There are two aspects to the ongoing churn in national politics, and don’t worry, I’m not wading into the opium den speculation over a likely Cabinet reshuffle. Leave that to Capital’s under-employed ‘insider-gyani’ complex.
I’m interested in two things that look contrary, but aren’t. One, that the BJP has created a political miracle by making India almost a one-party state despite being well short of a Lok Sabha majority.And second, that since much of this is being done by splitting, co-opting or destroying regional parties, Congress is the only significant Opposition that remains intact. Thereby, Indian politics has also become a two-party contest.
It should be a perfectly simple and linear equation. If only the Congress looked a convincing challenger. It can’t, with a strike rate of 10 percent or thereabouts against the BJP.
Such a two-party system will suit the BJP fine because they’ve only struggled when up against a strong regional party. Most are now decimated and Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party will face its trial by Yogi fire.Three questions arise. One, why does the Modi-Shah BJP find the Congress such a convenient rival? Second, what does the Congress lack that it can’t be a credible challenger? And third, how can the Congress pull itself up?The answer to the first is simple: the BJP is propelling itself on four engines. Hard Hindutva, harder nationalism, efficient and fair welfare, and massive physical infrastructure visible to all. The Congress doesn’t have a credible counter, which also answers the second question. If all of what the BJP is doing is wrong, as the Congress says, what will it do if it came to power?On economy, strategic issues and defence, how will it be different from the BJP? How will it deal with Pakistan, China, the US and West Asia? How will it spend on defence? What’s its vision for an alternative to the BJP? That the BJP is “corrupt, crony-capitalist, and compromising the national interest” are all opinions, which is fair enough in competitive politics. But, what will you do that’s different? If the Congress sees itself as a choice it wants voters to prefer over the BJP, how’s the product it’s offering different?
