At long last, it was good and heartening to see the Congress party hit the streets on an issue of national importance. No one can deny the pains which lower and middle classes of India are facing due to price hikes. RBI says that present 7% inflation is not acceptable. The price of gas cylinder has reverted the lifestyle of the poorest of poor who were provided with gas stove under Ujjwala Yojana. The top leadership i.e. the Gandhi family was in the centre of the protests. The iconic picture of the agitation was the forcible removal of Priyanka Gandhi from dharna on the road.
This was the ninth occasion in nearly a month when Congress was clashing with police. Enforcement Directorate’s questioning of Rahul Gandhi on five occasions and Sonia Gandhi on three occasions saw the Congress on the street with occasional violence and arson. Since these protests were against Gandhi’s questioning in money laundering case involving Young Indians and AJL, this was seen by the public as protests for a family. Earlier Gandhi had failed to get any relief from judiciary to stall the investigation in this matter. This weekend the moral authority of those protests and they failed to arouse any sympathy for the Congress. Though it is evident to everyone that CBI and ED are bulldozing selectively only the leaders of the opposition for political vendetta, yet every individual case has to be explained. There is chequered history in India of misuse of agencies for political settling of scores. Modi was quizzed by the CBI for Gujarat riots. The police under the opposition ruled states today are visibly partisan.
Congress realised that they have to fight for the public Issues. Hopefully this protest will galvanise the Congressmen who are present in every part of the country. Repeated defeats in elections has demoralised not only the leadership of Congress but also the cadre. Gandhi family fails to inspire the masses of India for votes which it used to do during Indira Gandhi‘s time. In the agitation against price rise, Rahul Gandhi raised his voice against the murder of democracy in India and compared Modi with Hitler. This comes more as personal hostility rather than aspirations of the people.
The Congress suffers from the myth that Gandhi family is the only glue which binds the party. This has restricted the dynamic leaders from the grassroot to reach the top. Unless this issue is settled within the party, it will remain a pale shadow of what it was even with some victories here and there. Its leadership is being challenged among the ranks of the opposition. Congress is pitted against a giant electoral machinery of BJP. BJP’s ideology has enthused large section of polarised Hindus. Modi’s efficient delivery of benefits of schemes using digital technology has reached to a large number of beneficiaries, especially in the rural areas.
It is in the interest of the democracy in India that the opposition should be as strong as the ruling party. For this the opposition has to win the confidence of the people by hard and sincere work.
