DOST KHAN
JAMMU: Saying good bye to self-imposed hibernation after humiliating electoral drubbing three months ago, Rahul Gandhi has finally preferred to open up his mouth on the completion of Narendra Modi led NDA Government’s 100 days. Instead of making a critical analysis of the BJP led government in New Delhi, the Congress Vice President and apparently most powerful opposition leader took jibe at Modi saying, “He was playing drum in Japan while people suffered from power crisis and soaring vegetable prices”. Thank almighty, he did not make a mention of flute, which Narendra Modi played when he visited an elementary school in Tokyo and mingled with the students, narrating them the story of Lord Krishna. Rahul Gandhi could have conveniently taken refuge under the adage Neru was fiddling when Rome was burning.
Rahul Gandhi has painted a very alarming picture of India facing ‘power crisis and soaring vegetable prices’. Had these words come from any television anchor or a third rung leader of Aam Aadmi Party, margin could be given for his over-enthusiasm and lack of understanding. But these are the observations of a person who could have been Prime Minister of India, had his party run government not messed up the entire system during the past one decade. The power crisis, rising vegetable prices or rampant corruption is the legacy of UPA-I and II, which were ruled by proxy from 10 Janpath. Did the occupants of this ‘royal residence’ think for a while where they were leading the nation of 1.25 billion. The world kept hearing of scandal after scandal every alternate day with the ‘gentleman Prime Minister’ brooding on coalition compulsion. The height of political appreciation of Rahul Gandhi can be gauged from the fact that he too believed corruption to go and prices to come down in first 100 days of Narendra Modi Government. Did he perceive the man from Gujarat carrying a magic wand and passing on orders to ‘Ginni’ to clear the mess his squad left behind after ruining the country for ten crucial years?
The bewildered and rudderless Congress seems to have lost its direction. When Rahul Gandhi was shedding crocodile tears over rising prices while talking to media persons, he did not think for a split second about ‘those historical napping moments of Lok Sabha’ when lawmakers were holding debate over this crucial issue. He could have participated and forcefully put his point instead of sneezing on a back bench of Lok Sabha.
The Congress Vice President and his battery of spokespersons should try to understand that there is a government in New Delhi, which can be seen moving. It is asserting rather than suffering from policy paralysis; good or bad, decisions are taken by the Chief Executive and not conveyed from invisible quarters; the institution of PMO has regained its defined stature and grandeur. India is moving ahead with a leader at the front. The era of dummies is over. The visits of the Prime Minister in immediate neighbourhood-Nepal and Bhutan-and now Japan has caught imagination of the world. The visiting countries are bidding farewell to protocol to receive the man from Bharat or Hindustan. India is being talked about, no matter the vibes are emanating from Narendra Modi. The compatriots are feeling a sense of pride after many many decades. It would have only been gracious of Rahul Gandhi not to have taken barb on Modi, if he could not be magnanimous enough to acknowledge the trans-border popularity of Indian Prime Minister. This reminds of the era of his great grandfather Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, or for that matter father Rajiv Gandhi, who enjoyed some sort of international clout.
Indians must now learn that politics is not all about mudslinging or indulging in opposition for the sake of opposition. Indian history is replete of glorious instances of politicians rising above party politics and acknowledging the good work of even opponents. Remember Pandit Nehru praising the oratory skills of young parliamentarian Atal Behari Vajpayee and predicting him to be Prime Minister of India some day.
We should not equally forget Vajpayee calling Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as Maa Durga after the debacle of Pakistan in 1971 when a new nation Bangladesh took birth on the eastern borders of India. These healthy political practices have submerged in the oblivion with present crop of politicians believing in roars alone. Rahul Gandhi has been the inheritor of Pandit Nehru’s legacy and he should try to acquire statesmanship like qualities. He should also learn some lessons from the blunders he and his party committed during past one decade in particular. Had the 44 year old Nehru-Gandhi scion tried to emulate Nehruvian spirit, the once massive Indian National Congress would not have been reduced as a paltry 44-member squad in 16th Parliament of Independent India.
