Is Modi not ignoring capacity of ‘Balak’ Rahul?

Modi seems to be missing the point in evaluating the efficacy of religion as a political tool. He and his political partners have started to omit the reference to the Ayodhya Temple. The BJP and the RSS have invested immensely in the Ayodhya narrative, and suddenly it seems to have become ineffective

Indian politics seems to have turned into a comic show. The show has all the vulgarity but is without any humor. Prime Minister Modi has portrayed the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, as a child who acts without understanding its implications. Modi dismisses him as a politician and tells him that politics is beyond his capacity. He refers to a dialogue from the famous Hindi crime film ‘Gang of Wasseyur’ “Tmse na ho payega (it is beyond your capacity).”

“Balak Buddhi (Childish wisdom) neither has a fixed place to speak nor a stable behavior. When this ‘Balak Buddhi’ takes over completely, they get into altercations with anybody, even in the house. When this ‘Balak Buddhi’ loses his limits, he sits inside the house and winks. The entire country now understands his truth. That's why today the country is telling him, ‘You won't be able to do it; you won't be able to do it’,” the Prime Minister said.

He delivers some dialogue inspired by Bollywood blockbuster Sholey to deride Rahul. Does it not speak volumes about the content of contemporary politics? Should a prime minister show such disregard for the most important leader of the opposition? The LOP partners with him in the selection processes of coveted positions, including the CBI Chief and the Election Commissioners. Would he rely on his suggestions if he considers him inexperienced and immature? He would certainly reject his advice. Modi might be prohibiting Rahul from fulfilling his duty as the LoP.

Indian media, of late, has developed an ostrich-like tendency to abide by the dictates of the BJP's propaganda machinery. They went by what the BJP is alleging. The outbursts of the Prime Minister are being shown to be in response to the speech of the LoP on the debate over the President’s address. The angry response that would come down to such a level is unimaginable in a democracy. The Prime Minister is hardly supposed to be indulging in such acts.

The next worst thing the ruling party did was pass a resolution against the opposition that shredded the parliamentary norms during the speech of the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister has concentrated all his energy on demolishing the Congress politically, and nothing is wrong with it. However, his attacks are hardly political. He hits below the belt. His speech in Lok Sabha contains a parody of the iconic scenes of Mausi and Jay in the Sholay film. This is the filthiest part of his speech, where he attempts to portray the Gandhi family as small-time operators of society. He has been doing it since he came to power in 2014. This was probably the lowest. Should it be taken easily? Does it conform to any parliamentary norm? In the same speech, he resorts to half-truths about Nehru and Indira Gandhi as well.

The major part of his speech revolved around the fictional defeat of the Congress in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. His obsession with the grand old party remained so compulsive that he explained how the Congress’ score of 99 was illusive and could not be taken as an achievement. Is his depiction not childish? It is factually wrong that Congress failed to score 100 or more. Soon after the results were out, a couple of independents declared their support for the Congress. Is it not contradictory to compare Congress with the NDA? The Prime Minister claimed that the NDA had come to power. Should he not compare the NDA with INDIA?

Can Modi achieve anything real out of these low-level arguments? Can he impress upon the common people that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is childish and unable to deliver any good to society? Anyone can see how he bravely faced all the attacks and moved forward. Everyone knows how the central agencies, including the ED and the CBI, remained active during elections, and the Election Commission did not act on the complaints against the ruling party.

The recent speeches of the Prime Minister show, if anything, his nervousness in the wake of his vanishing appeal. His narrative is also losing its content. What is new in Viksit Bharat Sankalp? No young Indian is ready to buy this dream of Viksit Bharat in 2047. Unemployment has reached its highest level. Employed people are not getting decent wages. The controversy over the Aginpath scheme is further exposing the government. The government is trying to project it as an ideal scheme and contesting Rahul’s allegations that martyred Agnivirs have not been treated as martyred soldiers of the regular army. However, the government is not able to hide their deprivations. The most problematic part of Agnivir’s career is the duration of his or her service. The government does not seem to be ready to make any changes to it.

Modi seems to be missing the point in evaluating the efficacy of religion as a political tool. He and his political partners have started to omit the reference to the Ayodhya Temple. The BJP and the RSS have invested immensely in the Ayodhya narrative, and suddenly it seems to have become ineffective. Should it not be a cause for concern for the saffron organizations? Everyone remembers how the Prime Minister of India invested his energy and time in promoting the Ayodhya Agenda. He was accusing the opposition parties of disrespecting Hinduism and the Lord Ram. Now, he does not even mention the temple, let alone project the temple construction as his greatest achievement.

The BJP and the RSS need to take the recent developments in politics seriously. They should realise that religious politics is giving way to people’s politics. They should objectively analyse the poll results. How a party whose financial resources had dried up and whose leaders had fled to other parties able to almost double its score? Is Modi ignoring the potential of ‘Balak’ Rahul?

(The author is a senior journalist. He has experience of working with leading newspapers and electronic media including Deccan Herald, Sunday Guardian, Navbharat Times and Dainik Bhaskar. He writes on politics, society, environment and economy)