The bitterness between the Opposition and the government has peaked a little too early this time even as the next parliamentary election is three years away with the Congress declaring that the Narendra Modi regime was “morally dead”.
Arguing that any government would have tried to ease the burden on people when salary cuts and job losses had wreaked finances of the poor and middle class, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said: “The Modi government has only shown arrogance and insensitivity. It is inflicting new wounds every day; LPG cylinder price was increased by Rs 25 today (Thursday) again. This government is morally dead.”
The sparring wasn’t subject-specific; the ruling party fiercely battled with the entire Opposition on a whole gamut of issues and the rebuttal was equally ferocious.
While Modi expressed shock at Rahul Gandhi’s understanding — wondering why he was demanding ministry of fisheries which came into being in 2019 — the Congress leader hit back by insinuating that the Prime Minister was rattled by his “hum-do-hamare-do” attack.
The Prime Minister, who steadfastly ignores Rahul’s jibes on serious issues such as Chinese intrusions, unemployment, corruption and institutional decay, spoke about his demand for a ministry on fisheries at a rally in Puducherry, saying: “I was absolutely shocked to hear a Congress leader come and say they want to start a fisheries ministry because there is none. The truth is that it already exists. The current NDA government has already set up a fisheries ministry back in 2019 itself.”
Rahul promptly responded, tweeting, “Dear PM, Fisherfolk need an independent and dedicated ministry of fisheries, not just a department within a ministry. PS- ‘Hum do Humare do’ obviously hurt bad.”
Commenting on a report suggesting that the Modi government had started clearing foreign direct investment from China after intrusion, Rahul said in another tweet: “China has understood that Mr Modi buckles under their pressure. They now know they can get whatever they want from him.”
Modi chose to ignore this substantial attack.
Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, along with other Congress leaders, also joined the online campaign on jobs, which trended globally on Twitter.
While Modi never enjoyed healthy relations with the Opposition, decisions like citizenship law, breaking of Jammu & Kashmir and Delhi riots demolished any chances of reconciliation at the start of his second tenure. The farmers’ movement triggered a full-fledged confrontation that would probably have come two years later.
While Rahul has said Modi was working on a sinister project to enslave India, Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee publicly called the Prime Minister “dangabaaz (rioter)”.
The Maharashtra government is on a warpath, embarrassing the Centre by revealing the WhatsApp chat of their favourite journalist and going so far as to order an investigation into the synchronised tweets of celebrities in support of the Modi government.
Assembly elections in Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Kerala — to be followed next year by even bigger electoral battles in Uttar Pradesh Gujarat — are bound to intensify the fighting; probably leading the country into an unprecedented political turmoil.
Shrinate used strong expressions like — government’s dacoity on the people, PM lying through his teeth and finance minister’s inability to understand economy — and said: “Where do the BJP leaders live from where they can’t see the ground reality? Instead of providing relief, they are daily raising the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG even as crude oil is selling cheap in international market. They are raising train fares, milk prices are to be increased… there is a conspiracy to privatise everything.”
The Congress also plans to gherao the Union agriculture minister on Friday to mark the completion of three months on farmers protest.
Over 200 farmers mahapanchayats have already been held across the country and the farm unions are planning to intensify their stir over the next weeks.
The Youth Congress is in touch with other youth organisations to launch a massive nationwide movement against unemployment.
This is the scenario when the Opposition is supposed to be in disarray, with the Congress not even having a functional president. By May-June when the party sets its house in order, oppositional politics may be able to mount greater pressure on the government.