Considering how much smoke and fury is being generated in politics – be it Parliament or on the streets – on the Adani issue, the target of the allegations seemed quite unfazed. The number of allegations made against Gautam Adani, particularly regarding an unholy nexus between him and Prime Minister Modi, would warrant a defamation case worth billions of dollars, primarily against Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi. Considering the innumerable problems that beset the nation and Gandhi’s constituency of Rae Bareli, his obsession with this singular issue is definitely mystifying. As one already convicted in a defamation case, it would be sensible for him not to depend so much on his lawyers to defend him.
Perhaps there is a realisation that this is just a political gambit to influence public opinion. It has not paid much dividend electorally, going by the results so far. In fact, the ‘constitution is in danger’ pitch has reportedly had better results. However, when the strategy leads to disruption of parliament and repeated adjournments, it does require a response and the BJP has come up, now, with the Rahul-George Soros-OCCRP (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project) nexus charge. BJP MPs today spoke extensively with ‘evidence’ on the subject in Parliament on Thursday. While it will give Rahul Gandhi a taste of his own medicine, it remains to be seen how much this influences public opinion. It does, however, show that others can also play this game.
How advisable is it for the Congress to become a single-issue party? Can targeting PM Modi in a personal way without much evidence counter the BJP’s strong cadre base and reach among the masses? Congress’s representative nature, organisationally, is virtually non-existent. It is true that the BJP gets a large percentage of votes in PM Modi’s name, but that is not its only strength. Politics will have to be done constituency-wise, be it at the village, municipal, assembly or parliamentary level. (Making noise on the streets against Adani, or attacking journalists playing cricket, as was done in Dehradun on Wednesday, is certainly not going to have the required impact.)
Could it be true that trust is being placed on foreign ‘deep state’ entities to bring about regime change in India, rather than on democratic electoral politics? Has the success in Bangladesh encouraged such forces to raise the ante? It may just be a figment of the imagination, but there is no harm in staying alert.
