By T.J.S. George
The Congress and the BJP have one thing in common — each is led by a Superman. But the BJP’s superman has a bunch of subalterns with him. That is a force multiplier. The Congress superman is a solitary sentinel. That is poor war tactics.
Narendra Modi uses his fire power as no one else does. Yet he has Amit Shah making aggressive speeches all over the country, Piyush Goyal holding forth even in alien territory like Tamil Nadu, Nitin Gadkari and Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh raising voices that draw attention and Sushma Swaraj bringing up the rear. A sizeable bunch to make a sizeable impact.
Turn to the Congress and what we hear is a one-man orchestra. An entrepreneurs’ meeting in Bengaluru? It’s Rahul Gandhi. A public meeting in Itanagar? It’s Rahul Gandhi. A mass meeting in Gandhinagar? It’s Rahul Gandhi. A popular do in a Chennai Women’s College? It’s Rahul Gandhi. A campaign meeting in Sabalgarh in Madhya Pradesh? It’s Rahul Gandhi. In Guwahati, Kanyakumari, Gulbarga, Kochi, wherever the Congress states its case, you see no Congress stalwart other than Rahul Gandhi. Does the Congress have no other stalwarts?
But it has. There are young and articulate leaders like Sachin Pilot and Jyotiraditya Scindia and Milind Deora. There are old war horses like Digvijay Singh and Kamal Nath and Oommen Chandy. But we don’t see or hear the young and the bright. We hear about the old and the tested only in their unending battles for prominence. At a time when all guns should be blazing at a single target, the Congress is leaving everything to one individual. Is the dynasty thing at work again despite the havoc it has wrought?
Naturally the Congress is too ineffective in too many places. Ask who is the chief of the party in an important State such as Maharashtra and you will hear some people mentioning Sanjay Nirupam, and some others mentioning Ashok Chavan. Nirupam in turn is constantly fighting with Milind Deora, probably because he sees a threat in Deora’s popularity-cum-capability. Not surprisingly, the Congress attracts none of the smaller but important group leaders such as Prakash Ambedkar or Raju Shetty.
Delhi is another revealing case. Commonsense demands that the Congress must tie up with other parties that want to check the BJP. In Delhi’s case, it is the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Important Congressmen favour a working alliance, but yesterday’s leader Sheila Dixit goes by day-before-yesterday’s ideas. Result: The BJP gains.
In Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh, the victory the Congress recently won should have energised the leadership. But what we see is a sense of nothing-is-happening. Would it have been different if the choice of CMs was based not on pressure politics by the old guard but on an assessment of the need of the hour? Rahul Gandhi does not seem to have the power to enforce his will and bring new blood into leadership ranks.
The consequent infighting in the party is nowhere more dismal than in Kerala. To begin with, the Congress in Kerala has several heads — Oommen Chandy, Mullapally, Ramesh Chennithala, A.K. Antony and V.M. Sudheeran. It is also the only State where the Congress is officially and openly divided into “A” group and “I” group. Fights between A and I are more deadly than Congress-Communist fights. Younger leaders are not allowed to come up. In fact, the younger ranks have such bright and modernistic leaders that if they are allowed to take over, both the party and the State are sure to see rapid progress. But such things do not happen in a Me-Myself-And-I culture.
The macabre nature of that culture bared itself last week when veteran leader K.V. Thomas declared war against the party. The ticket he expected was taken away from him and given to Hybi Eden instead. Thomas was 72 and Eden exactly half that age, 36. Besides, Thomas had had a lot of jam; he was MLA for long, MP for long, a Minister in Kerala, a Minister in Delhi and the holder of several positions inside the party and outside. Still he wouldn’t yield to a younger man. The party finally bought peace by offering him more jam without revealing any details.
The BJP has internal fights as well. But the number of top leaders campaigning diligently makes up for it. There is energy and imagination in the BJP’s campaign style. There is energy in Rahul Gandhi, but there is no imagination, and he is alone. The chief enemy of the Congress is the Congress.
Rahul will win in all the places where he has nt opened his mouth! People have started realizing that he is a lier ! It is making them angry and people are shouting pro Modi slogans in his rally! Police are arresting them and besting them! This is causipubg resentment that he is turning innocent and docile people to be Active Modi volunteers!
