Harcharan Bains
The results of the just-concluded Gujarat and the Himachal Pradesh elections have thrown up some important outcomes. One is the introduction of a new equation into the political idiom: “anger versus decency and dignity.”
The fact that a mainstream political cameo has coined it means that we may be entering a new phase in political maturity. But what strikes an impartial observer is that the Gujarat poll has thrown up a clear winner and yet no clear loser, except if one figures AAP into the calculations. Between the BJP and the Congress, it is just about even-Steven: the former held on to the crown without completely demolishing the challenger.
The BJP has retained the state for 22 years – a grand feat – surpassed only by the Left Front’s 33 years. But like West Bengal, the Gujarat phenomenon spins around the charisma of one man. It was Jyoti Basu in West Bengal and it is Narendra Modi in Gujarat.
The continuation in the last few years was driven largely on the after-effects of the charismatic steam let off by these two leaders in their respective states. That holds a message for the manner our democratic system and, more importantly, the political psyche of our people works when it comes to the actual day of polling. In Gujarat, one can safely credit the BJP’s win to the Prime Minister’s mixture of hard work and charisma. It is a result achieved against an unexpectedly formidable challenge thrown by a combination of factors and forces, including the voters’ impatience with the persistence with just saffron-hued slogans.
All in all, the PM has earned himself a good night’s sleep. But the Congress should not lose sleep or be unduly demoralised. Considering where the political momentum stood only a year ago, Rahul Gandhi’s showing seems to inspire two things which the party has lacked ever since they let it be known that the good doctor was being sent upstairs as a patron-in-chief.
All these years, the party looked like an army that had jettisoned its only asset – an ageing but able generalissimo – without having built up a replacement. In the end, it became a credibility vacuum. And all these years, Rahul Gandhi looked so lost that the party must have had moments of silent breast-beating. That is the cruelest fate that can befall any party.
Luckily for the Congress, Rahul Gandhi seems to have got his act together and is beginning to take his own words seriously – and, therefore, justifiably expects to be taken seriously by his own clansmen. There is a decisive shift in his tone, tenor, temper and technique while relating to his audience. The ‘Pappu’ tag may no longer be thrown at him without fear of a recoil. It was a masterstroke for him to call the BJP people “our brothers” who are not outside the zone of the Congress horizon.
Rahul Gandhi seems to have realised that if the BJP has to be attacked on its alleged politics of hate and stridency, then the Congress’ own conduct must represent a contrast through mature articulation of the culture of inclusiveness. This is an approach in which all Indians, regardless of their religion, are Indians first and Hindus or Muslims or Sikhs only thereafter. This marks a return to Nehruvian soft secularism. This also amounts to answering the BJP’s tag of ‘pseudo-secularists’ for its opponents. The political idiom in the days to come is in for some interesting innovations.
But Rahul has been smart in not making his ‘secular’ tone abrasively anti-BJP. That would have been self-defeating. If he insists – as he does – that hate cannot be fought with hate, then at the barest minimum he has to demonstrate the sincerity of his words and attitude in his approach towards the BJP itself whom he accuses of injecting hate into the Indian polity. He has sought to soften the impact of the BJP’s stridency towards him by refusing to respond to it – or by refusing to bite the bait of returning hate with hate.
Rahul must be aware that he is far away from presenting a credible challenge and it seems that at least on this day, the PM will take the BJP past the 2019 hurdle. But the BJP has to acknowledge that the Congress is back as a credible opposition and looks better prepared to play that role.
It seems that the country might not be in the mood for a change of guard in 2019. But India definitely seems increasingly to veer round to the view that Modi is better off for the country with a strong opposition than without it. The Modi of 2019 will no longer be the invincible and immortal Modi of today.
And that may be a good thing for everyone, including Mr Modi, Rahul and the country. We need a strong opposition as much as we need a strong government. Of course, the first thing we need is a good government. And there, it is Modi who remains the first choice – for now.
Rahul Gandhi seems to have realised that if the BJP has to be attacked on its alleged politics of hate and stridency, then the Congress’ own conduct must represent a contrast through mature articulation of the culture of inclusiveness. This is an approach in which all Indians, regardless of their religion, are Indians first and Hindus or Muslims or Sikhs only thereafter. This marks a return to Nehruvian soft secularism.
