Endgame for Whom…

In a couple of days of fast moving developments, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been convicted of defamation, sentenced to two years jail term, and subsequently disqualified from the membership of the Lok Sabha.
The Congress has said that the development is a move by the ruling dispensation to silence the opposition criticism of what it calls the unholy relationship between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and industrialist Gautam Adani. Rahul Gandhi has been alleging that undue favours from the government enabled the businessman to become the second or third wealthiest person in the world till the Hindenberg report punctured the balloon.
The BJP ecosystem has been claiming that Rahul Gandhi has got only his deserts for defaming the Modi community to which Prime Minister Narendra Modi belongs, as per due process of law. He is free to take steps to overturn the Surat court verdict in higher courts.
At the same time, perhaps there has been an underlying view in the ruling party that the setback received by the Congress leader will help Prime Minister Narendra Modi to return to power for a third term in next year’s general elections.
But there are always more than one side to any development. An immediate outcome has been almost all opposition parties coming together to challenge what they call the misuse of central agencies like the CBI and ED to harass the forces opposed to the ruling dispensation. Even parties like the Aam Aadmi Party and K Chandrasekhar Rao’s BRS, totally opposed to the Congress, came out in favour of the opposition parties working together to checkmate the alleged misuse of central agencies by the Narendra Modi government.
But will this coming together of forces to oppose the misuse of central agencies translate into a united front to take on the BJP and allied parties at the time of elections. That remains a moot point.
As of now, it does not appear that the Congress and other opposition parties will be able to forge a united conglomerate to take on the BJP. Their interests clash in many states. For example, the Samajwadi Party chief, Akhilesh Yadav has condemned the misuse of central agencies by the Narendra Modi government. But, almost in the same breath, he has referred to the misuse of agencies by the Congress when it was in power.
It will require a concerted effort by the Congress and other opposition parties to bring about broad based unity to face the BJP in the Assembly elections this year and the subsequent Lok Sabha elections next year. Of that, there is no sign so far.
Playing the victim card may not be enough to propel the Congress to power next year. It will require the services of a political Chanakya to build a political coalition to take on the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah led BJP. Of that, there is no sign yet but one cannot predict the future.

(Writer is a retd IIS officer and a political analyst}