THE HUG THAT CAN CHANGE INDIA

July 2018 saw the Congress led opposition bring a no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha against the BJP led government – specifically to target the incumbent PM Narendra Modi.

While everyone knew that the motion was dead on arrival and unsurprisingly suffered an abysmal fate, it is anybody’s guess what the Congress expected to achieve from such an exercise in futility. I am sure there would be a grand plan behind such a measure to be undertaken knowing full well the predictable and calamitous nature of the outcome.

What is worth discussing however, is the unprecedented act of the Congress President Rahul Gandhi, in going across and hugging Narendra Modi at the end of an hour long scathing attack on the individual. No doubt such a gesture took the PM by surprise and the generally in control PM had to gather his wits to respond to Rahul by calling him back post the hug.

Seeing the dramatics post facto, after being informed of the same through the second-hand sources of internet memes that instantly flooded the internet, it dawned on me that this could be a move of genius on the part of Rahul Gandhi ahead of 2019, the critical election where he will for the first time be leading the charge as the Congress President.

The landscape of the 2019 battleground is still fluid, though apparently, we have the opposition parties gathering in unity with the common goal of bringing down Modi. The Karnataka elections saw Congress embracing its long-time enemy in the State, just to oust the BJP. We saw the show of unity with Mamata didi, Naidu, Mayawati, Gowdas, and Congress on the same stage, akin to a line-up in Game Of Thrones unified to fight the Night King. The only missing contender was Kejriwal who is now seen gratefully accepting the inclusion in the very group of parties which he campaigned against on the promise of removing corruption.

The implicit fallacy of the united opposition is the fact that there is no clear and undisputed PM candidate and it is expected that this could be a flash point which could very well break the alliance since Rahul may not get the acceptance of many stalwarts who have been nursing their ambitions to take up the mantle at the Centre. Even where the opposition does pull off the goal of achieving majority in Lok Sabha 2019, it would possibly be an unstable coalition teetering on the cliff of multilateral portfolio and policy negotiations.

In such a backdrop, it came to me that there may still be a better way for Congress to go ahead in 2019. What if, Congress and BJP align and form an alliance??? Was the HUG a precursor to this unprecedented alliance? Was it the waving of a white flag by Rahul Gandhi to Modi? Don’t laugh it off. It’s not as preposterous as it sounds in the first instance. Let it sink in.

A Congress BJP alliance for 2019 would achieve many objectives for both the parties as well as the Nation:

1. It would be a certain winner as between the two, they would surely gather majority given their respective strengths in different states and constituencies.
2. There would be no acrimony around the PM candidate, as Modi would be the accepted continuing leader with Rahul being given a reasonably senior position in the Cabinet to groom him as PM when the time comes.
3. Congress will get its desire of coming back to power with greater certainty of victory and without having to haggle with multiple regional parties based on the whims of the local leaders.
4.  BJP would effectively dissipate the opposition by removing the key uniting spoke and thus eliminate the rising threat of the Didis and regional leaders who bargain based on few LS seats.
5. BJP for itself would also have to depend on fewer allies and thus have ease of negotiation in seat sharing and portfolios.
6. The resultant Government would be relatively more stable as opposed to an alliance where any of the multitude of regional parties withdraw support based on their State level agenda or other whims.
7. The Nation would benefit tremendously with five years of continuous rule with concerted policy making and reform, without the handicap of incessant noise made by the opposition with the tunnel vision of calling everything wrong just because it is done by the rival national party.

It doesn’t sound as preposterous when you consider the virtues attached to it. Most importantly, it will be very good for the Country. I have supported both Congress and BJP at different times and at the end of the day, I am sure everyone would want what is meritorious and in the interest of the Nation rather than blindly supporting a party.

Yet, will BJP ever concede to joining hands with Congress? Will Congress swallow the bitter pill and seek an alliance with BJP? It may be improbable but in politics nothing is impossible.

The HUG was the seed for the inspiring thought which could change the Indian political and national landscape. Alas, just when you thought that Rahul Gandhi was finally coming of age as a political genius, he gave away his childish stupidity with the WINK.

© Anshuman Khanna – July 2018

Published on www.anshumankhanna.in in July 2018