heyn 5 August, when top Congress leaders dressed in black on the streets of the national capital protested against unemployment and skyrocketing commodity prices, logically the BJP government at the Center, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, should be worried. was supposed. According to India Today’s Mood of the Nation (MOTN) 2022 survey, after all, the major opposition party was raising dual issues, which everyone agrees are the two biggest failures of the Modi government. Official recognition of this fact came on the same day that the Reserve Bank of India acknowledged that inflation “remained above the upper tolerance band”.
Like most other countries, India too is bearing the brunt of global political and economic developments-Russia-Ukraine war and rising crude oil prices. The country’s foreign exchange reserves are depleting and the rupee has reached a record low against the dollar. Under these circumstances, the ruling BJP should have run for cover, defending its performance as the country’s top opposition leaders sat on the streets of Delhi demanding answers.
Instead, by evening, Congress leaders were busy justifying the agitation against inflation and unemployment. The ruling BJP alleged that it was a party ploy to divert attention from the ongoing probe by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her Lok Sabha MP son Rahul Gandhi on charges of money laundering for transactions involving the Congress party. Was. Journals Limited, a public company founded by the late Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, and Young Indian, a private unlisted company, where the mother-son duo are directors.
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Just a few weeks ago, when the ED questioned Sonia and Rahul, Congress leaders staged a nationwide protest. But then critics pointed out that party leaders, who had failed to lead a sustained agitation on any public issue since the Modi regime began, came out of their snares only when the Gandhi family faced ED questioning. Were were The grand old party was hoping that the August 5 protest would erase that criticism. Instead, the BJP packed it with a twist as the protest came two days after the ED sealed the office of Young Indian. What’s more, Union Home Minister Amit Shah found another sinister conspiracy in his time – dismissing it as a more subtle attempt by the Congress to promote minority appeasement, as Modi did in Ayodhya exactly a year ago. The foundation of Ram Mandir was laid.
It is an issue of wrong timing that has frequently troubled the Congress over the past eight years. This is not the first time that the party including top leaders like Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi has taken to the streets to raise national issues. From forcing the Modi government to withdraw proposed amendments to the Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Rehabilitation Act (2013) in 2015 to moving in with migrants during the Covid-induced lockdown in 2020, the government has been routinely targeting the government on economic issues. For, especially the Congress Rahul has played the role of a fierce opposition in the past. And the MOTN poll shows that people are appreciating the party’s performance as an opposition party – from 33 percent rating its performance six months ago as good or excellent to nearly 40 percent saying so in the current round. are.
But it still hasn’t been able to take people along because most of its movements on the ground are glowing in the pan. The party has not been able to sustain a long, vigorous campaign nor does it have a cohesive narrative. And most of the respondents feel that the top leadership—the Gandhi family—is responsible for this lack of momentum. The party continues to project the family as the last hope, but more than half of the respondents say the Congress is better off without the Gandhi family. Yet for those who still believe in the party’s first family posture, Rahul remains the first choice to revive it. The lack of leadership is evident from the fact that nearly 18 per cent of the respondents have 80-year-old Manmohan Singh, who is almost out of political action, as the party’s potential savior.
This is in stark contrast to the aged Sonia Gandhi, who has not only taken over the reins of the party, but has recently displayed renewed energy both inside and outside Parliament. But only six per cent feel that the longest-serving Congress president still has the party to rebuild. There is yet another bad news for Priyanka Gandhi, who is recovering from the poor performance of the Congress under her leadership in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections earlier this year. Often projected as an alternative to Rahul by a section of Congress, he earned the trust of only seven per cent of the respondents, while 14 per cent supported Sachin Pilot, 44, who patiently waited for the Gandhi family’s approval . Replace Ashok Gehlot as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan.
Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and other Congress leaders at the opposition’s protest in Delhi on August 5; (Photo: ANI)
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s troubles with the Congress leadership after one of her top ministers went to jail on corruption charges have left respondents disillusioned as to whether the opposition can form an effective coalition against it. can make. Modi. Only 42 per cent of the respondents think it is still possible, while 40 per cent supported the idea in the last two MOTN polls.
wooCrowds of respondents now see Rahul Gandhi and Mamata Banerjee as alternatives to Modi, with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal now on an expansion drive after his party formed the government in Punjab earlier this year. A sudden jump has been observed. rating. More than 27 percent of respondents across the country found him best suited to lead the opposition coalition, up from 16 percent six months ago. More interestingly, Kejriwal’s ratings see another jump in the West (31 per cent)—Modi’s home turf—and in the North-East (34 per cent)—where the PM’s popularity is highest.
However, he may face another challenge in the form of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who quit the NDA on August 9 to join hands with the opposition RJD and Congress. Nitish has demonstrated prime ministerial ambitions in the past and may try to emerge as the rallying point for a united front that has so far shied away from opposition parties. Mamata Banerjee (TMC), K. His personal equation with his leaders, including Chandrashekhar Rao (TRS) and Sharad Pawar (NCP), certainly gives him an edge. At the same time, the latter will also be wary of his tendency to make political attacks of his own free will. However, there is no doubt that Nitish’s return to the opposition will have an impact even after Bihar’s 40 Lok Sabha seats.