RAJ DALUJA
JAMMU: The climax of the comedy circus called INDI Alliance turned tragic unexpectedly with Congress President Malikarjun Kharge getting an ‘uncomfortable tag’ of the opposition amalgam’s Prime Minister face against mighty Narendra Modi. The ironic phase of the fast developing events at the INDI Alliance’s much talked about conclave in New Delhi was the name of Kharge being proposed by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee and seconded by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The move comes after the meeting between the two chief ministers a day before.
The air-pollution struck ‘foggy Delhi’ of Arvind Kejriwal’s woke up with the speculations of Nitish Kumar, Sharad Pawar and Mamata Banerjee being projected as the INDI Alliance’s PM face but as the day progressed, the ‘axe’ fell on Kharge. It is like being between the devil and deep sea for the veteran Congress leader, a strong loyalist of Gandhis, whose siblings Rahul and Priyanka nowhere in the scene. Imagine the ‘Dharam Sankat’ for Kharge to be a reason of annoyance for the Gandhi duo. Much stinging is the fact that nobody realized the worth of the fourth-generation of the Nehru-Gandhi clan even to be considered for the slot. This must have sent shock waves among the Congressmen from Delhi to every State and Union Territory capitals across the country. Some must be raging with anger at how the Gandhis were ignored. For poor Kharge it is ‘Na Ugalne Se Bane, Na Nigalne Se.’ in local parlance. Accepting the tag of the PM Face would mean for Kharge annoying Gandhis and rejecting it tantamount throttling the already shrunk poll prospectus of the opposition amalgam before Modi juggernaut in 2024.
Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal have played really very smart. Both the Chief Ministers are already on record having stated that they won’t part with any seat for the Congress or the INDI Alliance either in TMC’s West Bengal or AAP’s Delhi and Punjab. Is it a move to break the Congress? Even a fresher in political science can understand well that Mamta-Kejri wants to supplement the BJP’s efforts of Congress Mukt Bharat. The Akhilesh-Congress cold-war is no more a secret. Nitish Kumar’s ambitions for the top executive slot of the country stand shattered. Maharashtra strongman Sharad Pawar is feeling isolated from day-one, especially after nephew Ajit Pawar jumped ship to take side with the BJP.
On a personal note for poor Kharge, he is the ‘compromise’ person to face failures. Rising as the Congress President owes courtesy to Ashok Gehlot’s refusal to take up the job. Emerging as a dark horse for INDI Alliance is the outcome of the partners in showing down the Gandhis and breaking the Congress. He could not conceal his helplessness and said, “This is too premature”. But there are no takers, not even the Gandhi’s who must be fuming. After all important political allies have come up with the proposal.
The other small timers like NC, PDP, DMK, Shiv Sena Udhav Thackeray Group are of no consequence. They are just a bunch of clowns of the circus, meant to serve as cheerleaders.
They have the value of spoiling whatsoever little chance the opposition in INDI Alliance Avtaar has. Communists have already denounced Kharge for the top post.
In this scheme of things, will Narendra Modi have the last laugh to score a hat-trick?
