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For me, Congress is synonymous with Indian Nationalism. Sadly, that perception has been changed for many people now.

Beyond the venting out of anger, the directionless cacophony and a distressed feeling of dejection, the Congress loss in the 2019 elections needs a clinical post mortem. I am only focusing on one reason for the defeat, and perhaps the most important one.

The BJP’s sinister campaign successfully defamed and damaged the Congress party’s nationalistic image.

In 2014, BJP successfully branded Congress party as the ‘Mother of Corruption’ and in 2019, BJP successfully branded Congress party as ‘Anti National’.(sic)

The branding stuck because of Congress’ own inactions and some terrible mistakes. In 2014, the Congress could not battle the perception of scams that had engulfed the UPA. When the scams did not stick in the Modi era, BJP devised a new strategy to denigrate the Congress party. But unlike the scams, where a judicial process cleared the Congress of its ‘scam taint’; here there was no legal recourse which was left for the Congress.

As a member of the communication department, I was privy to the post Pulwama narrative. From day one, we had suggested that Congress President should question the massive intelligence failure, the absence of air transportation to the slain CRPF personnel, and PM Modi’s ‘Jungle Safari’ in Corbett, even as the attack was on. But people with more powers around Rahul Gandhi, lethargically vetoed this narrative. We suggested that Congress President should question inaction by Modi Govt and accuse it of compromising National interests.

As a staunch supporter of Congress President, Rahul Gandhi, I want to set the record straight. Rahul Gandhi was on board with our suggested strategy. He even approved the draft statement and also a demand to provide paramilitary forces with a status of ‘Shaheed’, after they make the supreme sacrifice for the nation.

But I do not know why he was made to wait, with a counter argument. Surely a man, who forcefully and emphatically spearheaded a National Security issue like Doklam and the National Interest issue like Rafale, should not have waited, had some influential people not advised him to do so. Next day after Pulwama terror attack, Rahul Gandhi did address a Press Conference, but did not speak a word against the Government. It was a somber moment for the country, and we also did not want to play politics on that.

But our idea for the next few days was still valid and would have provided the Congress party to enter the National Security debate to corner the Modi Govt.

Our statement was once again sent on 21^st February for a press conference by the Congress President. Again some people with vested interests and left leanings prevailed on the same.

Since the Congress President could not address a press conference, on 21^st or 22^nd due to the successful meddling of those who were opposed to this idea– It was decided that spokespersons would raise the same and Congress President would back it up with his tweets. We precisely did that. Local channels & newspapers of Uttarakhand, along with some trusted Congress sources provided us with the imagery of Modi enjoying the boat ride and Jungle safari in Corbett. Facts also emerge that he did not speak a word on Pulwama, when he addressed a public rally in Rudrapur via telephone.

Since the left leaning lieutenants of the party, delayed a direct attack on the Modi Govt on the sensitive and core issue of National Security, party’s narrative suffered a jolt. Still, all was not lost, because Modi Govt or PMO did not deny the Corbett pictures tweeted by Rahul Gandhi. They could not deny the timings and the fact that a Cabinet Committee of Security meet did not happen on the very day of the Pulwama attack. They had no answers to the questions raised by Congress party spokespersons on massive intelligence failure.

Since the party has very less political capital, several financial constraints and a pliable media working day and night to run it down, press conferences addressed by Rahul Gandhi only get maximum coverage, rest are rarely covered.

Hence, Rahul Gandhi speaking on 21^st February or before would have made a difference in cornering Modi on Pulwama. But then…

The Balakot air strike took place on wee hours of 26^th February. We solidly stood beside the Government. Officially, we did not make any questionable statements.

But then, when opposition leaders started questioning- Mamata Banerjee, Mehbooba Mufti, Omar Abdullah et all. Some non-spokespersons, but prominent leaders of the party, did question the Balakot airstrike and the capture of Wing Commander Abhinandan. Officially, the party made its view clear- we demanded immediate release of Wing Commander Abhinandan and came down heavily on Pakistan.

But damage was done. Mr. Sam Pitroda’s statements later exacerbated the negative perception against us. His opinions on 26/11 and Balakot were completely out of turn and damaged our narrative beyond repair.

***

Then came the Congress manifesto.

Which political party writes in its manifesto, that they would reduce the Army troops in a border, sensitive and strategically important, terror prone state like Jammu & Kashmir?

It reads: “Congress promises to review the deployment of armed forces, move more troops to the border to stop infiltration completely, reduce the presence of the Army and CAPFs in the Kashmir Valley, and entrust more responsibility to the J&K police for maintaining law and order.” (Page 40, Point No 3)

Which political party talks about watering down sedition laws and weakening a law which grants special powers to its Army (AFSPA) in sensitive insurgency prone areas?

Since manifesto was a collective effort by the party, not a single leader can or should be blamed. But rumblings inside the party against these provisions gained ground, and rightly so.

We tried very hard to douse the fire, but damage was done, especially in the Hindi media.

***

Indira Gandhi is my inspiration. She is my idol and she is everything for me. She is the reason, I support the Congress party. She is the reason crores still support the Congress party. The present Congress party’s method to cede the Nationalism space has shaken my faith.

I believe that Rahul Gandhi is the only person that can rebuild that faith and take that space. Whether the Rafale Scam or the Doklam issue got us a single vote or not – is a debatable issue. But both were staunchly and solidly espoused by Rahul Gandhi only. Both are National Security issues. In March 2018, Congress party in its Plenary too, had expressed concern on the cuts in defence spending. Dr. Manmohan Singh had strongly raised that, and all the press releases of the Congress party have raised the issue of National Security compromise by this government.

But we have been branded as villains.

This left leaning lobby should be thrown out of the Congress. Then only we can save the real Congress. These are the same people who took Rahul Gandhi to JNU when ‘Tukde-Tukde gang’ labelled was pasted on us!

Nobody can question the commitment of the Congress party to Indian Nationalism. There is not a single instance in India’s history, pre or post-independence, nor a single place in India where a Congress party worker has not shed his/her blood in protecting the integrity of the nation.

Unlike those forces, in powers today who were opposed to the Freedom Movement, opposed the Indian tricolor and even refused to hoist the Indian National Flag for 52 years after independence, Congress party has fought for the country and its nationhood for last 134 years.

Congress party has suffered the ugly venom of terrorism and extremism, yet has never shied away from making the supreme sacrifice. Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi laid down their lives for the country and fought against extremists and terrorists.  Nation has also not forgotten the sacrifice of Sardar Beant Singh, Nand Kumar Patel, Vidya Charan Shukla, Mahendra Karma and hundreds of others, who stoically fought against terrorism and laid down their lives.

(Views expressed here are personal in nature)

The BJP has used the precarious security situation in Jammu and Kashmir sadly, as a ‘milchcow’ to milk and polish it’s so called ‘nationalistic image’ for the rest of the country. This has been Modi Government’s biggest disservice to the nation. 

Former RAW chief, A. S.Dulat in a fascinating book- “The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace”; which he has co-authored with former director-general of the ISI, AsadDurrani makes a very significant remark on the situation in Jammu & Kashmir. He writes, ‘Empathy is the key to understanding Kashmir… there can be no peace or forward movement in Kashmir, so long as we keep relating it to elections elsewhere in the country…’ 

This is exactly what the BJP, freshly divorced from its alliance with the PDP is not understanding. Jammu and Kashmir cannot be a template to win votes in the rest of the country. BJP, being the national party had the onus of preserving pro India democracy in the state. BJP, being the party ruling at the Centre had the prime responsibility to uphold National Security in the state. BJP, being the big brother in the alliance had the responsibility to ensure that the alliance government functions according to the wishes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Unfortunately, on all these accounts, the BJP has miserably failed the people of the state. 

