Vintage Modi is back: Exposes Congress on caste
A day after the spectacular Haryana victory, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sharpened his attack on Congress saying, the results of Haryana reflect the nation’s mood. He said, Congress was trying to spread its ‘hateful and poisonous agenda’ by dividing Hindus among caste lines for partisan ends. Modi said, “Congress never raises the issue of caste divisions within the Muslim community. Its formula is simple: keep Muslims as a vote bank by spreading fear, and divide Hindu society on caste lines to score electoral advantage…The same Congress leaders who raise caste division issue among Hindus remain mum about caste divisions among Indian Muslims”.
The Prime Minister’s tone and tenor of speech reminds one of Vintage Modi, whose self-confidence now seems to be on a high. Modi replied to all questions that were being raised after BJP’s seat tally was reduced in the Lok Sabha elections. He made it clear that neither has his popularity waned, nor has the nation’s mood changed for the Congress to stop his BJP juggernaut. Modi’s speech was meant to convey to the people that the Congress was trying to divide only Hindus, and not Muslims. This was in reference to the vote divisions that were noticed among Hindu castes during the Lok Sabha elections.
There is a Hindi proverb, ‘Kaath Ki Haandi Baar Baar Nahin Chadhti’ (you can deceive once, but not always). BJP got voters from all sections of society this time in Haryana and the party has regained its mojo.
On the other hand, the anti-Modi bloc appears to be demoralized and already knives are out among the allies against the ‘arrogant’ attitude of Congress party. The immediate consequences are being seen in Maharashtra, Jharkhand, UP and Delhi.
In UP, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav snubbed the Congress and unilaterally declared the names of six candidates out of 10 seats going for byelections, without consulting his ally. Akhilesh had already realized that the gains made in LS elections by Congress in UP was at the cost of Samajwadi Party, while in Madhya Pradesh and Haryana, Congress refused to share a single seat with his party. The Congress was demanding five out of the 10 seats in UP assembly byelections. Akhilesh was waiting for the right moment, and he struck the day after the Haryana results were out.
In Maharashtra, Congress, which had been asking for more seats in Maha Vikas Aghadi, has now lost its bargaining power, and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray is pressing for the MVA to declare him as the chief ministerial candidate. The allies are now telling Congress that it derives its strength from INDIA bloc, and the party has no clout in the absence of an alliance.
In Delhi, Aam Aadmi Party has declared that there would be no alliance with Congress for assembly polls. Arvind Kejriwal wanted a toehold in Haryana, but the Congress leaders, feeling the ‘wind’ blowing in favour of the party, kept the seat-sharing issue hanging and rejected AAP’s request at the last moment. A furious Kejriwal fielded his candidates in all the 90 seats in Haryana. Though his party drew a blank, it halted Congress from returning to power.
One Nation, One Election : What’s the game?
When the first general elections in India were held in 1951, after our nation became a republic, both Lok Sabha and assembly elections were held simultaneously. The ‘One Nation, One Election’ idea is not new. Probably, the makers of the Constitution had no premonitions about break-up of political parties, leaders changing parties, governments collapsing, followed by mid-term elections. The reality now is: governments at the Centre and states collapsed so many times and subsequently elections were held.
We have now arrived at a situation where assembly elections are held in states after gaps of almost every six months. Because of frequent holding of elections, neither the Centre nor the state governments can undertake reforms and take hard decisions, out of fear that they might lose their vote banks, or face dissatisfaction from voters. The idea of holding simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly elections is a good one, but it may be difficult to implement. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intentions may be bonafide, but it has now become a habit for the Congress to oppose every major decision of Modi government. Congress leaders smell conspiracy behing every major step that Modi takes. Other political parties, instead of accepting the merits, will rather opt to weigh whether the decision will be useful or harmful to their interests.
To expect political parties to rise above politics on the issue of ‘One Nation, One Election’, is to ask for the moon. At the ground level, some opposition parties feel that if simultaneous elections are held, they may not have adequate resources to counter Modi. Their second fear is that they do not have a strong national level leader like Modi who can sway voters when elections are held across the country. But these parties are unwilling to admit this in public. That is why, these opposition leaders are giving diverse reactions.
Some allege that Modi is trying to weaken state governments, some allege an RSS agenda behind this, while some say, Modi wants to bring presidential system of government. All such apprehensions are baseless. I have already disclosed the real reason. Opposition leaders feel that even if all of them join hands in a ‘One Nation, One Election’ battle, they cannot match Modi. They apprehend that Modi has opted for ‘One Nation, One Election’ because he may be having a big plan in his mind which he wants to implement. This fear and suspicion will prevent most of these parties from coming forward to support this decision.
Self-appointed agents of integrity should be challenged!
The unnecessary controversy raised by some opposition parties over Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending the Ganapati Puja at the residence of Chief Justice of India Y. V. Chandrachud is worrisome. More than 30 hours of political sabre-rattling took place over a merely 30-second video and a mountain was sought to be made out of a molehill. It is surprising that some opposition leaders have questioned the neutrality and integrity of the Chief Justice of India. A courtesy visit of the PM to the Chief Justice’s residence was sought to be made a topic of controversy and the question of judicial independence was raised.
The first party to raise the flag was Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, because its case is pending in Supreme Court. Is a mere courtesy visit of the PM going to make our Chief Justice biased?
Kapil Sibal, himself a politician and also the president of Supreme Court Bar Association, first praised the CJI describing him as “a man of great personal integrity”, but in the same breath, he remarked that “no public functionary should publicize a private event…if there is a gossip around it, it is not fair to the institution.”
BJP leaders reminded how when Dr Manmohan Singh was Prime Minister, the then CJI used to visit the PM’s iftar parties. Bar Council of India chairman and BJP MP Manan Kumar Mishra said, there are some lawyers who always try to create controversies out of nothing. Let me make one thing clear. All those who have questioned the Prime Minister’s visit to the Chief Justice’s residence to attend the Ganapati Puja, are doing great injustice to Chief Justice Chandrachud. Those slyly alleging that PM Narendra Modi has done some “setting” with the CJI, or has told him something secret, probably do not know that the Prime Minister need not wait for an opportunity to attend a Puja in order to speak to the CJI.
There are several such opportunities when the PM and Chief Justice attend public functions together. On the question, why the Prime Minister made the video public, I can only say that had the PM not made the video public, there would have been a hue and cry about a secret meeting with the CJI. The same persons would have then asked why the PM did not make any video public, when he makes every video of his interaction public.
Is it Constitutionally or legally unacceptable for the Chief Justice of India to invite the Prime Minister to his residence? Was it a midnight secret rendezvous over which much hue and cry is being made. Those trying to create an issue over this courtesy visit are actually trying to exert pressure on the Chief Justice. These people know that the Chief Justice will not comment on this issue because he has to uphold the dignity of his chair.
The Prime Minister is not going to react because he has his limitations. On the other hand, these people had a field day on social media. But look at their history. Almost every Chief Justice used to do this. These are the people who used to label the Chief Election Commissioner as pliable, and question the reliability of EVMs, even before the LS election results were announced.
The same people had questioned the claims of our Armed Forces. These are the people who repeatedly try to discredit the media. These are the persons who portray themselves as self-appointed agents of integrity and try to defame and intimidate others. Time has come to give such people a strong reply instead of ignoring them.