The massive gathering at the Ram Lila Maidan on 2nd November gave something to cheer for the opposition; the Congress and the Gandhi-Nehru siblings in particular. The event attracted sizeable numbers- mind you, the Ram Lila Maidan is no comparison to the Esplanade in Calcutta or the Azad Maidan in Bombay; the utterly rudderless opposition showed some cohesion and the speeches were aimed straight at the Modi-Shah politics of the last 12 years. The opposition finally found a political common minimum program. The SIR will have to be scrapped, the CEC will have to go and Modi-Shah will have to follow him if this tide can turn into a storm/cyclone/tornado powerful enough to uproot presently well-entrenched power incumbents. Analysts and pundits may differ on the shape of things to come; yet there is optimism among the critics of the NDA and anxiety among their die-hard supporters. Is this the beginning of the end? That is the million-dollar question.

If the speeches at the rally had nothing new or unheard of the NDA response too was as characterless and all too predictable. First came the squabble over numbers. It is obvious that 10 lakh people were not there for the simple reason that the Maidan is not that huge. But it is a political formality to claim larger numbers than actual attendance and do not the media offer this favour to all? Then came the all too mundane talk of spreading lies to destabilise and eventually bring down the government - Arajak, anarchy in essence. This was followed by the talk of the foreign hand; as if other countries have no headaches of their own and are hell-bent on dabbling in India’s political ‘free-for-all’! Then there was the all too hackneyed attempt to dub the opposition jealous of the achievements -a classic misnomer very much in vogue- of the 12 years with NaMo at the top.

Take a look at the signal achievements of the last 12 years: Huge statues, majestic temples (not corruption-free, though!), sops to the poor for votes at the tax payers’ cost, blind eye to the high handed methods of the highly placed (the CEC is just the tip of the iceberg, presumably!), frequent big mouthed gaffes in foreign policy (the Trump claim of monitoring Indo-Pak conflict and practising politics of hate at home: for the party, family and individual not falling in line; attracting and in due course accommodating the worst from the regional parties through threats of ED investigation and double talk day in and day out- NaMo swearing by the Constitution and Shah bending it all the time, NaMo spewing abuse on the Opposition and Bhagwat preaching tolerance from the same dais.. A classic case of the proverbial two-mouthed snake-biting with both! The pundits in good books of the NDA do point to the growth in infrastructure, communications and increase in foreign investment and Musk wanting to enter the Indian cyber network; but these are obvious side benefits of the policies initiated from the early 90’s and continued despite intermittent hiccups by all administrations till NaMo took over. He is the beneficiary and not the benefactor!

There is some reasonable speculation over the coming assembly elections in UP where it is presumed the Modi-Shah politics will be put to the sword test: but the opposition had the same chance after the’24 Lok Sabha  polls which they let pass. Further, the UP polls are still four months away and it will not be easy to maintain the present anti-NaMo tempo over such a long stretch. In the meantime, Shaaha’s headhunting will reach its peak, and a lot of UP politicians will be busy striking lifetime bargains! We will have some reliable pointers at the New Year.

Analysis apart, the political irony of the present situation is unmistakable!

Ram Lila Maidan is to Indian politics what the Lords’ is to world cricket! These ramparts have seen politicians roaring and subsiding and governments coming and going. The recent rally worked like a flashback for me. Took me straight back to 1970’s. Indira had complained of Vajpayee and Co, ‘Yeh log muze satta se hatana chahate hai’; Vajpayee, true to form, retorted in his notorious humour, ‘Shrimatiji, hum vipaksha me aap ko satta se hatane ke liye hi baithe hai. Who hamara kam hi hai’. Rahul could throw the same back: if NaMo is doing an Indira, Rahul should do a Vajpayee. Indira had told us that Fidel Castro had advised her to ‘take care’ and hence she suspected a foreign hand. (I look at that just as a formality by Castro!). NaMo can tell us if his ‘Italian vibe’ has warned him. Rahul roars that, beginning from the CEC this battle will continue till those who have wounded democracy are punished! I recall JP in 1974 saying that corruption in high places was the main issue and therefore the clean-up had to start from the top! Bothe NDA and INDIA allude to support of the people: the former claim that the people are firmly following them; while the latter warn that people are ‘after’them! I already hear the ‘Sinhasan Khali Karo, Ke Janata Aa Rahi Hai’ slogan!

Also Read: Inertia in Congress and Middle-Class Hypocricy Propelled BJP to Power in 2014 by Kumar Ketkar

I always maintained that no party in India hold on to sustained power in Delhi unless it is congressified, i e, it is astute in politics sans principle, simply put! It happened to the Left parties before and now it is happening to a party of the Right-BJP! Ideology is never to be practised but used as a rattler; economic inequalities are not to be softened but exploited at opportune moments-sic polls; secularism has never to be attained but kept a future goal and finally the edge of equality is to be blunted by maintaining the status quo- Sab Ka Sath Aur Sab Ka Vikas - so as to draw talent from the upper echelons of society and offer only lip service to the lower. So, we have dalit-tribal presidents without much change in the status of their bretheren! 

If I exalt at my theory proved right by BJP I am amused by the other development: Congress doing a BJP and Rahul reciting JP’s words at the time of his-Rahul’s- birth! And, without saying it, the opposition swearing by what Vajpayee threw back at Indira! I never meant that. Maybe those in power will fling the same charges at the opposition…But should the opposition be so uncreative and fall in old rut?

History repeats first time as a tragedy and second time as a farce we know but here it is repeating both as tragedy and farce. Tragedy for our Democracy that we are back to the 1970’s because we never learnt the lesson, and a farce which only the politically deaf-dumb-blind will enjoy.

Orwell says at the end of Animal Farm, ‘The creatures outside looked from pig to man and from man to pig and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which!’

Where should we look? And more importantly, as insiders or outsiders?

- Vinay Hardikar
vinay.freedom@gmail.com 
(The writer has been working in the public sphere of Maharashtra for the last five decades. His versatile personality has several dimensions, but the primary ones remain to be that of an established writer, journalist, editor, critic, activist, and teacher.)

Tags: ram lila maidan congress bjp rahul gandhi modi-shah NaMo MoSha vinay hardikar narendra modi donald trump indira gandhi opposition Load More Tags