Asked about the central leadership, he said the Congress is the only party to have an elected president.”We tend to ascribe far too much importance to individuals… If you read the bible of Indian political science by Rajni Kothari, one of the points Rajni Kothari makes in that book is that there was a Congress system and that system first got broken in 1969 with the first split and then it got broken in 1978 with the second split,” Ramesh said.He said, “You can have all the charismatic leadership on the top, but if at the district level, at the block level and at the state level you don’t have these systems of mediation, of conflict management and of bringing people into the fold, then no individual is going to make a difference.” “I am not a great believer in the charismatic leader business… it is a very dangerous concept to believe in. That is why I don’t believe in it. If I start believing in a charismatic leader then I am automatically believing in a demagogue, then I am believing in a Mussolini (Italian dictator),” he said.Ramesh rejected suggestions that about 40 per cent of the country believes in the charismatic leader concept, saying that out of the 36 per cent vote share of the BJP, as per his analysis, at least 22-23 per cent is attributable to the organization.So, at least 70 per cent of the support is about the organizational reach, strength and capability.Modi may have added a few percentage points, he added.On whether Prime Minister Modi’s charisma and oratory were making a difference for the BJP, Ramesh said, “No, I think it is the organisation that makes a huge difference. You can have all the charisma you want but if you are not going to be able to translate that charisma on the voting day, charisma is going to be of no use.” “I think we shouldn’t be chasing charisma, we should be chasing systems,” he said.”To ascribe everything to one individual that there is a super charismatic leader in the BJP and we don’t have that super charismatic figure in the Congress is simplifying a very complex set of realities,” the Congress general secretary said.Asked if the Congress could hit a “circuit breaker” when the Lok Sabha poll results are announced on June 4, Ramesh said the BJP is doing the damnedest to make sure the Congress hits the circuit breaker.”They have frozen eight of our 11 accounts and this would continue,” he said, adding the Congress tax books from 1994-95 have been opened and fines are being imposed on them.
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