EXCELLENT ARTICLE BY THE AUTHOR.
Yes, he is all alone when it comes to spreading the truth! He needs the help from Sonia, Priaynka and Robert, Lalu and sons, mani Shankar iyer and Many leaders should start telling the truth about Modis dishonesty and corruption and how he stole 30000 crores from Rafael deal and gave it to Ambani, how all the othe Modis were favored by PM Modi and how Modi is weak on tackling terrorism, how he is making the Air Force , army and Navy lie about surgical strikes that never happened! He can take the help of Kanhiah and his JNU friends too who can talk of Hindu terrorism !
This election is very important and an oppurtunity to restore democracy like before!
The Congress toady Mani Shankar Iyer is a traitor! This man went to Pakista to seek their help to bring down Modi’s Government. Yet the Sonia and Rahul did nothing. This toady should be in jail, nay hanged for treason.
If this article by TJS is an attempt to prove his objectivity, it is a failure. You are a congress bakht/devotee, be a man and admit it.
Startling statements by Nirav Modi. #breaking_news
NIRAV MODI STATEMENT IN LONDON COURT THAT HE DID NOT ESCAPE FROM
INDIA I WAS THREATEND BY CONGRESS LEADERS TO
ESCAPE AND RUNAWAY FROM INDIA I GAVE THEM
COMMISSION OF RUPEES 456 CRORES TO CONGRESS
LEADERS
WHEN NIRAV MODI WAS ARRESTED IMMEDIATELY
WHY WAS KAPIL SIBHAL SENT TO LONDON?NIRAV MODI HAVE THREE PASSPORT WHICH WAS MADE IN 2010? CONGRESS LEADERS ARE IN SHOCK SHIVERING AND FRIGHTEND
NIRAV MODI GAVE VERY BIG STATEMENT IN LONDON COURT THAT RUPEES 13000 CRORES MY SHARE IS 32% ONLY BALANCE MONEY BELONG TO THE CONGRESS LEADERS SO THEY ARE VERY FRIGHTEND OF MODI.
#End_Of_Congress_Soon
By Hemant Goplani, UK
Rahul Gandhi’s decision to contest from Kerala has opened up fault-lines in the anti-BJP front.
Rahul Gandhi’s decision to choose Wayanad in Kerala, in addition to Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, to contest, could well be a defining moment in this election. Though Wayanad was under consideration for at least two weeks, the decision was nonetheless surprising as his principal opponent would be, not his national-level ideological rival the BJP, but a party of the Left, which is in the forefront of the fight for a secular alternative to the ruling formation. This paradox could turn out to be a central challenge in the emergence of a national coalition against the BJP because many parties that are opposed to the BJP are also opposed to one another.
Mr. Gandhi’s gambit amplifies that contradiction and marks a rupture between the Congress and the Left Front — fierce opponents in Kerala, but natural partners at the Centre. The national leadership of the Congress had kept an arm’s length from the highly competitive politics in Kerala, where its State unit and the Left are face to face. The exigencies of national politics shape their cooperation elsewhere. Only recently, on Mr. Gandhi’s watch, the Congress was in seat-sharing talks with the Left in West Bengal. Though the Congress has said Mr. Gandhi’s candidature is not against the Left, the latter has been brutal in its reaction. The Congress claim that the foray signalled Mr. Gandhi’s commitment to all regions is hollow. And the choice of Kerala, rather than Karnataka, where the Congress is locked in a direct battle with the BJP, is difficult to explain. If the Left frontally attacked the Congress, the BJP was disparaging. Amit Shah remarked Mr. Gandhi feared he would be held accountable by Amethi’s voters; and Narendra Modi, in a statement with communal overtones, said Mr. Gandhi chose the seat because Hindus were in a minority there.
By fielding Mr. Gandhi from Wayanad, the Congress has taken a view that considerations of alliances are now secondary to its push to maximise its individual tally. Without clarity of concept on addressing this fault-line, there can be no effective cooperation among non-BJP parties. Though it is unfair to put the entire onus of aggregating non-BJP politics on Mr. Gandhi, his candidacy in Wayanad can do nothing for the larger secular cause and is already being interpreted by his adversaries as only tantamount to pressing a panic butten.