Instead the BJP plunged the state of Jammu and Kashmir to the deep dark edge of an abyss, from where it will be very difficult to return. This is the first time that BJP attained such a larger political role to play directly in the Kashmir policy, but neither it has been able to convince its own core constituents and supporters of hyper nationalism, nor it has been able to support political commentators of the state. 

A seemingly small development in Kashmir can precipitate into grave socio-political repercussions. Be it the Amarnath shrine land controversy of 2008 or be it the stone pelting unrest of 2010. Be it the killing of terrorist Burhan Wani in the same period, two years ago or the merciless assassination of ‘Rising Kashmir’s editor, Shujaat Bukhari, just last month- a small spark can lit a blaze in Kashmir. In an environment where Pakistan sponsored terrorism thrives, separatists are waiting for an opportunity to fuel tensions and young people are increasingly getting alienated and picking up stones; these sparks provide a fertile opportunity for anti- India sentiments to flourish. Rank political opportunism and the sheer lust of power of the BJP-PDP exacerbated the situation in the past few years. 

Endangering National Security 

16 Major Terror Attacks have taken place on our Security Installations that include CRPF Camps, Army Camps, Air Force Station and Military Stations- Pampore, Uri, Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Amarnath, Yatra attack, Sunjwan Camp attack where scores of our precious lives have lost. Nevertheless, Modi Government, diametrically opposite to its ‘nationalistic image’ foolishly invited Pakistan based rogue ISI to investigate the Pathankot attack. To the surprise of many of their own core supporters, BJP President, Amit Shah, in a speech made on March 30, 2016 in Kolkata said that “Pakistan has made serious efforts in the Pathankot terror probe” Since May 26, 2014, during Modi Government- In the last 49 months, 386 Jawans have been martyred and 246 civilians have died in Jammu and Kashmir alone. During last 49 months of Congress Govt, 139 Jawans martyred & 78 Civilians killed.(Source: South Asian Terrorism Portal) 

Facts are sacrosanct and they cannot be tempered with. Therefore, the BJP then tried hard to build a narrative that, due to Central Government’s ‘muscular’ J & K policy, more militants are being killed. Facts then belied that claim too. 
Under PDP-Congress (2003-08): 4,970 militants were killed by security forces
• Under NC-Congress (2009-14): 925 militants were killed 
• PDP-BJP (2015-18): 591 militants were killed (Source: South Asian Terrorism Portal)
The belated announcement of ‘conditional ceasefire’, which was a historical failure during the NDA-1, also did not rescue the situation. 

Creating disquiet at the border

In past 49 months, there have been 3000 Ceasefire Violations’ by Pakistan at LoC & IB as compared to 563 Ceasefire Violations during last 49 months of Congress Government. Cross Border Infiltration from across Pak has largely remained intact under the Modi regime. (Source: Ministry of Home Affairs)

Atmosphere of fear and radicalization amongst the youth of the state

The public lynching of DSP AyubPandith and the Kathua rape already shook the conscience of the nation. The recent horrific killing of editor Shujaat Bukhari, in the heart of the Press Enclave in Srinagar and the abduction and subsequent killing of Army Jawan, Aurangzeb and now a police constable are events which reflected intelligence failures and high handedness on part of both the centre and the state governments. 

Schools were burnt; youths were forced out of work, and radicalization become rampant with stone pelting becoming almost like a profession. Alarming increase in stone pelting incidents has deteriorated the situation. 

Hobnobbing with terrorist elements and separatists 

On December, 14, 2016 – The PDP-BJP coalition government announced compensation for slain HizbulMujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani’s elder brother, who was killed by the security forces in 2013. Rs 4 lakh compensation and a government job from the state, was announced which created a huge controversy, thereby again proving that BJP is anything but ‘nationalistic’. 

For the first time ever, we have witnessed ISI Flags in J&K. Utter hypocrisy of the BJP in engaging with the Hurriyat reminds us of the Vajpayee- Advani era where the PM did engage with the Hurriyat. It is important to note that in Manmohan Singh never met the Hurriyat, except once in 2005, which was a continuation of the process started by the previous NDA government. Dealing with separatists like MasaratAlam who was released and AsiyaAndrabiwho was displayed as the ‘poster girl’ of ‘BetiBachao’ campaign further fractured BJP’s plank of nationalism. 

Being asleep at the wheel, as development suffered

Contrary to the claims by BJP President, Amit Shah, less than 25% of the much hyped Rs 80,000 Cr package announced by the PM, was utilized by the BJP-PDP Govt. Rampant corruption in flood relief and development schemes, coupled with inaction has marred the tenue of the BJP-PDP Government in which they were equal partners. Tourism has dropped exponentially. 

Betraying the trust of people of Jammu, Kashmir &Ladakh by making false promises

People of Jammu were promised AIIMS, IIM’s and medical colleges, which have not taken off. BJP-PDP government did nothing for resettlement of Kashmiri Pandits. On the other hand Congress-UPA built more 5242 flats in Jammu for Kashmiri Pandits alloted.1,024 such flats at Muthi, Purkhoo&Nagrota already been allotted since 2008. Not to forget that, people of Ladakh were betrayed by promising a UT Status and Hill Councils, but nothing materialized. 

Jammu and Kashmir had benefitted for years from the relative peace and normalcy resulting from focused and sustained attention from the then Congress- UPA Government, that had ensured development of infrastructure, promotion of tourism , generation of employment and above all creation of mutual trust. On the contrary, the BJP has shunned it and ran away to embolden it’s deteriorating ‘nationalistic image’ for the rest of the country. 

Being a national party, it was the BJP’s responsibility to engage and build a trust with the people of Jammu and Kashmir and establish a roadmap for societal inclusion and development of all its three regions. But it completely failed which was evident by the lowest ever voter turnout of 7% in the Srinagar (Lok Sabha) by-poll. It is extremely painful thatthe Election Commission of India was forced to cancel a Lok Sabha by-poll (Anantnag) as Modi Government refused to deploy extra troops for ensuring free & fair elections. 

(Rachit Seth is part of the Communications Department of the Congress party. He can be contacted on Twitter @rachitseth .Views expressed here are personal in nature) 

Lengthy Disclaimer: The purpose of this piece is not to either justify the Emergency or to defend it. The purpose is not to attack its ‘purpose’. The purpose is placing the facts leading to the Emergency in the right context. The purpose is to tell the young students of Indian politics that we have to see the background in which such a measure was taken. Certain events in history have wide-ranging repercussions, but as time goes, we also need to move on instead of earning cheap political brownie points which the BJP-RSS are indulging into. 

I do not want any acknowledgment for this piece, even from my Liberal friends, because I know nobody, including me, can justify the excesses of the Emergency. I only attempt to bring in some unread facts in the public domain. For this, I have taken the liberty to refer many books on the same topic written by people who were actually in the midst of it. All the views expressed by me here are my personal views and does not reflect the views of any political organization.

Fourty-three long years shall complete, since the declaration of Emergency in India. For those like me who are born in the late 80’s- Emergency had very little importance because we were born, after the death of India’s greatest Prime Minister (in my opinion, everyone is entitled to theirs) was assassinated. Being a student of Indian politics, I often have had debates (both online and offline) on the Emergency. Majority of the arguments against it, either come from the people who have a diametrically opposite ideology and political philosophy than mine, the rest come from people who have not dug deeper into the reasons of imposition of Emergency and are only indoctrinated by superficial trappings. Infact many of my Congress contemporaries too; are more often than not uncomfortable in delving or discussing about Emergency. 

We are in 2018 now. But every year, the BJP devoid of any core developmental issues tries to reignite a malicious politically driven propaganda by panning Emergency and raking up a discourse, in which it gets significant support from the most liberal section of the media as well. I would not blame the media- because they were one of the casualties of the Emergency. 

Yes, for the Congress party too- Excesses of Emergency were definitely a chapter for which it has publically apologized and which it does not want to touch at all. When provoked, every June; by the BJP – the Congress has little to offer except its reiteration that it had already apologized and that Indira Gandhi herself had accepted that it was a mistake, following it up by calling General Elections in 1977, where she faced the wrath of the electorate. They also remind the narrative creators that- Indira Gandhi later came back with a thumping majority, after the Janata party- Janasangh Government collapsed under its own contradictions and people again reposed faith in Indira Gandhi. 

There are a lot of deeper factors and some immediate factors which led Indira Gandhi Government to take such a drastic step. Before coming to that, let me also make it clear that Invocation of Emergency is a Constitutional provision which is explicitly covered in Article 352 of the Indian Constitution. So, one may have their reasons to oppose the Emergency and its excesses- but it has Constitution validity. 

So how the Emergency did came about? There are layers and layers of factors.

I. Disobedience of law in India has always been given a political colour, and rightly so. Since the Independence was won by Gandhian means of Non-cooperation, Civil Disobedience and Satyagraha. And we can still see hues and shades of it all across India even now. Dissent in a Democracy is one of the most powerful tools to keep it intact. But various organizations have time and again taken the law in their own hand to serve their narrow vested interests and disobeyed and disregarded the state, thereby trampling upon its powers and enfeebling it. Before 1947, the protagonists of the National Movement were fighting a Foreign Power. Weakening the state by unlawful means was at the core of their struggle; this was perfectly legitimate because a foreign power is ruling you for 200 years. But post-Independence, these tactics of blackmailing the state by hartals, strikes and even armed rebellion was still regarded as perfectly legitimate, particularly by those who want to usurp power through unconstitutional means. The opposition in the 70’s was determined to usurp power and when it tasted its first success in dislodging a Constitutionally elected Government in Gujarat- they had smelt blood and were hell-bent to replicate that modus operandi throughout the country. Economic distress and Inflation of the people, ravaged by successive wars also played a significant amount of part, as also some big mistakes by the Congress party in the state that further precipitated the situation. 

II. In 1972 India faced an extreme drought. In Gujarat, the situation became worse, followed by a poor kharif crop, thereby resulting in sharp increase in prices of the staple wheat, jowar, bajra and essential commodities. Sensing an opportunity for political gains by exploiting genuine hardship, opposition parties particularly the Congress (o) and Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), CPI(M), SP cynically organized ‘Nav Nirman Samiti’ of students. In December 1973, students of L D College of Engineering in Ahmedabad went on a strike to protest against a hike in school fees and mess charges. A month later, students of Gujarat University erupted in protest, demanding the dismissal of the state Government. How can student organizations demand dismissal of an elected state Government having a majority of 140 out of 168, is beyond imagination! They cannot do it without political patronage. 

As the disturbances continued unabated, the Government led by Chimanbhai Patel (who had corruption charges against him too) resigned and President’s rule was imposed on 9 February 1974, but Assembly was not dissolved. 

Now Jayaprakash Narayan (JP) got into the picture, by visiting Ahmedabad two days after the imposition of President’s rule. He complimented the students and actively encouraged them to continue the stir, leading to atleast 95 deaths in the coming days and 933 innocent people getting injured, besides loss of public property. The motive was to create anarchy and disturb the wheels of law by taking law into their own hands. Opposition parties were determined to get the house dissolved, especially because they were miserably thrashed in the state elections in UP and Odisha in February. They needed to retrieve lost ground in Gujarat, where they felt their electoral chances were better. 

Later, Morarji Desai undertook an indefinite fast, starting from 11 March, thereby forcing the Centre to dissolve the Assembly on March 15. 

III. With the success of the ‘Nav Nirman Movement’, the opposition had tasted blood. It became a symbol for similar agitations across India in several states. Nobody shed a tear for the demise of rule of law and the ‘murder of democracy’ by usurping power through unconstitutional means. And JP was particularly enthused by these happenings. Never a realist, always a believer in grand gestures of life, ‘the underground revolutionary’, JP gave a call of ‘Sampurna Kranti’ in Bihar. 

Such a call by any other leader would have easily been dismissed in the Indian political realm. But since JP had this moral, almost Gandhian aura of not accepting Pandit Nehru’s offer for a Cabinet post, after Independence, his call for ‘Total Revolution’ provided a degree of moral credibility resulting in coming together of ideologically opposite political entities like the Left, Right and the Socialists because they found this quick method to usurp power, through this short cut, a much better one. Using extra-Constitutional advocacy, they sought to replicate ‘Nav Nirman Movement’ though- student bodies, Sangharsh Samitis of Dalits and Adivasis and particularly the labour unions. 

IV. In Bihar, when the elected Government almost acceded to the students’ demands, the opposition still pressed for newer demands and dissolution of Assembly. Well sequenced calls of bandhs were organized unleashing widespread violence and disruption. Notwithstanding the violence associated with the bandh, JP gave a call for a gherao of the Assembly and residence of MLA’s, leading himself a procession to the secretariat. But Government did not relent. JP called a conference of opposition parties and by December, Jantata Sarkars and Janata Adalats in villages as organs of parallel governance. 

In fact, On 26 January 1975, rival Republic Day celebrations were held at different places in Bihar. Would any democratically elected Government allow that, is a question which can be left open to the ‘Constitutionalists’ who oppose the basic principle of Emergency! 

Inaugurating an all –India youth conference at Allahabad in June 1974, he said ‘though he himself would not take part in any armed rebellion, he would not restrain revolutionaries from to the gun’ (Times of India | 22 June, 1974). He also said, ‘he had never taken up arms against the state, nor did he want violence, but if the people wanted it from him, he would do that at an appropriate time’ (UNI report | 31 August 1974) It is apparent that, JP had very little faith in gradual reforms which were taking place under the Indira Gandhi Government. We can infer that policies like Green Revolution which made India self-sufficient in food grains, or the Nationalization of Banks- which increased India’s Saving Rate from 12% (1969) to 20% of the GDP (1980) did not cut much ice with the opposition whose one point agenda was ‘Indira Hatao’! 

The PMO made attempts to form a consensus with JP. But JP did not respond, nor did he spell out any concrete manner how he would battle against rising prices or eliminate corruption. He took no note of Government’s package which later brought down inflation. 

V. Even Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was an accomplished Parliamentarian, wrote in a paper which he read at the Bharatiya Jana Sangh’s Conference in Hyderabad in September 1974. – “The established leadership has been using Parliamentary method only as a cover for protecting their evil designs. (sic). The response cannot be confined to the Parliamentary level. … This was has to be fought in the streets… and in all sensitive power centres of the establishment’ 

Thus the opposition was fighting the battle to attain power only on ‘rhetoric’ and slogans like ‘communitarian society’ and ‘party less democracy’ with no vision or alternative policy roadmap for the future. 

VI. Another event which defined the precipitation of Emergency was the Railway Strikes of 1973-74. Apart from the All India Railwaymen’s Federation (AIRF) affiliated to the Socialist Party and the National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR) dominated by the Congress- around 200 big/small separate unions of different categories of railway personnel had cropped up through the efforts of CPI, CPM and the Jan Sangh. The competition of influence was intense. The Government in one such strike surrendered to All India Loco Running Association in August 1973, which gave an impetus to fresh demands from Sangh-Left backed Unions as they tasted their first success. 

Peter Alvares, the moderate leader of the AIRF was replaced by George Fernandes in 1973. Before taking over the leadership, George Fernandes (India’s future Defence Minister) declared openly that ‘he could organize a strike that would bring down the Indira Gandhi Government at any time by paralyzing railway transport to a dead stop’. 

In a speech meant to mobilize railway men for strike he said 

“Realize the strength which you possess. Seven days strike of the Indian Railways- every thermal station of the country would close down. A ten day strike of the Indian Railways- every steel mill in India would close down and the industries of the country would come to a halt for the next 12 months. If once the steel mill furnace is switched off- it takes nine months to refire. A fifteen day strike in Indian Railways- the country would starve” (The Hindu | 30 March 1974) 

The opposition’s main aim was to wreck the economy and paralyse the administration. This is why they pitched their demands so high and displayed little interest in negotiation of their demands. 

