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'Secular' opposition should stop worshipping false gods

The opposition has to recognise this reality and start getting its house in order. Unfortunately, the plethora of godmen in our country has made even the seculars believe in the supernatural. It is time they stop worshipping the gods that failed them and stop waiting for a new messiah to arrive.

Organisations are like the moon. They wax and wane, and never stay static. By extension, the same holds true political parties. So, while the BJP is on the rise, the Congress is in a free-fall. But that is getting ahead of the story. When Narendra Modi called for a “Congress Mukt Bharat” in the run-up to the 2014 election, not many took him seriously. Three years later, such is the mood of despondency in the opposition ranks that some of them seem to believe that by “Congress Mukt Bharat” Modi and Amit Shah may have really meant an “Opposition Mukt Bharat”. Since the day Modi set foot in the Prime Minister’s Office in South Block, the opposition has been waiting for him to falter. However, to the chagrin of his detractors, Modi went on beating the odds and kept moving from strength to strength. There were loud cheers after the BJP's Bihar setback two years ago and critics started writing Modi’s political obituary seeing the queues at ATMs following Demonetisation. India’s Left-Liberals were once again hopeful of 'Achche Din' for them returning soon. Then came the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election. A defeat for the BJP would have undoubtedly turned into a spin on Modi’s loss of moral authority to remain Prime Minister. It would have also meant the lack of requisite numbers to push important legislations through the Rajya Sabha and, most important, get a BJP nominee into Rashtrapati Bhavan. Make no mistake. At this point there were no accusations of the media being “sold out” to the BJP. Commentators found new hope in the Akhilesh Yadav – Rahul Gandhi 'bromance' and romanticised about the Modi-Shah partnership biting dust on the banks of the Ganga, predicting a déjà vu of the Bihar debacle. This was the dominant tune till the very end. In fact, Modi’s last leg of campaigning, when he camped in Varanasi for three days, was interpreted as a sign of nervousness. Life, as we all know, changed after that. However, that did not stop die-hards from making a last ditch attempt to embarrass the Government by mobilising a pan-Indian anti-BJP alignment for the Presidential and Vice Presidential elections. Not only did the efforts come to nought but it also revealed deep fault lines in the ‘non-Right’ pantheon. Nitish Kumar’s Bihar coup was like the proverbial last nail in the coffin. In the latest news, the Congress’s legendary ‘lender of last resort’ is herding MLAs from resort to resort in a desperate bid to protect his Rajya Sabha seat from Gujarat. Now there is a new narrative: “BJP does not like the Opposition”. By extension, therefore, it follows the BJP is 'fascist' and does not believe in democracy. Amit Shah and Modi are out to decimate the opposition by any means, often "subverting the people’s mandate", as in Bihar, Goa and Manipur, it is alleged. Today, Ahmed Patel went a step further to say that the BJP not only does not want an opposition but wants to keep SC, ST and minorities out of Parliament. It is pointless to ask which organisation likes competition or political party loves its opponent? Given a chance a Coke will kill Pepsi, Unilever will crush P&G. Similarly, even in a thriving democracy like the US, the Republicans would not celebrate the win of Democrats in any State. That, in a real world, neither commercial organisations nor political outfits manage to banish their competition or opponents is a function of consumers’ and people's choice. Therefore, it is  disingenuous to even imagine 125 crore Indians would be foolish to allow a single party take over their lives. If they could, the Congress and its 'secular' friends would have banished the BJP from the face of India notwithstanding the fact that they represent at least 31% of the population even by their own count. But that too is another story. The rub seems to lie elsewhere. When Modi assumed power in May 2014, he was generally regarded as a 'usurper'. It was assumed by the 'entitled' class of the erstwhile Establishment (who have now come to be christened as the ‘Lutyens Lot’) that it was going to be at best a five-year phase like the Vajpayee era. Therefore, the media continued to train its guns on him and the bureaucracy went about in the 'Yes Prime Minister' mode that basically meant saying yes to everything but finding excuses for doing little or nothing. Arguably, the first person to offer total legitimacy to Prime Minister Narendra Modi was President Pranab Mukherjee. Despite being a Congress nominee, he accepted Modi’s arrival on Raisina Hill without any reservation. Others were less graceful and some visibly reluctant to acknowledge him as the rightful occupant of 7 Race Course Road (now Lok Kalyan Marg). Not only did they continue to berate him with barbs and snide remarks, they also tried to trip and waylay him at every turn. But Modi and Shah stayed firmly on course. The tipping point, as it were, was undoubtedly the Uttar Pradesh election. Post-March 2017 there was a remarkable shift in media narrative. From criticising the Modi Government for poor media management at the beginning of its tenure (essentially for not appointing a media adviser and cancelling the tradition of taking journalists on Air India One on foreign junkets), the grouse changed to media having prostrated before the Government shedding all tenets of honest journalism. Political pundits discovered acute spinal atrophy among bureaucrats and junior Ministers. In any case, investigating agencies like the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate were long branded as ‘caged parrots’ and handmaidens of the ruling dispensation. There were oblique questions about the integrity of certain institutions like the Election Commission (over the EVM and, now, NOTA controversy). So much so, Income Tax raids came to be interpreted as attacks on democracy and freedom of speech. Only the judiciary has been spared so far, though even there some champions of probity have been eager to invoke new precedents from neighbouring countries (namely, Nawaz Sharif’s sacking). There could be some grain of truth in the foregoing postulations. But, one must realise that human beings are essentially a selfish lot and guided by an innate sense of self-preservation. Crossing the Rubicon when the going gets tough at home is an age-old phenomenon. Nitish Kumar has set the example for many lesser leaders to apply a reality check and cut their losses before it is too late. Because many of them are fast reaching the age of superannuation and unless they are on the winning side in 2019 it could well be a ‘full stop’ to their political careers. It is not only rats that leave a sinking ship. Intelligent people with potential always look out for opportunity, and organisations on a growth path are quick to pick them up, both to disable competition and also build their own bench strength. What Modi and Amit Shah are doing is just that. They understand that growth is life and stagnation is the beginning of decay. Like good business leaders, they are on an expansion spree, employing both organic and inorganic means. That does not mean they and the BJP will be on a perpetual ascent. To use the cliché, whatever goes up must come down too. But, for now Modi and Shah have proven that BJP's growth under them is not a bubble or a flash in the pan. The opposition has to recognise this reality and start getting its house in order. Unfortunately, the plethora of godmen in our country has made even the seculars believe in the supernatural. It is time they stop worshipping the gods that failed them and stop waiting for a new messiah to arrive. Instead, they should look inwards and chose one of their own to lead them through this bleak period with wisdom and sincerity. (Author is a writer and popular blogger on current affairs. His Twitter handle is @SandipGhose) Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs and views expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this website are personal and do not reflect the opinions, beliefs and views of ABP News Network Pvt Ltd.
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