sOniya is ready for Gandhi to resemble At the Enforcement Directorate office on Thursday National Herald Case. This comes after several hours of questioning of Rahul Gandhi last month. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP in their quest for a ‘Congress-mukt Bharat’ have largely eroded the political clout of the Congress party since 2014. Many people are now asking why keep whipping a dead horse?
The appearance of Sonia Gandhi physically weak in the ED office is bound to generate some public sympathy in a few quarters (more than Rahul’s presence). Does the BJP want to rekindle this sentiment a little bit?
This is a short-term strategic move at a time when regional leaders are emerging. Let’s call it the rise of the rest. Modi’s BJP would prefer Congress as the main rival in states like Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, rather than regional leaders who are more politically agile and street-smart.
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Sonia Gandhi attacked again
But it was not too long ago that Modi did not even take Sonia Gandhi’s name or mention her directly. Rahul Gandhi was prince, At a public rally in 2018 Rajasthan, Modi was widely claimed to have indirectly referred to Sonia Gandhi as “Congress widow(Widows of Congress) Talking of widow pension scheme. This, as we call it, was a hidden jib. While Modi was heavily criticized, Sonia Gandhi ended with public sympathy after the assassination of her husband Rajiv.
Sonia Gandhi has been ill for the past decade. The news of her being diagnosed with cervical cancer, for which she had to undergo Surgery In the US, came in 2011. Since then, Sonia’s harsh silence has been an indicator of her deteriorating health, which has also hampered the electoral growth of the Congress. In fact, the BJP’s targeting of Sonia – for being an Italian and not qualified to lead in India – has been laid for a long time since 2014. She was just so sick that no one could feel morally right about attacking her. Instead the attacks were directed either at the deceased Nehru-Gandhi family or Robert Vadra or just Rahul Gandhi.
But in a month things have changed. Suddenly BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra… accuse Sonia Gandhi tried to implicate Modi in the 2002 Gujarat riots. And ED insists on calling Sonia Gandhi for questioning National Herald Case after suspension of summons due to his contracted covid. Rahul Gandhi was duly interrogated for about 10 hours on two occasions.
No, BJP is not going for murder. As the old saying of Sun Tzu goes: “And so, in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and strike the weak.”
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BJP Ashanti Vs The Rise Of The Rest
The rise of Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee and now K Chandrashekhar Rao cannot be taken lightly. In fact, KCR’s pinch of Modi should be watched very closely during his subsequent visit to Telangana in February and May this year. Modi has many contenders vying for the spot that the Congress has been vying for because of its weak leadership. And so, a weak devil you know better than a new one. And here, Modi has a lot.
At this point Modi’s political advisers may have to repent so brutally after the Congress party. The public opinion against Gandhi was so strong that keeping him as their main rival would have worked like magic in every election. But putting aside the insignificance of the Congress and the Gandhi family, the BJP has been left with regionally strong competitors. These are leaders who have risen from the ground and the simple stick of corruption and dynastic dynasties working against the Congress cannot give much credibility to the BJP’s claims here.
Hence, the BJP is back to using its trump card – the Congress – to deny the importance of regional players. It played the game in Punjab by accusing the Congress and then Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi of causing “physical harm” during Modi’s much-publicized alleged security breach. The BJP tried to undermine Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), ignoring the big steps taken by them. The result is in front of everyone. AAP won Punjab with a thumping majority. And because the BJP didn’t have much to say against him, he kept cracking frivolous jokes about the Aam Aadmi Party fielding a ‘drunken’ for the chief minister’s post. Congress, on the other hand, will be described by Amit Shah Being on a “road to madness” because of being “repeated by people”.
The BJP seems to have made a big mistake by opening up national politics to regional leaders. Congress’s biological decay has accelerated the process. If the Chief Minister of Gujarat can become the Prime Minister, then the day is not far when another Chief Minister is holding that coveted chair.
The author is a political observer who tweets @zainabsikander. Thoughts are personal.
(edited by Prashant)