Ever
since the outbreak of the Coronavirus, world over, the China bashing narrative
has gained momentum & become a hobby. Amidst that, scuffles were reported
in the first week of May on the Indo-China border near Sikkim between army men
on both sides. And immediately thereafter, senior Congress leader &
opposition’s spokesperson in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, has now
asked the PM to accord to Taiwan the diplomatic recognition it deserves.
One
would’ve thought that Mr Chowdhury’s plea was designed to add to the anti-China
rhetoric at an opportune moment, to align with the nation’s mood.
Well,
I would think not quite. His statement would’ve surely rubbed China the wrong
way, but instead, it seemed to have caused an instant discomfiture to his own
party. Congress was quick to dissociate itself from its leader & stated
“That may be Mr. Chowdhury’s personal views. The Congress recognizes the special
partnership between China & India”!
Motor
mouths exist everywhere but how to contain them, so that they don’t dent the
party’s brand, is a universal problem.
In
that, the BJP ought to have bigger problems given - a) it is the second largest
party in the world, trailing only the Communist Party of China and b) it is not
a “family owned” party.
BJP
has a colossal army in which who-says-what cannot be practically monitored,
more so due to its democratic set-up that allows anyone to express thoughts
uninhibited. Notwithstanding that, the headline hunting media has seldom incriminated
any senior party members (of the rank of say, BJP’s National Executive
Committee or a Chief Minister or any Central Minister) for speaking out of turn
in contradiction with the party character. With an inability to denigrate
members holding important posts, who all seem to echo PM Modi’s “India First”
ethos, the media has had to do with virulent attacks on lower level party
representatives for that odd distasteful remark or on MPs with no portfolio.
They do so in a sensationalist manner to run their business empire with high
TRPs. Nevertheless, there is still a top-down percolation of ideals and an
overall sense of unison within the BJP, at least in a broad sense.
By
comparison, the Congress party led none other than the listless Rahul Gandhi
has become a comedy of contradictions, despite reducing in size and being, if
you may, a “Pvt Ltd. Enterprise.” Monitoring members ought to be a wee bit
easier given the hegemony of the Gandhi family, and yet, incendiary remarks or
actions by essential members are evident even on matters of grave national
importance.
Recall
that even in the turbulent midst of the Doklam standoff, Rahul Gandhi found it
prudent to go to the Chinese embassy to get a first hand report in hopes of
pinning evidence against Modi, that he perhaps imagined the latter was
suppressing. Even at a time when the situation was near war-like, his priority
was – ‘India Second, Politics First’.
Not
that he found any implicating evidence but what was far more important to note was
his inability to prioritize even in critical matters of national interest. His
inability to grasp the sheer gravity of a war-like situation, where the ‘enemy’
is often inclined to use him as a pawn rather than extend well-intended
support, is baffling. As is his lack of nuance, wherein a white lie of sorts at
such a delicate juncture would have been perfectly permissible so that what
hung in balance was the high moral of the soldiers.
Sadly,
the Congress in its journey has all too often muffled honesty and subverted
authority only to perpetuate its’ own vested interest.
It
all begs the question - why?
Swapan
Dasgupta recently pointed out, that whilst Nehru’s momentous independence speech
‘Tryst with Destiny’, talked of "A soul of a nation, long suppressed";
he never bothered to explain what the suppression was. It remained a speech
writer’s speech.
On
the contrary, Nehru let the British narrative take grip in the Indian psyche,
that they peacefully & willingly transferred power of India to the Indians,
thus conceding some moral high ground in favor of the imperialists. He then set
the “soft state’s” tone, when he shockingly rejected an offer by Russia of an independent
India to be a part of the permeant members’ coveted circle with veto powers at
the United Nations, thus opening way for China to seize the moment. And so not
Nehru nor any of his progeny do much by way of speaking up for the nation’s
soul. The very suppression of the story of the suppressed soul diluted and took
away from the oppressor’s sense of guilt for its many appalling actions. It
also didn’t allow for advocating India’s cause and her rightful place amongst a
community of nations.
For
that righting-of-a-wrong, the country had to wait till 2014 for Narendra
Damodardas Modi to take center stage and reinvigorate modern India,
simultaneously invoking her rich ancient civilizational values and alluding to a
glorious past that was an antecedent to the idea of India.
And
that’s when the chickens came home to roost for the Congress party.
As
Swapan Dasgupta aptly points out, an interesting fallout is that today nobody
seems to believe tha the slogans - "Bharat-mata Ki Jai” or “Vande Matarm"
were once associated with the freedom struggle led by Congress! Crowds chanting
these patriotic slogans raised placards depicting imagery of a sari-clad
Mother-India, resembling venerable Hindu Goddesses. The post-independence Congress
had entered the political arena, enjoying the love of the common people owing
to its presupposed brand of nationalism backed by the Hindu majority.
