Balbir Punj writes
At one level, journalist and former MP from the Congress MJ Akbar, and at another level, former JD(U) leader Sabir Ali, have answered the self-styled secular parties’ charge against BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi by praising his party. In a lucid statement on why he is supporting Mr Modi, Mr Akbar distinguished between the expectations of those above 40 years of age and those in their 20s. Pointing out their different aspirations, he went to the heart of the major issue in this election:
“For those on the wrong side of 30 or 40, five years is just another passage in life. For those who are 25 years, it is the difference between aspiration and despair. If a young person does not find a job in these five years, he or she begins to lose that vital energy which comes from self-confidence. If the young do not power the economy then the economy will be stuck in the quagmire of idle waste.
“There is only one way forward. And there is among the visible choices , only one person best suited to lift the nation out of a septic swamp.”
The rush to join the BJP, powered by their individual evaluation of that choice, several other leaders like NK Singh, a former Union Finance Secretary, and RK Singh, a former Union Home Secretary, have shown the way to the electorate. They are among several others at that level whose ability to make an independent choice and not be blinded by the endless divide the other political parties are making to tar the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, is beyond question.
At the other end, the Congress, clinging on to the last days of its power, is almost turning shameless in displaying its corruption-tainted hand. Look at the appointment that Union Minister for Home Affairs Sushil Kumar Shinde gave to the 2G scam-accused entrepreneur Shahid Balwa. What made Mr Shinde meet a major accused in a prime case of corruption involving the UPA Government functionaries and who is on bail, has not been made clear.
The urgency of this meeting has gone unexplained while its in- appropriateness is all too evident. The two persons have given two different versions why they had to meet. Former Union Home Secretary RK Singh had revealed days before this meeting that Mr Shinde had sought to interfere with the 2G scam being investigated by the CBI.
Mr Shinde has only confirmed what Mr Singh had revealed. That despite an election campaign going on, the Union Home Minister gives an appointment to a major accused in a case involving the functionaries of the Government, exposes the depths to which the UPA has sunk; it’s still sinking unashamedly. Unashamedly because it is itself convinced that it is not going to return to power for years to come. So why not celebrate the last days of its rule!
Even irrespective of the outcome of this general election, the political situation that has evolved in the last 12 months leaves little room for excluding the conclusion that the Congress will be out of power almost across the country and the stage is set for the Bharatiya Janata Party-led partnership to take the centre-stage.
The last instalment of elections to the State Assemblies, re-confirmed the BJP as the popular choice for running the State Governments for the third time in succession in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and earlier in Gujarat. This time, Rajasthan was added to the list where the then ruling Congress was decimated. Central India is now totally BJP-ruled, and in the west, besides the thrice-confirmed dominance of the BJP in Gujarat, the party with its allies is well entrenched to challenge the Congress-Nationalist Congres Party combine in Maharashtra.
The Congress as a national party is now threatened with a total eclipse from the national scene. Across the entire Gangetic plains, the only State that the Congress holds on to is Haryana. In eastern India, only Jharkhand has a Government in which the Congress is there in the State regime as a junior partner.
In the south, entire Andhra is lost to the Congress. In this election it does not have even a local ally in this region where it was the dominant party only as recently as in 2012. In Tamil Nadu, for 50 years, it has had to hang on to the coat-tails of either of the two rival Dravida parties to gain a share of power or get a few Members of Parliament at the Centre.
It’s only in Kerala and Karnataka where the Congress has a major presence. But in Kerala it is the allies in the ruling UDF that are having a major say in the State Government that is reduced to a single-member majority in the State Assembly.
The Congress faces the prospect of being virtually out of power in the entire country except perhaps in Assam, North-East and Karnataka. Its State Government in Uttarakhand is shaky, and in Himachal Pradesh the second most powerful figure in that party has joined the BJP.
Corruption charges and inquiries are swirling round it— the CBI has questioned Mr TKA Nair, who was Secretary to the Prime Minister when the coal scam took place. To what extent will the earlier 2G scam sully the Government, will shortly be known once the court verdict on the issue comes.
Meanwhile, the apex court has overturned many of its pet schemes, the latest being the Aadhaar card on which thousands of crores have been expended and which has now become a dud. The exodus of the Congress’s leading figures such as Union Minister for Finance P Chidambaram from the electoral arena sends out a message of a ship whose officers have decided that it is sinking.
The decision of Mr Modi to contest also from Varanasi with its significant Muslim population, especially of the grassroots artisans like weavers, itself exposes the communal card as ineffective and irrelevant. Besides, Varanasi is also an Indian cultural centre where the most holy shrines of Hindu religion and environment proclaim of a history of several thousand years, going back to the origins of India’s culture and philosophy.
In that ancient city, there is also a convergence of people and cultures and saints and musicians, artisans and artists. The choice of Varanasi as his proving ground for leading this nation of great diversity led by its majority religion, is itself an act of both courage and affirmation of national leadership for Mr Modi.
The next Prime Minister will not only be from the BJP but also truly represent the nation, sharply contrasting with his predecessor who was, as some analysts mocked, a mere nominee.
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