Much of what US President Donald Trump said before his election and is now claiming is the product of a self-serving and overactive imagination. However, there are many takers for his understanding of the world, which keeps him going forward with acting on his worldview. It seems that India’s opposition parties are impressed by this approach and, one after the other, politicians are going overboard in their efforts to make a splash. Even their most outrageous statements are being supported by their party spokespersons on TV debates and the increasingly influential social media. So much of what is being said is criticised by the higher courts – with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi leading in that context by miles – but that has not discouraged them in the least.
So, are Indian voters as gullible and little informed as those in the US? Trump came to power based on his race-based MAGA appeal, and because his opponents had gone too far in supporting the ‘liberal’ cause, wokeism and all. There certainly are many such divisive issues existing in India that are open to exploitation at the local and regional levels, which require to be channelised into a national narrative so that the NDA can be prevented from winning a fourth term at the Centre.
So, there is the racist Dravidian anti-Hindu ideology in Tamil Nadu; the emerging ‘Bengali identity’ struggle in West Bengal that claims the northern states in particular target Bengali speakers; the desire to impose language chauvinism in Maharashtra and Karnataka; etc. The challenge for the opposition is to work out a composite ideology based on these factors. The waters are being tested by targeting BJP’s Hindutva in various ways, without regard to how inflammatory the content may be. Being from a particular caste or community is offered as justification for doing so.
It is also true that there are leaders among the opposition that are finding much of this quite disturbing, especially in the context of Operation Sindoor. Their voices are being muted by the leadership, but their numbers continue to increase. After having targeted the Armed Forces’ capability, the focus is now on the Election Commission. Tejashwi Yadav’s latest ‘epic’ faux pas reveals how desperate the desire to defame the institution is, even as no step has been taken by any party to place facts and figures before the EC. It seems, as in the case with the Armed Forces, the Supreme Court will have to reprimand politicians for this approach. But will the wannabe Trumps take heed and mend their ways?
