Who gets the grip over the country full of turns!

A ‘Country full of turns’, says a TVC by a leading tyre company emphasizing the grip that its tyres give to two-wheelers. A country full of turns also applies to the political scenario which is full of twists and turns and hence leads to tricks!

The two key rival players – Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi - in the run-up for the next season of elections to the Legislative Assembly and general elections as well are busy in their own ways to create twists and turns (not necessarily by turn!).

Modi had a full year of G20 advantage with over 200 events pan-India while Rahul countered it with his Kanyakumari to Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra. Modi is constantly taking mileages of the G20 summit with felicitations and celebrations. The latest one with the ground functionaries such as drivers, police and others is a Public Relations master stroke.

In a large gathering, Modi had a series of nuggets from the functionaries. Inspector Suresh Kumar of Delhi Police was on security duty at Bharat Mandapam. He learnt that his mother suffered a heart attack. He stayed on VVIP duty serving Mother India.

Sub-Inspector Pinky Rani, assigned to duty with Türkiye President’s wife Emine Erdoğan, recalled an incident where she utilized the G20 app’s language translation feature to assist the First Lady in understanding information about a particular piece of clothing.

And there are many more, but these are suffice to say how the PM is keeping his G20 glory in the limelight to grab attention to influence the voters and win them over.

Of course, remaining in the position that he is, Modi has several official and unofficial occasions to drive home his point of the progress made during the past 9 years (since 2014 to be precise). Even at the foundation stone event for the Varanasi International Cricket Stadium, he spoke of his favourite phrase, “during the past 9 years….” and indirectly took credit for the stellar performance by the country’s sportspersons. He has credited the “changed approach” as now sports have been linked with the fitness, employment and career of the youth. Compared to 9 years ago, this year’s sports budget has been increased three-fold, he said and then went on to highlight the World University Games where India has created history by winning more medals in this year’s edition from the total sum of all medals bagged in the entirety of its participation.

Now, let me turn my focus toward Rahul Gandhi who has been doing many acts, post his Bharat Jodo. He travels with truck drivers, visits vegetable markets, has lunch with a vendor couple, dons the role of a coolie by mixing with the porters at Anand Vihar railway station in Delhi, takes a ride with a student in Jaipur, visits tea stalls, participates in a foodie programme and even works with farm labour.

And in the bargain earns many an eyeball apart from raising eyebrows. Analysts see these acts as Rahul’s desperate attempts to get some political base in the all-important OBC segment. The OBC reservation issue has been hanging fire for quite some time and a small tilt in the votes from these families can make a major twist in the electoral fortunes. Also, please remember that the BJP and its IT cell too contribute to Rahul’s social media messaging going viral as they keep reposting the Congress leaders’ activities even with a nasty comment. Thus, the Congress leader manages to get more numbers than the PM.

The new Parliament building has also provided good fuel for both the ruling and opposition sides with the former describing it as an architectural marvel and the latter dubbing it as a Modi Multi-purpose facility.

In the words of Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi, MPs miss the Central Hall culture of the old building. The MPs from all sides would meet there, chat over Chai and discuss various bills and topics. They could debate, disagree, discuss and decide and this‘Samvaad’ culture is now lost, she said.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh went a step ahead and said: “The new Parliament building launched with so much hype actually realises the PM’s objectives very well. It should be called the Modi Multiplex or Modi Marriot. After four days, what I saw was the death of confabulations and conversations—both inside the two Houses and in the lobbies. If architecture can kill democracy, the PM has already succeeded even without rewriting the Constitution.

“Binoculars are needed to see each other since the halls are simply not cozy or compact. The old Parliament building not only had a certain aura but it facilitated conversations. It was easy to walk between Houses, the Central Hall, and the corridors. This new one weakens the bonding needed to make the running of Parliament a success,” he said.

Prime Minister Modi said “the Parliament is the supreme position to serve the country”. The House is not meant for the benefit of any political party, but only for the development of the nation. “As Members, the Prime Minister said that we must uphold the spirit of the Constitution with our words, thoughts and actions,” he says. Every Member will live up to the expectations and aspirations of the House and work under his guidance, he assured the Speaker.

These hopes were dashed to the ground with an unsavoury, angry and abusive statement by BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri against BSP’s Danish Ali. I feel too ashamed to reproduce the utterances of Bidhuri here.

The abusive behaviour is nothing but clearly the result of the hate culture that is sweeping across the country. The opposition is bound to take full political mileage of this, notwithstanding the action taken or not taken by the Lok Sabha Speaker against Bidhuri.

While dealing with the domestic political turns, Modi now had to deal with the diplomatic twists in the light of the Canadian Premier’s allegations that the Indian agents were behind the killing of Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Nijjar happened to be a Canadian citizen.

The world knows that Canada is very close to the US – physically and politically. Trudeau would not have made these allegations without the knowledge and involvement of the US. Those who are familiar with the functioning of the CIA, view these developments in a totally different perspective than a mere aberration. Let me leave you with this teaser. More on this later as we take a third umpire view of the turns and twists.

Parting shot: While on G-20, we are told that a certain TV anchor refers to the list of 14 journalists whom the INDIA is boycotting as G-14! In the same breath, another anchor refers to the opposition unity as INDI Alliance. Word play and word split, it’s your guess!

(The columnist is a Mumbai-based author and independent media veteran, running websites and a youtube channel known for his thought-provoking messaging.)