OPINION: Withering Congress, clueless Opposition

While the battle lines for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls are being drawn, Congress, facing existential crisis, is desperately trying for a 'Mahagathbandan' with other opposition parties to take on BJP. Will such a strategy work? Looks doubtful.

The opposition parties and BJP base their campaign against one another on disparate platforms. Modi's campaign rests on four points - stress on development, war against corruption and emphasis on probity in public life, hard core nationalism and leak-proof delivery of plethora of benefits to crores of poor, without any distinction of creed, gender, caste or faith.

BJP's line of campaign further argues that stability and a strong and decisive leadership are essential to carry on these programmes which have wide-spread public support. The BJP's narrative for 2024 also includes a mandate to continue its fight against forces of status quo and political dynasties, deeply entrenched in the system over decades and mired in corruption.

The PM is leading BJP's political campaign on the plank of national pride, showcasing the G20 summit as the crowing jewel of India's "dazzling rise" to "great power" status. Both, the Indian passport and rupee have more respect abroad than ever before. The Opposition, in the meantime, is busy painting India in lurid colours in the international arena. The BJP would surely use Rahul Gandhi's comments in the UK against India, while setting the poll narrative.

Apart from slandering Prime Minister Modi, the Opposition narrative includes scaremongering - harping on impending danger to 'secularism and democracy' in India because of Modi's 'majoritarian' policies. They also allege weakening of democratic practices and institutions at the hands of incumbent BJP government.

In his relentless tirade against PM Modi, Nehru-Gandhi dynasty scion Rahul goes a step further. He frequently uses "Adani-Ambani" tropes to paint Modi corrupt. He also targets Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Savarkar, a sterling patriot, by terming him as a 'British agent', alleging that he sabotaged the freedom movement, notwithstanding that his vicious aphorisms against Savarkar are neither supported by history nor can fetch any votes.

On the contrary, such irresponsible remarks by Rahul alienate the voters further from Congress. Why Rahul indulges in such capricious talk is difficult to understand, but is surely indicative of the ideological deficit he suffers from. Please see "Fall and fall of Congress?" posted on this portal on August 30, 2022. Read more @ https://www.oneindia.com/india/fall-and-fall-of-congress-3454978.html

Sharad Pawar, a veteran of Indian politics, and a lynchpin of anti-Modi alliance in making, has publicly denounced anti-Adani campaign and Congress demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the issue. He has also advised Rahul to drop his tasteless attacks against Veer Savarkar. Uddhav Thackeray, a Congress ally, too has asked Rahul not to insult Veer Savarkar. "I am saying this publicly to Rahul Gandhi, Savarkar is our deity and we would simply not accept his insult. We stood by you during your Bharat Jodo Yatra. If we have to fight (together), don't insult Savakar," Uddhav told a recent public rally at Malegaon in Nashik.

The problem with Rahul is that he suffers from a sense of entitlement and ideological deficit. He didn't work to get into the top position of his party. He has succeeded his late father Rajiv Gandhi, who in turn had succeeded his assassinated mother, Indira Gandhi who was catapulted into office of Prime Minister because she was the only child of Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru.

Rahul is a beneficiary of dynastic succession - an anachronism in any vibrant democracy. The position Rahul occupies in India's public life is not on account of his either merit or experience, but because of an accident of being born in Nehru-Gandhi clan. No wonder, Rahul frequently says things which make little sense.

In the run-up to the 2019 elections, Rahul said at Kolar, Karnataka "how are the names of all these thieves 'Modi, Modi, Modi'... Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi, and if you search a little more, many more Modis will emerge." A complaint was made by a BJP leader in Surat who was aggrieved by its disparaging reference to "thieves" who are "Modis".

When asked by the court to apologise for his tasteless remarks, Rahul refused. Not saying sorry for a mistake is no chivalry, but sheer arrogance. Consequently, Rahul has since been disqualified from the membership of Parliament. Ironically, in this, Rahul's own brash act of tearing up the UPA ordinance that would have allowed a convicted MLA/MP to continue in office till appeals were disposed of, has returned to haunt him.

While Rahul is busy hitting windmills (a la Don Quixote) and slaying non-existent demons, his party's march to self-destruction continues at an accelerated pace. The beleaguered Congress has been besieged by a host of issues, with none working in the party for a tangible solution. It's free for all. While the party is involved in multiple internecine wars, the 'high command' is conspicuous by its absence. It's either indifferent or appears helpless in such vexed situations. Either way, intra-party feuds continue to fester, inflicting irreplaceable damage to the party.

Rajasthan is one of three States where the party heads a government. The incumbent Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot, an ambitious Young Turk, are involved in a fratricidal war for power. While the party is heading for a vertical split in the State, the High Command appears to be unconcerned, watching the ugly spectacle from the sidelines.

The bickering being witnessed in Rajasthan would possibly replicate in Karnataka, where D.K. Sivakumar and Siddaramaiah lead two hostile groups within the party. A similar scenario exists in Chhattisgarh and many other State units that have become inactive in the absence of a strong leadership, a coherent ideology and an organisation run by men and women, dedicated to higher values of life.

Since 1971, when then Congress Prime Minister Indira Gandhi started leaning towards the Left for support within and outside Parliament, the ideological content of the Grand Old Party has gradually been diluted. For the last few decades, power is the glue that keeps the party together, with ideology outsourced from Communists, acting as a fig leaf.

In contrast, BJP, with its ideological roots deeply embedded in the timeless Indian culture and traditions, has vision for the country which the leadership and cadre share. During the last nine years in power, the party has offered a model, which combines development in various sectors, steady economic growth, along with programmes under which State largesse is extended to targeted groups. And all this, without a whiff of graft.

The Opposition so far has failed to offer alternate policies and programmes which would catch public imagination. Spewing slurs and heaping scorn on the Prime Minister or Veer Savarkar only appeals to those who already hate Modi for different reasons. The common voter abhors such a negative approach.

The 'Mahagathbandan' is a futile exercise, full of contradictions. The disparate parties have nothing in common, except desperate lust for power and hate against Modi. Most of them have dynastic moorings, are caste based and lack an integrated vision for the country. Can such a combination succeed against Modi? No prizes for guessing a correct answer.

(Mr. Balbir Punj is a Former Member of Parliament and a Columnist. He can be reached at: [email protected])

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