Like all vested interests, Congress wants to cling to the past and does not want to respond to the situation of a dynamic world. Democracy will cease to be democratic if it is not dynamic.
—Pt. Deendayal Upadhyaya, This is the beginning of the end of this Govt, Organiser, 26 August, 1963.
This statement of Pandit Deendayalji stands true even today. When the BJP has taken a lead in putting its electoral strategy into action, the grand old party of India that is Congress is faceless and confused and adopting a new electoral strategy. The declaration of sops in the election year and forged Bharat Nirman campaign, (mis)use of investigation agencies, especially the CBI and the NIA for political gains and hurriedly coming up with the ordinance to shield the criminals against the Supreme Court’s order on disqualification suggest the same.
After sleeping for nine years, the UPA government came with popular schemes, such as Food Security Bill and Direct Cash Transfers, in the election year. When the economy is in complete disarray government has gone overboard to declare the Seventh Pay Commission for Central Government employees. It is ironic especially when many of the issues related to the arrears of Sixth Pay Commission are yet to be resolved. There are many claims that are made in the Bharat Nirman campaign which are still under consideration in the Parliament. Congress fails to understand that in this world of information explosion Indian masses can no longer be fooled by false claims.
The misuse of investigation agencies for maligning the opponents or blackmailing the regional allies is the gravest threat to democratic institutions. Shall we consider this as a coincidence that Jagan Reddy is out on bail after 16 months of custody when going is tough for Congress in Andhra Pradesh? Is it just a normal investigative course that the CBI has closed cases against Mulayam Singh and opened new cases against Jayalalithaa and Mayawati? How come CBI suddenly started grilling the former Home Minister of Gujarat Praful Patel and going soft on the suspended police officer D G Vanjara? The startling revelations made by Ajmer dargah blast accused Bhavesh Patel about his meeting with the Congress leaders, including Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, in which he was pressurised to name RSS functionaries in the case, is more intriguing. Is it an accident that around the same time Sushilkumar Shinde and Digvijay Singh started raising ‘Hindu terror’ bogie? These series of events clearly depicts Congress Party’s new alliance with investigation agencies.
In another move to erode the public faith in democratic polity, UPA has overruled the Supreme Court’s verdict on immediate disqualification of convicted lawmakers and came up with an ordinance on saving such tainted lot. When people are questioning the very credibility of the political class and want to see cleansing of corruption and criminalisation of politics, such move is unwarranted. The only logic behind such hasty decision seems to be saving the leaders with tainted background and get support from them in the coming elections.
This gives an impression that in the coming elections, inducement, investigation and intimidation are the core ingredients of Congress campaign. Indian electorates are sick and tired of such gimmicks. They are looking for credible, clean and comprehensive option. By responding to the Modi phenomenon by such tricks, Congress is not only adopting suicidal path but also killing the dynamism expected in the democratic polity.
