I must declare that the caption is no typo. The election results are a great leveller in Indian politics. The common man today is far more politically conscious, thanks to the multitude of TV channels in most regional languages and social networks. The government is firmly in the grip of BJP, but the opposition is more distraught than ever.
The dream of ousting BJP and his bête noire Narendra Modi lay shattered for the President of the Congress party, Rahul Gandhi, who did not hide his cherished fantasy of becoming the Prime Minister of India. His promise of sending Modi to Jail also was tattered during the elections, when Rahul had to feebly mumble an apology for the unfounded insinuation of Modi over the Rafale deal. With elections over, the Rafale accusations too died a sudden death.
It was a mess, as the defeat in Amethi stared at the face of Gandhi’s through their still operative intelligence. He ran to the minority populated Wayanad when I wrote that Rahul had lost the moral battle and the war. True to the expectations, Rahul lost the three decades nurtured turf at Amethi. He should have forthwith resigned on moral grounds and could have still led the party without holding any post. Politics is not a charity, and any goodness shown can take away the empire called the Congress party forever from the Gandhis.
But Rahul was not an astute politician but was thrust into the Congress president’s chair by his mother to retain their family control. The loss was too much to handle, and Rahul put in his papers as the President of the Congress party and stood firm on it. The repercussions were felt all around, as the disgruntled state leaders dared the leadership and for a few days the virtually headless Congress party became a free for all. When the leaders failed to convince the scion of the Gandhi family, they began quietly to look around. The idea was then to fall back on Sonia Gandhi, who though had retired due to ill health, was still firmly in the saddle as the Chairperson of the UPA. She was disinclined and always hoped that Rahul would turnaround and accept to lead the party once again. While the coterie was working harder on Rahul, they looked around for faces within the party and outside the Gandhi dynasty.
Then came the most important realization that there’s not a single nationally acceptable face in their great party, who could keep the Hawks at bay and lead the party successfully.
The Indian Notional Congress was thus reborn, with a mourning Rahul continuing to reign as its President.
Note: A good opposition is as much an integral part of a good government. Whether this edition of the Congress party has matured, or would they repeat the raucous scenes like in the last Lok Sabha is to be seen!
Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix
