28 September 2013, 04:03 PM IST
Both the timing and the language of Rahul Gandhi's tirade against the ordinance on the disqualification of convicted legislators have attracted so much scorn – and quite rightly too - that it has eclipsed the outcome of his fulminations. Neither must be dismissed out of hand. Consider the issues at stake.
The timing was inappropriate on three counts: one, it coincided with the prime minister's crucially important engagements in Washington and New York – the first with President Obama and the second with prime minister Nawaz Sharif; two, it came in the wake of reports that President Pranab Mukerjee was not comfortable with the ordinance; and three, he spoke at a time when senior ministers of the government and spokespersons of the party were bending over backwards to defend the ordinance thus forcing them to make a humiliating U-turn.
So clearly, given his description of the ordinance – 'nonsense' that deserves to be 'torn up and thrown out' - the reputation of the government, and of the prime minister in particular, has been scalded. That of the Congress party, including, in the first place, that of party president, Sonia Gandhi, has been dented. The cabinet had approved the ordinance as had the party's core group. Rahul rubbished both in one fell swoop.
All of this is of course grist to the opposition's mill. It can be trusted to keep the controversy alive to draw maximum mileage from what they perceive to be a government and a party gasping for its last breath. What would encourage it to hound the Congress with even greater vigour is the way the controversy unfolds. It reckons that it is in a win-win situation. It will rejoice should the prime minister put in his papers. But it will also exult should he choose to continue in office for, in that case, it can go to town pointing to the deep dissensions in the ranks of the government and the party alike – and to reassert that the PM is a mere puppet of the dynasty.
However, the opposition parties, and the BJP in particular, cannot afford to under-estimate the Congress party's capacity, built over decades of cynical manipulation, to turn a crisis into an opportunity. Rahul Gandhi has already made amends of sorts by reiterating his deep admiration for the prime minister. So, apparently, has his mother in her telephonic conversation with Dr. Manmohan Singh. The government and the party could thus come clean on the ordinance issue.
They can argue that out of respect for public opinion, they decided to retrace their steps. And they will shower praise on Rahul Gandhi for the lead he took in this regard. Lalu Prasad Yadav, who might be convicted in the fodder scam on Monday, might be infuriated. But the Congress can always rely on Nitish Kumar to bail it out in case of an emergency.
That, in turn, may well prompt the Congress vice-president to make bolder moves to refurbish his image as a resolute leader who is able and willing to take risks to cleanse the 'system' of the many debilitating ills that afflict it. Will he, for example, oppose the content of the ordinance on which there appears to be a fair amount of consensus among political parties? It allows a sitting legislator who is convicted of a serious crime by a lower court to continue to hold his seat while his appeal is pending though he would not draw a salary nor would he be allowed to vote.
If Rahul Gandhi is serious about his anti-corruption convictions, he would need to ensure that the legislation is in line with the letter and spirit of the Supreme Court's ruling in the matter. It calls for the legislators immediate disqualification. Likewise, his convictions would gain in credibility if he were to push for political parties to be brought within the ambit of the Right to Information Act. So would his determination to get parliament to enact a robust Lokpal bill and to back as vociferously as he can the Supreme Court's latest judgement that allows citizens to cast a negative vote against all candidates in the fray – as Narendra Modi has done with alacrity.
On each of these issues, Rahul Gandhi would challenge every party, including, in the first place, the Congress, to stand up and be counted. Even a partial success on these scores will go down well with young India that is tired of the eager willingness of the entire political class to defend its corporate interest at the expense of the citizenry. He may well be seen to be crafting a narrative that runs counter to the populist narratives of the political elite irrespective of its internal divisions.
This is admittedly a tall order. But consider the alternative: the persistence of the image of an eternal outsider whose silence on most issues of critical concern to the nation, and his occasional tantrums on some of them, stand in sharp contrast to the macho image of an over-eager claimant for the top job in the country.
Still, to deny that Rahul Gandhi, along with president Pranab Mukherjee, has effectively scuttled the controversial ordinance, a demand of the opposition, would be churlish. The question therefore is: do the hyper TV anchors and the opposition parties think that the withdrawal of the ordinance is a good thing or not? That question, alas, has been drowned in the tsunami of scorn that followed Rahul Gandhi's dramatic intervention on Friday.
Question his methods by all means. But do show the grace to admit that he has effectively killed a terrible piece of legislation. And then take him to task if he fails to champion other causes dear to the electorate such as inflation, Telangana, communal polarisation, especially in UP, and Pakistani mischief on the borders. That is the only way to know if Rahul Gandhi came of political age on Friday or if his diatribe was a mere, and inconsequential, flash in the pan.
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