By Sushil Kutty
Prime Minister Narendra Modi shouldn’t have teared up lamenting the cuss words spoken against his late mother at a Bihar rally of the opposition attended by Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav, the two ‘Mahagathbandhan’ leaders driving the NDA nuts these days of run-up to the Bihar assembly elections. The Prime Minister returned after a “successful SCO outing” in his plane with a price-tag said to be extravagantly exorbitant, so much so, it’s a frequent topic of debate and diatribe.
The Prime Minister’s lavish lifestyle has often figured in the strategy the Opposition pursues against Prime Minister Modi. Problem for the Prime Minister is he then speaks of childhood poverty and how his mother in particular had to work menial jobs to bring him and his siblings up in this dog-eat-dog world.
Like “yesterday” and “mother” is now the issue in the Bihar assembly elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has famously once again injected emotion into the election campaign and henceforth, there would be no end to “Modi’s Ma”, as it was yesterday on every television news channel including on Doordarshan.
The Opposition erred. Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav, the two leading the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ campaign, giving the NDA a run for its money. People armed with “grassroots information” say Gandhi and Yadav have caught the imagination of the electorate with Rahul Gandhi easily the more dynamic of the pair.
In fact, this election is entirely and solely about Rahul Gandhi and how he is faring as well as what all he can accomplish, what the electorate thinks about him and his impact on them including whether or not he will finally make good on electoral promises and goals.
Tejashwi Yadav has named himself the “next Bihar Chief Minister” and Rahul Gandhi did not react. Rahul Gandhi isn’t interested in becoming a Chief Minister of any state. As it is, his stated goal is to unseat Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his fondness for the words “chor” and “chori” is solely because they rile the ruling dispensation while keeping PM Modi in the crosshair.
Rahul Gandhi has been using “chor” and now “chori” to galvanise people against the Prime Minister and it has come to the stage that they’re leaving BJP stalwarts like Union Home Minister Amit Shah incensed and livid with people in the streets also picking up the refrain. So much so, Rahul Gandhi’s white t-shirt is a red rag for the BJP bull.
But Rahul Gandhi has to deliver. This is another time he cannot afford to lose. It is a common refrain from BJP spokespersons that Rahul Gandhi has “lost 99 elections” and one more isn’t far coming. The rhetoric along with talk that Rahul Gandhi is best campaigner for the BJP and Modi government has got ingrained into the body politic.
That is not to say that Rahul Gandhi has all things cut out and waiting for him. Rahul Gandhi is NDA’s enemy No.1. He is in the crosshair of the Election Commission and the Congress’ total reliance on the ‘Muslim vote-bank’ may or may not deliver.
The tribe of hardcore Hindus isn’t enamoured by Rahul Gandhi. The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha wears his minority-appease-ism on his sleeve as does the Congress party. Both persons and the party are taking a political risk and may have to pay for it, unless things get so awry there’s complete chaos on voting day.
The National Democratic Alliance’s September 3 statewide bandh in Bihar against the abusive language used for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s late mother did not make much of a difference. The five-hour bandh, from 7:00 am to 12 noon, passed off without much ado. Also, the BJP’s Mahila Morcha finally got the chance to emerge from the shadows.
The BJP’s anti-abusive language campaign is primarily against Rahul Gandhi, whose assertiveness has gotten under the skin of BJP leaders including Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Rahul Gandhi’s casual attire, his sitting posture in the Lok Sabha, his arrogant attitude, the language he uses for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his frequent warnings of what awaits BJP leaders and EC officials have together made him the sole stumbling block and a hated figure for the BJP.
Prime Minister Modi calls Rahul “namdaar,” those born with a silver spoon, who cannot “understand the struggles of poor mothers” and the sufferings of their children. “The struggles (Tapasya) of a poor mother, the suffering of her son–these young princes born into royal families cannot be understood. These ‘naamdaar’ people were born with a silver spoon in their mouths. The power of the country and Bihar seems like an inheritance of their family to them.” Will the ‘naamdar’ turn the tables on the ‘sevadaar’? (IPA Service)
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