It was clear to the Government that the strike was politically motivated and was planned to paralyze the country. With its back to the wall, the Government had to defend the state and assert its right to govern. Indira Gandhi’s Government came down heavily on the protesters. Thousands of employees were arrested and their families were driven out of their quarters. 

VII. There were other important factors for the proclamation of the Emergency. There were some external factors too. The US showered praise on JP and his role in fighting the Indira Gandhi Government in 1974. The Nixon administration wanted to punish her defiance to the US in 1971 and for conducting India’s first Nuclear Test later. The hectic activity of Peter Burleigh, a US consular officer who was constantly in touch with the agitators was proof of the meddling of foreign powers. Intelligence reports of how Nixon’s administration wanted to overthrow Bangabandhu Mujib’s Government in Bangladesh added to more suspicion. 

In an interview with journalist Jonathan Dimbleby in 1978, when Gandhi was asked the precise nature of the danger to Indian security that drove her to declare a state of emergency, she promptly replied, “it was obvious, isn’t it? The whole subcontinent had been destabilized.” 

VIII. The disqualification of Indira Gandhi in the Rae Bareli election through the High Court Judgement of June 12, 1975 came as last straw and precipitated the Emergency. On June 24, the Supreme Court put a conditional stay on the High Court order: Gandhi could attend Parliament, but would not be allowed to vote unless the court pronounced on her appeal. 

IX. The opposition wasted no time in mounting a full-fledged campaign against Indira Gandhi Government. They planned demonstrations outside PM’s residence, gherao of industrialists and businessmen supporting the Prime Minister, gate meetings outside mills, lunch-hour meetings of Central Government employees etc. 

Jan Morcha- a motley group of 10 parties, with Morarjee Desai as Chairman was formed. In a rally in Ramlila Grounds, he asked the army, the police and the Government servants not to obey orders and challenged the Government to try him of treason. He even said encouraged the military to plan a coup and gherao the PM’s residence. 

X. A day after the Supreme Court judgment, an ordinance was drafted declaring a state of internal emergency and the President signed on it immediately. In her letter to the President requesting the declaration of Emergency, Gandhi wrote, “Information has reached us that indicate imminent danger to the security of India.” 

Early next morning, Indira Gandhi announced the declaration of National Emergency.

It is no secret that they were fears of a military coup to overturn a democratically elected Government in India had forced the PM to take this extreme step which, technically was Constitutionally valid. 

It is no secret that the opposition called upon the military, police and government employees to flout “illegal” orders. They urged students to walk out of classes, taxpayers to refuse to pay taxes and factory workers to strike. They also advocated that the Information Minister should be barricaded for allowing All-India Radio to “lie” for the Prime Minister. 

There are many excesses during the Emergency which nobody is condoning. Some were real, some were highly exaggerated. Similar conditions or even worse conditions were created during the Morarjee Desai Government too. But then it did not have a legal, Constitutional and Parliamentary sanction of the Emergency. 

Coming back to 2018, Forty-three long years have passed since Emergency was declared. UPA Chairperson, Sonia Gandhi in an interview already said that her mother-in-law, Indira Gandhi had regretted it. Congress party has apologized for it, time and again. 

But we do not know, why the BJP, is hell bent to invoke it every year. Is it because the present Modi Government has nothing to show? 

India has moved on, but the BJP is stuck with the Emergency.

Next summers, India will see a New Government at the Centre. It will either chose a monolithic single party Government and reelect an idea that destroys its civilizational values and Constitution or it will elect a motley group of regional parties led by a National party with conflicting ideologies and aspirations that may not be able to provide a masochistic, authoritarian and theocratic leadership but will definitely provide a way out of the conundrum that India is being pushed into. It is a difficult choice for the voter. 

The first time voter which is mesmerized and easily won over by the use of ‘soft power’, aggressive propaganda, emotive ideas and tall promises hasn’t really witnessed past coalition Governments in India, and will have an inherent tendency to go for a ‘Single Party rule’. On the other hand, mature voters who understand what ‘Freedom’ in its true sense means for a country like India may opt for the ‘coalition’. 

Personally, I am all for a strong single National party leadership at the Centre, but in the present circumstances, that option is closed for liberals like me because, I do not want my country to disintegrate through bigotry, hatred and narrow mindedness. A lesser known fact that we tend to forget is that coalition Governments have delivered in the past. We tend to forget that the coalition Government under Dr Manmohan Singh lifted 14 crore people out of poverty and provided the best growth rate ever possible in modern India. We also tend to forget that, it was a minority Government of P V Narasimha Rao that banished the past practices of ‘License Raj’ and undertook the biggest economic reforms that India witnessed in the past century. Yes, some coalition Governments have failed too, but those were the 70’s. 

Those political commentators who create this false equivalence between Indira Gandhi and present day Narendra Modi are living in a fool’s paradise. The Indira Gandhi Government was 11 years old, when due to a variety of socio-political movements the most flawed coalition of India – Janata Party led by Morarji Desai was installed and it crumbled with its own contradictions. On the contrary, Narendra Modi is only a 4 year Prime Minister. His series of self-goals like Demonetisation and Flawed GST, along with widespread mal-governance, cronyism, covered with a sugary outer shell of thousands of crores of propaganda cannot be compared to sound economic and historic measures of Indira Gandhi like the Nationalization of Banks, Ending Privy Purses or the 1971 War. 

The object of this piece was not to make any comparisons between the two, but this has to be strongly underlined and stated. They are simply incomparable. 

During the Plenary Session of the Indian National Congress, its political resolution mentions a very important dimension that might change the face of Indian politics in 2019. 

“Congress will adopt a pragmatic approach for co-operation with all like-minded Parties and evolve a common workable program to defeat the BJP-RSS in the 2019 elections”

The Karnataka elections happened just after the Congress’ 84th Plenary Session. And the Congress did show a great ‘pragmatic approach’ and immense flexibility to work with ‘like-minded’ JD(S). 

The recent bye-poll results are a copy book illustration of the ‘pragmatic approach’ adopted by the Congress party under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi. Wherever the Congress needed to step back and provide a larger role to the regional ‘like-minded’parties- it conveniently did. Wherever the Congress thought, it should pitch in- it surely did! Politics is all about pragmatism and no better than the Congress party knows this. 

In the same Plenary Session, Congress President Rahul Gandhi, elaborated about the relationship between the People of India and the Congress party. He said- 

“India expects much more from the Congress because it holds us, the Congress party on higher standard than any other organisation…”

Yes, the Congress party is extremely mindful of the fact that people of India will not let our Constitution be sacrificed at the mercy of the RSS-BJP. If the Congress does not use each and every tool left to its disposal to save the ideas, ideals and institutions that our forefathers so painstakingly built and nurtured, it will be failing in its Constitutional duty. Congress will fail the people of India, if it does not give an equal fight to the divisive forces of RSS-BJP. It will fail India, if it does not bring in the ‘like -minded’ regional parties on board to ensure that the coalition provides maximum damage to the theocracy of the BJP. It will fail if it does not provide an alternative agenda of Governance and Development which is Liberal, Progressive and Inclusive. It will fail if lets India plunge into the darkness of economic mismanagement. It will fail India if it does not protect its Farmers from distress, its Weaker Sections from persecution and it’s Working Class from exploitation. 

Kairana can be a template- but it is mainly an electoral template. Panning Narendra Modi cannot be idea. Congress cannot be accused of “Modi Vs All” and ‘Anti-Modi- plank’ alone cannot be an idea that should attract the voters. There has to be a positive idea. 

Congress is the only force which can also provide an ideological template- A definitive narrative. 