The
Congress was practically living in an indefatigable fort.
But
over time, and by its own doing, it began eroding its brand & lost the
support of both the nationalists & the Hindus.
For
the lust for power, under the watch of President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, Indira
Gandhi not only thrust the nation into an unfounded national emergency, she even
tinkered with the constitution to create a platform for divisive communal politics.
The word ‘Secular’ was inserted into the constitution without discussion or
debate, not for the spirit of the word but for the opportunity it provided
through vote banking.
In
line with the kind of legacy it passes on down the generations, today’s
Congress now not only shows a soft corner for China, but is seen playing the
Pakistani cards too.
The
senior Congress ministers have been caught in discreet meetings with the
Pakistani establishment & just like our western neighbor, the Congress accusingly
levies the label of "Hindu-nationalist" to the BJP, echoing the
hollow politicians across the border.
In
doing so, does the Congress not realize how much of a self-goal they score? Sadly,
they are guilty of what they accuse the BJP of – divisive politics. The message
they then seem to cement, is that it is the party mostly for non-Hindus &
non-nationalists and so ends up falling into the hands of the fringe located on
political extreme right.
As
if that is not enough, for reasons known only to them, its senior ministers are
regularly in the news for the wrong reasons, often standing shoulder to
shoulder with the fringe or with those who chant seditious slogans, treating
issues of national security either facetiously or with comical exaggeration.
Not
cognizant of the fact that flip-flops lead to brand erosion, it is often seen
contradicting itself in a rather consistent way & with much tomfoolery. At
one end, it was seen leading a supposed coalition of all ‘secular’ parties
under the umbrella of United Progressive Alliance & then on the other, it
commissioned the infamous Sachar Committee to learn of the welfare of only the
Muslims in India. It would accuse BJP of discriminating & dividing the
nation along communal lines but their tallest luminary Manmohan Singh was shockingly
heard promulgating that it was Muslims who had the foremost right over the natural
resources of India.
And
so after it’s debacle in the 2014 elections, it fell upon the senior Congress
leader AK Anthony, to create a report that contained a detailed inquest into
Congress’ resounding defeat. A Christian minority himself, he concluded that
the humiliation of the party was due to lack of uniform clarity and a disproportionate
amount of minority appeasement, a now open secret.
As
if to prove to the public that the party had learned its lesson, Rahul Gandhi made
himself a party mascot of a good learner. He temporarily yielded to image
makeover tokenism. To disprove the allegation that his party’s only strategy
was vote banking on the Muslims, he comically began to publicly flash his janeu
(the sacred Brahminical thread) & indulged in bit of temple hopping for the
public to see.
The
comedy in contradictions was complete, when in the 2019 national elections, he
again went back to his unconscionable ways and in contravention to AK Anthony’s
report findings, decided to abandon the family bastion in Hindu majority Amethi
& took refuge in the Muslim heavy Wayanad district. The clowning got
elevated when instead of demonstrating maturity by supporting India’s attempt
of checkmating the Chinese threat, he ran a baseless but shrill election
campaign by calling PM Modi names for expediting the purchase of the much needed
state of the art fighter jets from France.
In
the final reckoning, Democracy is not about wishful thinking. It is hard work,
one in which the voters can never be taken for granted. The system is about the
art of the possibility. Only the arithmetic in the parliament decides what bills
can pass, not what what is perceived to be ideal. To get the numbers in
parliament, it’s imperative to put up winnable candidates. And finally, these
candidates need to be the custodian of the party’s aspirational brand & project
it to the people. A brand with which voters can easily get aligned.
Of
all the ammunition in any entity’s arsenal, the creation of an aspirational
brand that people will loyally subscribe to, is the most lethal weapon but also
the most difficult to build. Once established, it is also the most difficult to
blemish by opponents. It serves & saves the entity - like walls & moats
around the fort in which live the entity’s members.
However,
when the very senior most inhabitants of the fort begin to consistently damage
from within, no structure can then protect the entity, no matter how tall the
protective walls or how wide the surrounding moat.
That
at one-time Congress’ solid brand was of a party of freedom fighters backed by
all and sundry including & especially the Hindu majority – may be a veritable
fact, but today, it feels stranger than fiction. It has made itself into a
pitiable weakling by throwing away its most powerful Brahmastra - the united
India’s nationalist brand.
So
before Congress accuses BJP of any particular ideology, it must first look in
the mirror & ponder: Didn’t the BJP appropriate & usurp the Congress’ own
ideology? Or was it gifted to the BJP by the Congress’ own senior most leaders?
