Need some naysayers too
In the Face of Orchestrated Hatred, Silence is Not an Option — this is the title of an appeal to India’s constitutional institutions by 25 of the country’s leading journalists. The appeal came to my notice a couple of days ago through social media.
Having just finished reading Aakar Patel’s The Price of the Modi Years, the importance of a credible Opposition to the political party that has found favour with 30-40 per cent of the voters cannot be minimised. Patel has a bias against his fellow compatriot from Gujarat who is now our PM. So, one does not have to agree with all his findings. But wherever he bolsters his arguments with credible facts and figures, one is bound to get disturbed.
When selfish leaders vie for supremacy in the space rendered vacant by the Congress, the Hindutva forces are bound to occupy that space.
The editors who have affixed their signatures to the ‘appeal’ are all women and men of standing. They have pointed out that the higher judiciary and the Election Commission have been side-stepping their constitutional obligation to curb this trend of so blatantly appealing to the religious sentiments of the majority community to garner votes, a ploy proscribed by law.
Recently, a Division Bench of the Supreme Court ruled in favour of a police chief in Mumbai and agreed with his lawyers that the Maharashtra Government was not likely to investigate fairly the five criminal charges with which he was saddled because he had exposed the corruption of the state’s Home Minister! The judges were justified to hold those views (though the public and the policemen are well aware of the part played by both, the minister and the police chief in the conspiracy).
But why are such lofty principles not applied to assaults on the constitutional rights of citizens belonging to rival dispensations when attempts are made to scare them out of their wits? After the very unconstitutional insult of the CAA legislation came the threat of applying the NRC to states other than Assam! When the sants and the seers aligned to the Sangh Parivar threatened to exterminate every Muslim in the country, why was the UAPA not applied, like it was to the JNU students and Disha Ravi? Why are the Sangh Parivar’s supporters treated differently from those of Opposition parties when the crimes they are accused of are equally serious?
What is required is a strong voice of an Opposition in every state Assembly and in the Lok Sabha. Without a stout Opposition, democracy turns listless and, worse, autocratic. The recent elections in Punjab threw up a one-party rule which is not really ideal. The AAP in the Punjab Assembly has no opposition worth the name. The ranks of the Congress are split. The BJP is non-existent in a crucial border state, where protagonists of Khalistan can re-emerge if the cards are not properly dealt. The Akalis are still reeling from the taint of drug smuggling.
Providentially, Akhilesh Yadav and his Samajwadi Party has emerged as a credible Opposition in Uttar Pradesh. The voters decided it to be so. They gave the BJP a clear majority to ensure stability and, simultaneously, those opposed to the Hindutva ideology overwhelmingly chose one party, Akhilesh’s, to keep the Yogi government on leash. This is how it should be.
The talk now is about 2024, and Modi’s ‘double engine’. Modi does have a head start. The Opposition is fractured, with three distinct figures vying for the leadership role. Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Didi, and now, Arvind Kejriwal. I suspect that K Chandrashekar Rao of Telangana also fancies his chances! None of them on their own can match strides with Modi. Unity looks to be elusive, despite Prashant Kishor’s magic wand and his calculations.
The Congress, with its old record of governing and footprint in every state, is more strategically placed to assume the mantle of the ‘Leader of the Opposition’. Unfortunately, Rahul Gandhi is not cut out to be a politician. Even when he repeats ‘Chowkidar chor hai’ he is not believed, unlike Modi who can make black into white and vice versa without batting an eyelid. The marvel is that the people believe him! And so it is advantage Modi when he is pitted against Rahul.
Didi would make a better Leader of the Opposition. She, like Modi, has a capacity for the dramatic and knows how to sway people’s minds. No one can dislodge her from her perch in Bengal. She could capture Tripura in time but not much more. Kejriwal has an edge over her in the Hindi heartland with his mastery over the language. But he lacks a foothold in the South and in the East.
I do not know how these varied personalities are going to settle this vital question of Opposition leadership. Or is Kishor confident of sorting out this issue without whose resolution there is not going to arise a viable opposition to the BJP’s majoritarian agenda? Hindutva’s core constituency, which is 20 per cent of the voting population of our country, is sure to exult. With the added support of the 15 or 20 per cent of OBCs, which catapulted the BJP to political power in the ‘first past the post’ system of elections, the party can pursue its goal of forming a ‘Hindu rashtra’.
The minorities, mainly Muslims, are bound to be worse off in the new India. The Constitution will be sought to be changed to make India a theocracy, like our western neighbour. The liberal democrats will have their voices choked. The Pegasus spyware will become the coinage of surveillance! Not a very appetising prospect but it is the most likely scenario in a one-party rule which is in power because though the Opposition has greater numbers, it is fragmented.
When selfish leaders vie for supremacy in the space rendered vacant by a once-dominant Indian National Congress, the ideologically committed Hindutva forces are bound to occupy that space by embracing the most vulnerable and the most needy and keeping hope alive. The ongoing competition between the Opposition’s bigwigs will make them individually more vulnerable!