Flashback 2004: The UPA and the Left Parties had a ‘Common Minimum Programme’ which was almost entirely implemented from 2004-09. Congress needs to provide a common ideological template to this coalition. The coalition should have something to ‘propagate’. Leaders don’t win elections—the battle of ideas is what matters

So what are the broad ideas which the coalition can find a common ground on and built its campaign around? 

Let me attempt some broad ones- 

1. Preserving social harmony and fighting fundamentalism of all hues and shades.
2. Economic growth – creating jobs- realistic, doable, workable ideas for job creation. 
3. Implementation of the Swaminathan Committee for Farmers in letter and in spirit so that they get their fare prices and farm distress is alleviated. 
4. Education and Healthcare policy reforms- it’s a fairly non-controversial, non-debatable subject and can easily be implemented. The BJP in the past 4 years, has failed our Education system. 
5. Women Empowerment- political, economic, social & legal. Tangible solutions to enhance gender equality. 
6. Protecting Institutions
7. Providing space to regional aspirations within the Indian Union. More say of states in economic policy making. 
8. Judicial Reforms – reducing the pendency of the cases. 
9. Welfare of the Weaker Sections- SC, ST, OBC and Minorities.
o Relaunching the Sub Plans that the BJP abolished.
o Strengthening the SC-SC Act. 
o Enhancing scholarships and welfare measures. 
10. Fast tracking Modernisation of Our Defence Forces- the BJP has totally neglected our External and Internal Security. 
11. Transparency- RTI to be strengthened, Lokpal, Whistleblowers Bill. 
12. Protecting Our Environment. Saving our rivers, coastal areas, wildlife, air and forests. 

These are the 12 suggestive broad ideas that should be the Magna Carta of the coalition. There can be several more additions, but this can be a start. These are all non-controversial ideas and there cannot be any point of contention amongst the regional parties on these 12 ideas. 

Now it is the Congress and the coalition to decide.

India’s politics has truly changed under Narendra Modi’s BJP. The deepening roots of Democracy are being uprooted and are being smeared with a pesticide of superficiality. 

As the dust settles on the Karnataka Elections and the dramatic turns of events thereafter, I wondered ‘What is it in the BJP’s narrative, which makes them win? The Congress party might have clinched the Karnataka cliffhanger, but there are deeper questions which need to be answered. Since, I am student of Communication; the ‘Narrative’ part of it made me introspect. ‘Messaging’- is the key and how has the BJP been able to convince people through it? 

The answer lies in a short personal story. 

I may not come from a political family or lineage, but whenever we had any dining table conversations on current affairs and politics, my elders always made a point that never believe anything unless you apply your own mind, especially when you have certain doubts about it. Like all educated middle class homes, we were also taught to question and debate. 

At our joint family bungalow in Kanpur, near the driveway, my great grandfather had built a temple with small marble idols; six of them- A Shivalinga in black stone, placed in a square-shaped recessed space, which could facilitate the ‘Jal Abhishek’ on Lord Shiva; whose drain internally reached to a ‘KeleKa Ped’ (Banana Tree); Marble idols of – Lord Ganesha, Goddess Parvati, Lord Kartikeya, Lord Hanuman & Nandi. 

Nobody can forget that day of 21st September, 1995, when the stone idols of Lord Ganesha started ‘drinking’ milk out of the spoon. 23 years ago, I was in Class fourth, coming back from school, I still remember it very clearly, I saw a long queue at our driveway; of people coming from outside with milk packets and glasses to offer milk to the idols in our temple and I could not believe my eyes. Lord Ganesha was sipping in the milk, I was told. 

Since childhood, my grandmother inculcated this habit in us to take care of the idols, I used to clean up the temple, remove the dried flowers and leaves, daily wash it, ‘make them wear their clothes’ and even lay the idols to rest by placing a small blanket on them, in winters. I used to love it this daily ritual. Also, I developed a special bond with the Bhagwan. Praying to the God and carrying out the rituals were not binding on me and nobody ever forced to do it. Also, I made it a point to celebrate all festivals of all religions- Be it decorating the Christmas tree and having a joint family fete with games and goodies to celebrating Eid with delicacies gifted by our neighbours- Khan Sa’ab’s family; or be it national occasions such as Gandhi Jayanti or even paying tribute to MunshiPrem Chand on his Birth Anniversary. Believe it or not, I made it a point to celebrate everything. 

Coming back to ‘Ganesha idol drinking milk- mass hysteria’, on that very same day, I saw on news, scientists attributing this phenomenon to capillary action and presenting detail theories of how this happened. I was satisfied by the explanation and many years later, I found out that this predominantly urban hysteria was created by the RSS. It was their first successful attempt on mass rumuor mongering. 

The present day socio-political landscape of India is now much more advanced than this lone experiment. The mediums have changed, but the modus operandi remains the same. A ‘Whats App University’ has successfully (sic) been created, photoshop images, using social media, concocted videos, fake news, using even mass media to plant wrong stories- everything trick is being used. 

Thousands of factories of lies are being now opened daily to spread rumuors and advance the RSS-BJP agenda. The success of the ‘Ganesha drinking milk’ experiment have made them to scale up their agenda, a zillion more times, using sophisticated means and technology to spread lies. However, one common thread still forms the basis of this propaganda machinery- Emotive Issues. 

Each and every propaganda has to be ‘Emotion driven- Nationalistic emotion, Religious Emotion, Political Emotion, Societal Emotion….’ It has to touch one simple emotive chord and your message is through. It does not matter, how non-scientific, irrational, superficial, bigoted, communal, false, fake, denigrate d or divisive your ‘emotional theme’ is. It has to just bring out a ‘Call for action’ in favour of the BJP-RSS. That is it! 

Narendra Modi’s politics is precisely based on this- Emotive issues. Issues that the BJP espouses do not have any deeper effect tangible effect in our lives, but our highly emotive in nature and are completely superficial and shallow in nature. Sample some of these gems(sic), only used in Karnataka are:- 

 “Congress politicians (Rahul Gandhi) should learn patriotism through the Mudhol dog (hounds) of Karnataka”; 
 “Jawaharlal Nehru and V K Krishna Menon mistreated General Thimayya, after the 1948 war with Pakistan”; 
 “ Congress party insulted Field Marshal Cariappa”;
 “When Shaheed Bhagat Singh, BatukeshwarDutt, Veer Savarkar, greats like them were jailed fighting for the country’s independence, did any Congress leader go to meet them?”
 Referring to a popular vector graphic made by a young artist from Kerala, PM Modi said “The Congress’ ecosystem doesn’t even tolerate the magnificent art of Karan Acharya whose Hanuman captured the imagination of the entire country. Unable to digest its success, the Congress tried miring it in a controversy. There is no iota of democracy in the minds of Congress members”;
 “For 15 minutes, without taking a paper in your hand, can you please talk about the achievements of your government in Karnataka. You can speak in any language as you please- English, Hindi or your Mother tongue( Italian)” 

All these are full of vitriol, no real substance and are plain distortion of history. But Modi’s admirers’ love it. Many political commentators shower praises on Modi and call these as ‘intimidating’, ‘high voltage’, ‘passionate’ and what not. But the simple fact remains that Narendra Modi’s ‘messaging’ is purely based on the RSS brand of rumour mongering and spreading lies- camouflaged in an ‘emotive theme’. 

BJP has made India’s political discourse utterly shallow and superbly superficial. If we carefully check the number of debates that happen on our television channels, most happen on emotive issues – Hindu-Muslim, India-Pakistan, Caste division, Communal Conundrums and so on. A deliberate design to feed India’s young minds into such superficial trappings is being fostered by the RSS-BJP. 

