Amulya Ganguli is a veteran journalist and a seasoned political commentator.
Amulya Ganguli is a veteran journalist and a seasoned political commentator.
It goes without saying that the Congress’s good showing in the three states is Rahul Gandhi’s big moment. He led the party from the front by effectively replying to Narendra Modi’s barbs with the video which the Congress president tweeted about the prime minister’s incessant harping on the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty being perhaps the most telling riposte.
It is not for India, let alone its army chief, to tell Pakistan how to run its affairs even if India does not approve of its form of governance with its dominant military presence or the religious-oriented character of its society. All that is in the domain of the Pakistani people and it is up to them to retain or reject them.
At a time of frenetic saffronisation – defying the judiciary on temples and erasing Muslim names – the Congress has to reiterate what Nehru said about India being a land of many faiths where no one religion should dominate.
Legal impediments are unlikely to deter the party when it feels that the raising of religious fervour is the only way to overcome the government’s inability to keep its promise of vikas. While the RSS’ Mohan Bhagwat is calling for an ordinance to start building Ram temple, the BJP has decided to make full use of the Sabarimala issue even though it involves flouting the landmark Supreme Court judgment.
It is difficult to see in what way the likes of Pranab Mukherjee or Kailash Satyarthi can gain by associating with an organization which had been banned several times, including in the aftermath of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination because of suspected complicity.
Behind this orchestrated targeting of the immigrants is the party’s need to pose as the sole saviour of the nation in the run-up to the next general election when all other parties are unwilling, in its view, to denounce the “aliens” and take effective steps against them because they are a part of the Muslim vote bank of the “secular” parties.