandhi’s words of protecting the backwards are merely lip service as they showed disrespect towards an OBC leader in their own party. The man whose name has faded in the Congress biography.
Pallavi Ghosh has covered politics and Parliament for 15 years, and has reported extensively on Congress, UPA-I and UPA-II, and has now included the Finance Ministry and Niti Aayog in her reportage. She has als…Read More
Pallavi Ghosh has covered politics and Parliament for 15 years, and has reported extensively on Congress, UPA-I and UPA-II, and has now included the Finance Ministry and Niti Aayog in her reportage. She has als… Read More
October 25, 2025, 18:30 IST
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