Between Perception Battle and Reality

By: M.R. Lalu
Who can be a perfect national alternative to Modi? This question must be haunting almost all political parties that chose to not to join the Modi bandwagon. Undoubtedly, every opposition leader is an aspirant for the top post irrespective of being aware of the limitations. While clouds of suspicion on their integrity seem to be hovering over their political prospects, their pugnaciousness often sticks out as their chronic incompetence. A despicably impetuous conglomeration of the opposition seems to be making fiendish statements on the ruling establishment. With limited ideas to defend its cause and dubious intention to outlandishly malign the country’s collective sentiments, various parties were seen making unimpressive attempts to regain their political relevance. The latest opinion polls clearly indicate dominance of Modi as people’s favorite. Others in his party and the opposition are distant shadows. A recent survey conducted in Chhattisgarh, a state ruled by the Congress, gave the ruling party a traumatic sense as Narendra Modi was seen as the people’s choice with more than 60 percent of respondents supporting him. This is a warning signal for the ruling parties in the non-BJP states, that the people of the states seek a clear mandate in the national election. Probably the trend reveals the fact that the country refuses to emerge with a fractured mandate when the global scenario with respect to India’s role as a powerful player begins to change. A new trend, maybe a realization, probably refuses to put up a mish-mash government at the center. The prevailing situation is louder and clearer in its objective, that a single party bagging a humongous victory can be the most advantageous position.
Though tested and failed, to the Congress, Rahul Gandhi being projected as a potential challenger to Modi is the only calculated move available to make. A satisfactory attempt to once again position him with a decisive makeover before the 2024 elections would be in its interest. Ripples before the national elections could be seen when arch rivals found a fresh and aromatic reason to build their newly invented bonhomie. But the get-together by the anti-Modi forces is yet to bring a credible display of confidence to thwart the essential spirit that the Modi regime had charged the political scenario in India with. Undoubtedly, recent violence in some parts of the country sent shockwaves across the land and a little suspicion was fuming on the ruling class on its ability to curb such torrential outpouring of hostility. But that did not topple the prospects of the ruling party to an alarming magnitude. The wave of excitement is very well visible in India’s horizon of power politics as the elections inch closer and closer igniting rivalries further with meticulous calculations paving scope for speculation.
The Congress victory in the Southern state of Karnataka blessed it with a cheery moment. Unlike the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress could not build a battery of next generation leaders who could politically mobilize its ambitious expansion. This is probably a mistake that the party has failed to honestly accept. In its incessant attempt to launch Rahul Gandhi to national relevance and importance over and over again, the party blatantly lost dynamic leaders like Jyotiraditya Scindya and many more. The Congress, with its genetic tendency to completely rely on a particular family for its prospects has time and again turned a blind eye on leaders who pulsated with discontent. Everything was to satisfy one single family that the party cadre got programmed to believe the sole vote catcher with the ability to bring the Congress back to the corridors of power.
Two favorable events seem to be helping the Congress to position Rahul Gandhi as a capable challenger to Modi. The first one is the Bharat Jodo Yatra and the quantum of acceptance that the party believes its leader could garner throughout his endeavor. The second was his jubilant return to the parliament after the apex court quashed the Gujarat High Court’s verdict on him. It appears to be that Rahul Gandhi has come to terms with the ‘Modi-Reality’, its essential reach, power and acceptance. Fire-fighting Modi’s political acrimony on dynasties, a revamped Rahul was seen sharpening his teeth and tearing into the ruling party’s belligerence in the beginning of the debate in the parliament. But towards the end of the discussion, as the Prime Minister rose to reply, he and his cohorts seemed to have sensed the power of Modi’s oratory and his capacity to fight back and fact-check the opposition’s demeanors. Probably they were prompted to walkout, fearful of being exposed the chinks in their armor.  Rahul Gandhi appeared to have lost his confidence as Modi began to dismantle facts and figures on how the Congress conducted the country when it was in power.  Undoubtedly, the scope of Rahul Gandhi in the Congress is its dependency on the family. The family, as the party believes, is the only power center that can help it expand its organizational wing space to new terrains, while Rahul is the lone opposition leader who enjoys a pan India image.
The leader in the Gandhi scion seems to be unaware of the politics and the musings of politics in the Modi era and its unfathomability. Few factors seriously turn the Rahul brand into an unfavorable choice of people. This was evident in the recent survey conducted in Chhattisgarh. People pushed him aside as the majority of respondents jubilantly speculated a third term for Modi and wished to see him holding the reign once again. Here the approach is for the welfare of the nation. People refuse to confine their aspirations inside the boundaries of the state. Even if I.N.D.I.A, the latest romantic bonhomie of the opposition finalizes Mr.Gandhi as its consensus candidate, his candidacy would not cook Narendra Modi’s goose. To the Hindu majority in India, Rahul Gandhi is yet to transform himself into a convincing face to represent its cause. His occasional dramatics and comical Hindu makeovers have seriously exposed his approach towards the community and his double standards. People are not only attracted to the political positioning of Modi, but the spirit he is capable of creating and maintaining satisfies a large section of the population. This ability of Modi could necessarily chisel out a credible spiritual persona of him. Interestingly, people recognize this quality of Modi with unsuspecting enthusiasm and conviction.
Modi’s capability to powerfully recharge the spiritual ambiance in the country often witnesses huge ovations. The inauguration of the Ram temple at Ayodhya before the national election would be a shot in the arm for the BJP and for Modi this would be a historic event, a reason for which he would be remembered for generations. For Modi and his election ready core team and party, his strategic plans to place people’s progress before politics would be the core principle that they would intelligently rely on. He seems to have run his knives in advance, slicing the confidence of his opponents. Rahul Gandhi, to substantiate his present makeover since his reappearance in the parliament, needs to garnish his personality with realistic flavors instead of incriminating Modi. Devoid of principles, the lethal sadism with which Indian politics handles ideological rivalry is disgraceful and menacingly eccentric.
(The author is a Freelance Journalist, Meppurathu House, Puthusserimala P.O, Ranni-689672, Pathanamthitta District, Kerala)