Since attention spans are less, knowledge is trigger driven, books are becoming increasingly redundant and there is no sense of history left- this phenomenon is now at its peak. ‘Headlines Management’ is the key and ‘Spins’ attributed to ‘Sources’ fill up the news-cycle! Who cares about issues of women safety, when you have ‘Triple Talaq Bill’ as the greatest BJP achievement to showcase? * 

No wonder, in a letter dated 7th December, 1947- India’s First Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru wrote this about the RSS to his Chief Ministers:- 

“Some provincial governments have taken against periodicals for promoting hatred between communities. Probably the newspapers of the R.S.S. are more to blame in this matter than any other newspapers or periodicals outside Pakistan. It is amazing how they carry on this communal propaganda in its extremist form”

“I have some knowledge of the way the Nazi Movement developed in Germany. It attracted by its superficial trappings and strict discipline considerable number of lower middle class young men and women who are normally not too intelligent and for whom life appeared to offer little to attract them. And so they drifted towards the Nazi party because its policy and programme, such as they were, were simple, negative and did not require an active effort of the mind. The Nazi party brought Germany to ruin and I have little doubt that if these tendencies are allowed to spread and increase in India, they would do enormous injury to India. No doubt India would survive. But she would be grievously wounded and would take a long time to recover.”

Unfortunately, Pandit Nehru’s prophecy about ‘Superficial Trappings’ is soon coming true in BJP ruled India! 

*Aside: Do you know that No BJP Government has ever brought a single reformative bill when it comes to Women Safety or Rights, ever? All Women Reforms Laws in this country are brought by the Congress! But no one cares about that! 

The winds have started blowing the other way. The pendulum of politics is swinging to a different side. A glimmer of hope and change is gradually taking form and unravelling from the gloom and darkness which had gripped the nation by narrow domestic walls. 

When the Congress party attained its worst ever tally in the last Lok Sabha elections, as part of the small set up of the Digital Media War Room, dejected and saddened – we cried. We were a group of 20 odd people just trying to somehow sail our small and dilapidated boat against a phenomenon called the ‘Modi Wave’. Or as one of our seniors had curiously described us as a ‘small bunch of labourers, shouting unheard slogans infront of an MNC; which had a thousand times more access to resources than we had’. But we never gave up hope. I still keep that hope. On May 16, 2014- in the earlier few hours, frantically scrolling through the Election Commission’s website and somehow clutching at last straws to compare some loosing margins, we were shattered. We knew we would lose- but we did not imagine in our wildest dreams that we would lose so badly. It was a moment of truth for me and for each one of us. We did not still, lose hope. We posted a ‘Thank You’ message from the official party page and thanked the voters that the party got almost 11 Crore votes (10.69 Crores to be precise) in the Lok Sabha elections. Just two days into the defeat, I did write this, reflecting on what went wrong. 

In the next one month or so, we thought- that now since it is a battle between David and the Goliath – we should just keep pricking the BJP with issues that matter to the people. Choosing our fights, picking up small manageable battles and hurting our political opponents –inch by inch when they failed to deliver on their promises and live up to the expectations of the people. A time will come that this humongous ‘Goliath’ infront of us shall politically collapse. As an aside, I do want to add that, we in the Congress’ ideology do not think of “BJP Mukt Bharat’- we, unlike the BJP-RSS, do not practice negative politics and we know that India is a thriving vibrant Democracy that we have built and nurtured and we do not want to weaken its values. We want a billion ideas to flourish in India. 

This tactics of taking baby steps to secure the future of our people by questioning the BJP- time and again- repeating the same messages- again and again- has now weakened the BJP. We still don’t know to what extent. We still don’t know whether it is the just the Congress which is responsible for it or is it someone else. We are still not sure if BJP’s lofty promises and absolute non-performance is responsible for it. We still do not know whether a bunch of collective factors are responsible for it. But something very large is building up against the BJP. In the words of Harish Khare, who recently wrote an interesting piece saying ‘A Million Mutinies are taking place…” Yes, I agree that umpteen uprisings are certainly taking place in India and that is certainly reflective of the present discourse. 

I am no astrologer and I can’t predict future. I do not know how this will pan out. Politics changes in days. To repeat that oft repeated cliché- ‘a week is a long time in politics’- I do not know what is in store for the Congress or for the BJP in 2019. But I do know one thing- People of India are increasingly getting fed up by this Modi Government. 

There is a deep sense of betrayal in every stratum of the society. More and more, it is looking that no one is incharge in this Government, as if it is running on an auto pilot. No one better than a hardcore Congress person like me could feel this stagnation, because we use to experience the same at the last couple of years of the UPA. But there was a difference. The clear difference is that, the UPA’s downfall was not only its own making, but also a concerted effort, laced with heavy propaganda machinery on ground as well as off ground, by the BJP-RSS, sometimes camouflaging them into an “India Against Corruption’, in order to deliberately shatter the UPA. In contrast, although yes, a million mutinies are taking place- none of them are being fanned by the Congress in a manner that was done by the RSS during UPA period. 

Farmers are unhappy, distressed and marching on the streets. Economy is in dire straits- there are no jobs for our youth and a virus of ‘paper leaks’ to deliberately jeopardize their career is being abetted by elements of the Sangh Parivar, in active collision with the ABVP created ‘Exam Mafia’. Law and Order of the country- and specially the BJP ruled states is in deep turmoil. Rapes and gruesome, unspeakable and unthinkable crimes against women are rising by the day and the BJP is only indulging in whataboutery. Bank Loot Scams of colossal proportions have completely wrecked and paralyzed our Banking systems. Institutions, such as the Parliament, Judiciary and even the Election Commission are being systematically denigrated. Internal Security is clearly endangered with daily attacks on our security installations that have never happened before. Foreign policy is directionless and has destroyed relations that were carefully built over decades. Dalits are being subjected to barbaric atrocities and their rights are being diluted by getting legal stamps. An atmosphere is being consciously created to start a debate on Reservations- that will provide some solace to BJP’s core upper caste supporters, since they are disillusioned and dejected by policies like the flawed GST, cutting of savings rate, midnight knocking at the door by the tax men and finishing trade and businesses. 

Cronysim is flourishing. Forest dwellers and Tribal are being told that they now no more have any rights on their natural resources. States are angry because they are not being provided with adequate economic share. None of the schemes that Modi launched or advertised have yielded any results. Infact Modi Government has absolutely nothing to show. 

This is not the Congress’ creation. Infact, we have been just about successful in highlighting some major issues. And we have improved our Communication. Everything is Modi Government’s own undoing or doing. Demonetisation was not a Congress’ idea. A Flawed seven tax rate GST was not a Congress idea. Paralyzing the Banks by taking over RBI’s powers was not Congress’ plan. Facilitating the escape of Lalit Modi, Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, MehulChoksi and Jatin Mehta was not the Congress’ doing? Daily increase of petrol-diesel prices and earning a windfall of Rs 7.5 Lakh Crore in 3.5 years without helping the common people was not a Congress’ deed. Promising 100 SMART Cities and a Bullet Train, without improving basic infrastructure was not Congress ‘assurance. Buying only 36 Rafale jets in thrice the price, by neglecting experienced PSU and opting for a crony friend is not the Congress’ doing. Lynching people on what they eat, was certainly not Congress’ plan of action. 

Flip-Flop and Saree-Shawl-Dinner diplomacy with Pakistan and vacuous U turns on China and Doklam and enabling the latter’s presence at that region was not a Congress’ ‘misadventure’. Showing ‘Laal Aankh’ and ’56 Inch Chest’ to China and Pakistan was not Congress’ boastful rant. Promising to bring Black Money worth 80 Lakh Crores and depositing 15 Lakh in every Bank Account was not Congress’ promise to the nation. Although Congress did present a ‘White Paper on Black Money’ during UPA and showed BJP the mirror of truth that real ‘Black Money’ resides in India. Interfering in the Judiciary and threatening the Media by calling them ‘Bazaroo’ & ‘Presstitutes’ is not Congress’ agenda. And it is only the BJP who gave us the slogan of “Achhe Din’ and later called it a ‘Jumla’! 

So what has Congress party done as an opposition till now? Are they only banking on BJP’s failures? Or do they also have a plan for 2019? 

