If Narendra Modi makes a triumphant return to power as the unquestioned leader of the BJP, let me speculate, there are many possibilities for the future of India — the Constitution will be amended to fix the problem of Jammu & Kashmir once and for all. This, I think, will affirm the genuine Secular character of our country apart from guaranteeing its unity and integrity.  A New India may also emerge fashioned after the ideology of RSS. This indeed may enable the Minorities, whose religions are not born here in this soil but alien to this land, to enjoy fully the benefits of Secularism which is inherent in Hinduism as RSS claims.

All is fair in Love and War,” is a saying as old as the hills. The meaning of this aphorism is axiomatic. It simply means whatever one does in the matter of love and war, even if it is unfair and unjust, even violent, the goal is the same — winning. Here “means” do not count and naturally Mahatma Gandhi’s precept that “Means are more important than the end” does not apply when one is engaged in a love-affair or a war. Probably, that is the reason why love is called blind and war, bloody. Which is why, whenever there is a strong rivalry or contest, it is called a war in common parlance. Election, for example.

I am rambling in this manner after seeing the war that is going on in the Parliamentary elections all over the country. Nothing seems to be “fair” in this war if we see the way rivals use abusive language and mock at each other. Each political party has its own slogan for this historic 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The Prime Minister has come up with a slogan which says, “The impossible is now possible” (Namumkin ab mumkin hai). Well, you have guessed what Modi means ! Of course, if only the voters elect his political party — the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In contrast, the Congress President says, “Chowkidar Chor Hai,” doggedly beating a dead horse of an allegation of “Rafale scam.” This reminds me of the slogan heard during Rajiv Gandhi’s “Bofors scam” days which said “Gali Gali Mein Shor Hai, Rajiv Gandhi Chor Hai !” Could it be that his son is now settling scores with the BJP? If my memory serves me right, in an extempore live programme in the Akashavani  Studios of MP, a youngster uttered this slogan rather innocently, not knowing its legal and political implications. The AIR Director was either sacked or transferred. In India everybody practices, what Mahatma Gandhi called, “politics without principle.” Let it be.

It was only in the 1977 Parliamentary elections, immediately after the Internal Emergency was lifted, that I had seen a Parliamentary election fought in a vicious, vengeful manner. All those opposition politicians and political parties, with disparate ideologies, came together under one banner, Janata Party. Indira Gandhi mockingly called it “Khichdi Party,” ‘a strange animal.’

And now, I am seeing a similar opposition formation called “Mahaghatbandhan” to take on not so much the BJP as its Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Only this man Modi seems formidable to the Opposition, including the grand-old-party of India, the Congress.

I have read that history has an eerie trait of repeating itself. Will the result of the 1977 Parliamentary election repeat itself ? Which means that the present “Mahaghatbandhan” winning this election like it happened in 1977. Good news, if in the unlikely event, the “Mahaghatbandhan” wins.  Rahul Gandhi and his collaborators in the “Mahaghatbandhan” will celebrate.  However, who knows, a V.P. Singh and the likes of him in the “Mahaghatbandhan,” waiting in the wings to occupy the Prime Ministerial gaddi, may bring down the Government like a house of cards paving way for another election. And then we may see the history repeating itself in an uncanny way, mocking at the Indian voters and like Indira Gandhi in 1980, who knows, Narendra Modi might make a triumphant return to power as the unquestioned leader of the BJP and the country.

If this happens, let me speculate, there are many possibilities for the future of India — the Constitution will be amended to fix the problem of Jammu & Kashmir once and for all. This, I think, will affirm the genuine Secular character of our country apart from guaranteeing its unity and integrity. A New India may also emerge fashioned after the ideology of RSS. This indeed may enable the Minorities, whose religions are not born here in this soil but alien to this land, to enjoy fully the benefits of Secularism which is inherent in Hinduism as RSS claims.

However, these Minorities, specially the major one, may do well to listen to the wiser counsel of two brilliant economic and political brains of India — Dr. Subramanian Swamy and Shashi Tharoor. Read their books and listen to their talks. I see a ray of hope in their thoughts for the country and also the Minorities I mentioned above. I guess Mother India will go by its mother’s instinct, intuition and love to look after its 130 crore children, with special attention to the specially-abled children — the Minorities.

Jai Hind 

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