Congress doesn’t know if Modi is a challenge!
If the Congress cannot even decide whether Mr Narendra Modi is a challenge to the party or not, it cannot be expected to put up a stiff electoral fight against the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial nominee. As it is, the Congress has not identified its candidate against Mr Modi, and this is going against the party — several opinion polls are reflecting that. Over the weeks since the Chief Minister of Gujarat became the BJP's candidate for the post, the Congress has been beset by confusion on how to confront him. The best (or worst) that its leaders have done so far is to throw slanderous muck on him and call him names ranging from Yama to Bhasmasur to Hitler to danav (devil). But these are not substitutes for an effective counter to the issues that Mr Modi has been raising. While Union Ministers P Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh have candidly admitted that the BJP's candidate is a challenge which the Congress has to face, their colleague Sushil Kumar Shinde has brushed them off by the specious explanation that the Congress is a “very old” party which does not have to fear Mr Modi or consider him worthy of a challenge. The Congress is caught in an ego trap. It does not want to acknowledge Mr Modi's stature because that would amount to a recognition of the latter's importance. At the same time it cannot ignore his rising popularity beyond Gujarat in the run-up to the lok Sabha election. It is time for the Congress to come to terms with the reality. Yet, even as the party continues to put up a brave front, behind the scenes it is doing everything it can to blunt Mr Modi's surge. The party's brigade has taken to social media to counter the Gujarat Chief Minister's grip, and is offering rebuttals to even the smallest remark that Mr Modi makes. Thus, the Congress has been having a field day ‘exposing' the BJP leader for his faux pas on history, quite forgetting in the process how it has consistently manipulated history to suit its ideologies and parochial purposes.
In any case, history is just one of the issues that Mr Modi has been bringing to the fore — and even that was prompted by the shoddy treatment that the Congress has given to icons like Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The Congress must respond to the issues of massive corruption in the Government it heads, rising prices, mismanagement of the economy, the regime's weak-kneed policies on domestic and cross-border terrorism and the drift in foreign policy. These are matters of today. So far, the party and its senior leaders have failed to address them with any level of credibility. Instead, they are demanding a blueprint from Mr Modi as a counter to his criticism! If those in power do not have a plan of action, why should the opposition bail them outIJ The people know the difference that the BJP led by Mr Modi can make to governance if it comes to power along with its allies, which is why the wind appears to be blowing in favour of the principal opposition and the NDA.