Since we know these things and one may read that here, I would like to just to recap in brief- The first success of Congress party as an opposition came in when the Land Acquisition Act was not amended by the Modi. From ‘Suit Boot Ki Sarkar; to ‘Fair & Lovely Scheme’ to ‘Gabbar Singh Tax’, ‘Shah-Zyada’ to ‘Shourya Gatha’ to now ‘Bas Ek Aur Saal’ – Rahul Gandhi and the Congress ensured that the Modi Government is cornered on a plethora of issues like crony capitalism, black money, corruption, agrarian distress, shady defence deals and much more. In the past four months or so, whenever you see there is injustice or wherever you see that the Government is abysmally failing to deliver or is maintaining a studied silence- You see a Congress party intervention. The latest is the spontaneous Candle Light Vigil on April 13th at India Gate, in the backdrop of series of gruesome rape cases and BJP’s support of rapists; where Nirbhaya’s parents also participated. 

The Congress now seems to be carving a vision for 2019.A month ago, I had the privilege to attend the two-day Congress Plenary Session.There were many firsts. The empty stage bereft of lounging leaders. The ‘never-before’ feature of panel discussions on ‘Media’, ‘Social Justice’ & ‘Vision 2030’. The ambiance. Stadium decorated with Congress symbols, rather than leaders. An exhibition gallery with rare portraits, that reminded us of our past. A programme hosted by the young. A TV friendly stage with LED screens and so on. All this has been already noticed, extensively commented and written about, but in all this, people did not miss the message. 

The message from the 84th Congress Plenary was crystal clear. The Congress party has “done it before” and “shall do it again”. Pardon the exaggeration, but it is a tradition, which no other political party in the world has ever followed. A tradition of ushering ‘Change’. Every decade and sometimes in between, the Indian National Congress with absolute flexibility tries to adapt itself with the times and the growing aspirations of the Indians. It remains the same, infact it has been time and again been berated as a ‘status-quoist’ party; (sometimes even by its own supporters) but those who have observed and followed its working since decades, can certainly vouch that every Plenary session, there is a nuanced approach to recast, reform, revitalize, reorganize, reconstruct and reorient. This innate message of ‘Change is NOW’ may have been understated in some of the speeches, but was razor sharp and extremely precise in Congress President, Rahul Gandhi’s speech.

Every Resolution adopted in the Plenary- be it the Political, Economic or on Agriculture & Employment or be it the resolution adopted on Foreign Policy issues- Each had a set of concrete suggestions and an implementable agenda for the future. Three important policy interventions for the future that the Congress party would implement came out distinctly. First, to create jobs– by encouraging manufacturing units and skill development institutes based on the uniqueness of that very district. The Economic Resolution clearly reads that “The Indian National Congress resolves to win back economic freedom for India’s entrepreneurs, especially the micro, small and medium business persons, protect them from harassment and provide a stable business environment.” Second, to solve the procurement issues of the farmers and smoothen the supply chain- Congress party promised a huge network of food parks. Third, to put quality emphasis on higher education, Congress will open institutes of excellence like the IIT’s, IIM’s, IISC’s etc in every district. 

Certainly, change is in the air, it’s just a matter of one year now

I would start this piece of writing with a disclaimer – that I am an eternal optimist. It does not however mean that when the Congress party snatches defeat from the jaws of victory, my heart doesn’t bleed. It does. 

Politics means pragmatism. It requires a ‘matter-of-fact-treatment’. It’s the ability to know the reality- the writing on the wall. In the recent defeats in the Northeast, the Congress party very well knew the writing on the wall and the severe constraints it is facing. It definitely knew that, its political organizations in the North East desperately required a Central spine. It also knew that the BJP- RSS is working overtime and dubious methods to usurp power in these states and it also knew that it is not doing any justice to its local leaders, whatsoever. The Congress left its leaders in the Northeast to fend for themselves- not because it wants to, but because it was forced to. It did whatever best it could do in the current circumstances. 

Some unknown faces of the newly created and refurbished departments in the party belatedly did camp in Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland, but they were not able to clean up the rot. Colleagues who I know personally, travelled extensively, tried to pump in some oxygen in the organization, highlighted some issues to the Centre- even though it was a small and fresh beginning, yet it was an important one. Had they not do it, we would have been much below those 21 seats in Meghalaya or some key state leaders would have deserted us in other states. Yet, the overall picture one sees is that of apathy and disinterest. 

So what was the prime reason for this apathy? There are multiple reasons. The first and foremost is the cleanup exercise which is going in the Central unit. The weeding out of non-performers and the status quoists, enabling a generational change and revamping of a new organization is the most important task for the Central leadership as of now. If we do not have an organization, fresh faces and hardworking leaders- we cannot build a new future. Sometimes you have to start on a clean slate and that is what happening, in a gradual, albeit calibrated manner. In an organized which is so entrenched and obsessed with its past (and rightly so) one needs to balance out all age groups and regions and representatives. The recently announced groups and sub groups for the AICC plenary session, give us a peak in this process. More radical decisions need to be followed and we would certainly see a change post March. 

Lack of resources and logistics is the biggest problem the Congress party is facing. People may mock me for this assessment, but that is the grim reality. It is unable to furnish even basic campaign materials for local polls like the recent Uttar Pradesh local body elections, where a former Congress Minister of State lost mayoral elections. Not every candidate or every elected representative possesses the means to fight elections, especially in an increasingly competitive political space where propaganda off all shades and hues and on all platforms matter a lost. Nowhere, here am I attempting to find a convenient alibi for the Congress’ defeat in these recent polls. Yes lack of resources and logistics is only one of the factors. There are many more. 

Another reason is that, some of the leaders responsible for these states have already given up the fight even before they entered one. Some who did attempt to give one were the young ones. They were brought in very late in the day in order to somehow rescue the situation, but their hands were tied because of constant interference by the older and more senior leaders. 

The key to win elections is to have an agenda and to package in a way that it should appeal to your voters. I have repeatedly underlined this extremely important issue in my earlier pieces. It is high time that the Congress spelt its vision for India in the backdrop of the current political scenario. At the cost of repeating myself again, I am again quoting from a previous piece which I had written in July 2017. 

‘A solid, implementable narrative and a new vision to take along those committed liberal voters who still believe in those ideals on which the edifice our Constitution was laid. Time and again, I have come to this conclusion that only a positive narrative can resurrect the Congress. 

For starters, we should look at our own 2014 Manifesto. This 45 page document should be our Magna Carta to attack and question the BJP. It will give us more credibility because we shall not be merely criticizing the policies, but also put forth a positive policy solution. “Had the Congress been in power, there were the 5 steps it would have taken to solve agrarian distress”. “These are the steps that the Congress party would have taken to create more jobs”. 

The voter connect is only possible when you gather small constituencies of groups together and target your liberal supporters. Laziness, complacency and arrogance should be done away with. A strong ideological resolve is needed so as solidify your support base. We all know what ails the Congress party, we also have some solutions. No political party that has a closed system and secretive in nature can function in a vibrant democracy. We have to open the doors for the converted and to the swing ones.’ 

Certainly some heads need to be rolled given the complete disaster which took place in the North East. Certainly, we should stick to our own Centrist ideology and not make ideological compromises by aligning with the Left or Non-Centrist parties and certainly we need a vision for 2019. The clock is ticking and we have very less time. 

All the views expressed in the article by the author are strictly personal.

As we celebrate Our Constitution and the immense contribution of the pillars of our National Movement, we should reflect upon the times we live in. We are witnessing a state sponsored inequality manifesting itself in stark differences of income, societal status and access to resources of the state. An unprecedented attack on the deprived at large by relentless vigilantism, whose single point agenda is to fuel and play upon the existing societal divisions for their own vested interests. This has created unbearable agrarian distress for the rural hinterland and unacceptable economic disparities. 

