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This question may look confusing or polarized but it seems true now. Because, in this political war on ideology since 2014, the BJP may be seen as victorious. How? Let’s get into the details of it with my limited knowledge about politics for which I would like to give a caveat from the beginning of it and this piece may look like an opinionated one.
I’ve heard about this term that, the more you obsess or object about anything or anyone, the more you turn into the same thing or person. Congress wanted to fight with BJP with some pertinent ideological matters like
- Hindutva
- Misinformation
- Polarization
- Troll or bullying culture
- Freedom of speech
- Transparency and majoritism
Don’t you think Congress has more or less adopted these things in their party lately in the quest for return to power?
For Hindutva, Congress has been trying to prove that they are more Hindu than BJP and that to Janeudhari Hindu. How much actually they are doing for the minorities other than few tweets on twitter and how much tickets they are giving to minority candidates (let’s not compare it with tickets given by BJP, otherwise it will look like comparison between India and China on press freedom with same parameters)
For Misinformation, they have also started spreading misinformation on a whole lot of things for their political gains like the recent case of Nandini Dairy vs. Amul or Chinese investments in Adani co (which became a Taiwanese co).
For polarization, they may not polarize in the name of religion, but they polarize in the name of caste, section of society and rich vs. poor. Like in the recent case of Lingayat caste support in Karnataka, against the Hindi language supremacy in South India or in the matter’s farmers vs. rich businessmen. It’s the same old British “Divide & Rule”.
For Trolling, bullying or freedom of speech, all the critics of Congress get brutally trolled by their troll army including to the critics who are neutral or congress sympathisers. If all the BJP supporters are “Bhakts” then there is no shortage of “Chamchas” for Congress as well. Look at the recent case of bullying of the journalists during one of the recent press meetings of Congress. A whole lot of senior leaders of the party are trying to make the family happy for their own survival.
Let’s look at the events of the election of their party president. If anyone believes that the election was free and fair then I would also like to believe in the existence of Santa Claus or the Tooth fairy who distributes gifts to children on various occasions. Also, look at the dissent voices from within the party members and how they side-lined those members or leaders. Some of them either went silent or joined the BJP which they were supposed to oppose ideologically. Can anyone change their ideology? Because ideology is not like a “point of view” which can be changed, it’s like a basic principle of an individual or organization. So, instead of making efforts to rebuild their party stronger, they are putting all their weight behind making one particular individual stronger or bigger to fulfil his dream to become PM.
Let’s not get confused now that a political party wants to come to power to fulfil the dream of the nation, they are more interested in “POWER” than anything else. So, the question of transparency and fighting for freedom of speech and against majoritism gone for a toss.
The self-claimed champion of socialism or welfarism by the party is also now becoming irrelevant, because does anyone think BJP is less socialist or low on welfarism? If yes, then please check the various schemes launched and effectively delivered by the BJP in these years. Sloganeering against the business man or capitalism day & night doesn’t make anyone a socialist. Now the entrepreneurship culture in India is growing between the youths. Many youths are attracted to entrepreneurship and start-up culture. They want to become a job creator instead of job seeker, they idolize successful businessmen and dream about being one of them. So, capitalism bashing doesn’t help anymore and the definition of socialism of the 60’s or 70’s has changed now with more people coming out of the poverty line. In one of the recent comments by the former Finance Minister on who is getting benefit of mudra loans of Rs. 50,000? Not sure how much he is connected to ground reality, because even I’ve seen in a recent case that someone has started a small business with this much money and so far he is doing well in his business.
Most of us fully support socialism but with a clearly defined way of socialism which really impacts the people in need or poor people. Like socialism in the Healthcare sector, Education and Infrastructure by the Government. I’ve myself witnessed that many beneficiaries of these socialism schemes are actually rich and undeserving people. I myself benefited from such a Government scheme unknowingly but the moment I became aware of it, I have donated the matching sum of that benefit to the Chief Minister’s relief fund to be guilt free. The goal should be, the scheme must reach to actual poor and deserving people.
So, the Congress must re-think their strategies now and fight for real issues which impact the nation like unemployment, economy and polarization etc. Because, before which was called policy paralysis, now it is called an impulse policy decision without proper discussion or thought through.
The Country needs a strong opposition, and no other political party will be able to play this role than the grand old Congress party. If the Congress becomes another BJP with a different colour (non-saffron), then the democracy in India will suffer a big blow. The Country needs another strong party, not another strong individual.
These pieces are being published as they have been received – they have not been edited/fact-checked by ThePrint.
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