In recent times, Congress President, Rahul Gandhi has always reflected and believed that there are two Indias. In the last few years, the divide between these two very different India has been systematically exacerbated by a state which wants to keep this inequity alive. Lack of opportunities for the young is the single biggest causality of this phenomenon. Entrepreneurship of ordinary traders and small businesses are under a cloud on account of control by a handful of monoliths. Arbitrary policies have only added to their wounds. 

Since the state is focusing its energies on building a propaganda machinery that seeks to disunite the socio-political fabric, it is unable to concentrate fully on important areas like National Security and securing our borders and coast lines. 

To overcome these challenges, the Congress party is the only organization that can provide a harmonizing vision. The way forward lies in neutralizing our vast demographic dividend, channelizing the entire energy of the country in productivity, job creation and creating sync between the farmer, trader and the market with adequate revenue generation; which benefits all not one.Technology driven innovation and exploration, which is accessible to all is a vital tool in this transformation. 

Expansion of the economy in a manner where the benefits percolates downstream in a more equitable manner rather than accumulation of wealth in the hands of the few should be the primary focus. Transparency and accountability should be the foundation on which this renewal will rest.Restoration of Institutional integrity is a key to this onward march. Respecting the integrity of our natural resources, forests and wildlife is as important as responding to human needs. 

The Indian National Congress’s ideology is painted on a huge canvas that covers the entire humanity. The Congress party’s ideals are engrained in the well-being and advancement of the people of India and the establishment in India, by peaceful and constitutional means, in which there is equality of opportunity of political, economic and social rights and which aims at world peace and fellowship. Since thousands of years, this has been the bedrock of India’s philosophy. This has been the basis of Our Constitution too. 

Let the instrumentalities of state work in convergence rather than in confusion. 

Let cohesion, not confrontation be the cardinal policy of the state. 

Let compassion, not conflict be the central principle of governance. 

Let cumulation of ideas, not command of a selected few be the final celebration of democracy. 

With these thoughts, I wish you all, A Very Happy Republic Day!

We, the people of India, today observe the first anniversary of an enormous tragedy that caused widespread distress and suffering to 125 crore Indians. The unwitting, thoughtless, unplanned and mismanaged decision of the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi – completely driven by personal ambitions thrusted upon 125 Crore Indians has resulted in an ‘Economic Disaster of Monumental Proportions’. The Narendra Modi Government has launched a no holds barred publicity blitzkrieg to convert the entire debate of demonetisation into binaries of ‘Black Money vs White Money’, but the reality on the ground is that there is insurmountable pain and anguish. 

PM Narendra Modi inflicted a ‘Scam of the Century’ at the expense of our countrymen by this reckless decision. The BJP indulged in organized loot and legalized plunder while the common people of India were forced to queue outside banks and ATM’s. Today, we recall those unsung, unspoken and undocumented people who lost their lives when PM Modi conducted this gigantic social experiment to traumatize them. While the back bone of India’s Economy – the Informal Sector which consists of crores of farmers, daily wage earners, migrants, labourers, craftsmen, street vendors, small traders was devastated by this one ‘Tughlaqi Farmaan’ by – the BJP converted crores of its ill gotten money into ‘legal tender’. 

Demonetisation displayed a brazen display of utter disdain by the Modi Government for Institutions. The reputation of the Reserve Bank of India was shattered into pieces. One man’s adventurism writ large as an unplanned, ill prepared Government and administration took upon itself to implement this huge exercise. Not less than 135 notifications and orders were passed and rules were changed by the minute to enforce the will of one person, while the citizens suffered. 

None of the stated objectives of eliminating black money, terror financing and counterfeit currency have been met. To promote a less-cash economy, coercive steps like demonetisation were ineffective. The Cash in Circulation after one year is close to 90% of previous levels. The fact that more than 99% of the demonetised currency came back into the banking system, has punctured the government’s claims. There are also widespread reports of the rich converting their black money into white while the poor suffered. 

Where has the Black Money gone?

RBI Report reflects that out of 15.44 lakh crore money in circulation at the time of demonetisation on November 8, 2016; Rs 15.28 lakh crore have been received back. It means that only Rs 16,000 crore did not come back, so far. 
On the contrary, Prime Minister and Finance Minister had claimed that demonetisation would result in non-deposit of Rs 3-5 lakh crore of black money. On December 10, 2016; Attorney General, Mukul Rohatgi told the Supreme Court that “The Government expects Rs 10 or 11 lakh crore out of a total of Rs 15 lakh crore.
Will Modi ji answer as to where has the black money gone, as almost the entire money has been re-deposited?

Where is the ‘Fake Currency’? – Is it Another ‘Jumla’?

PM Modi had announced that detecting fake currency notes was the logic behind demonetisation. Even Finance Ministry in its press release dated 8th November, 2016 had stated detecting fake currency as the reason for demonetisation.

RBI Report has revealed the falsehood of this claim also. Out of 15.28 lakh crore currencies received back, only Rs41 crore currency was found to be fake i.e. 0.0013%. Once 99.998% currency has been found to be genuine, and then the entire logic given by Prime Minister has utterly failed.
Fake Currency in shape of the new Rs 500/Rs 2000 notes has already been detected. In one case, children were caught photocopying and circulating the new Rs 2000 note. 

Has Terrorism & Naxalism been curbed?

Another reason given by Prime Minister Modi for demonetisation was stoppage of terrorism and Naxalism. Facts belie this claim also. Post-demonetisation, there have been 50 major terror incidents in J&K alone, in which 80Jawanshave been martyred and 51 civilians killed.
Also, there have been 17 major naxal attacks after demonetisation, in which 69 security personnel were martyred and 86 civilians killed. What is the logic of Prime Minister’s claim is un-understandable in view of these figures? 

Cost of printing ‘New Currency’ is more than ‘Savings’- Proves the folly of Demonetisation

RBI Report says that only 16,000 crore was not deposited back. RBI Report further reveals that a sum of Rs.25,391 crore was spent on printing/logistics of New notes. Will Modi ji tell the logic of spending 25,391 crore rupees to save 16,000 crore rupees?

Has India moved towards a ‘Digital Economy’? 

Last reason given by PM Modi was promotion of digital transaction in the economy. Even this logic appears to have failed. In November, 2016 (prior to demonetisation), value of digital transactions in our economy was 94 lakh crore. Post-demonetisation in July 2017, value of digital transactions was 104 lakh crore i.e. a mere jump of 10 lakh crore over pre-demonetisation period. 

Truth is that the biggest increase in digital transactions happened during Congress-rule. Between 2011-12 to 2012-13, digital transactions jumped by 53%. Between 2012-13 to 2013-14, digital transactions again increased by 49%. This data completely defeats the assertions of the Prime Minister.

Has ‘Black Money’ been seized? 

PM Modi and FM Jaitley have been brandishing that since November 2016 upto May 2017, a total Rs 17,526 Crore has been detected as ‘Undisclosed Income’. They forget to mention that 5 times more ‘Black Money’ was unearthed by Congress-UPA in the last two years of the Congress Government. (As seen below).

As we witnessed hundreds of stories of distress and sufferings, the Government kept changing goalposts to project a positive narrative. Now the BJP spokespersons and propaganda machinery is now mounting new goalposts. 

Firstly it is claiming that ‘Formalization of the economy’ by increase in the tax payer’s base. This is factually wrong. According to the Finance Ministry’s Annual Report, the year-to-year growth in the number of tax payers in 2016-17 was 26% (with demonetisation), which is less than 27.6% during 2015-16 (without demonetisation). The Modi Government changed the very definition of the ‘tax base’ and ‘new tax payers added’ through the CBDT, on the recommendation of the Avadhesh Kumar Mishra Committee. As per the new definition, ‘new tax payer added’ are all ‘persons from whom the TDS/TCS deductions are made’. Thus, BJP’s claim that more people are now under the tax net is as manufactured as its GDP numbers based on changing the criteria altogether.

Secondly, PM Modi recently claimed, in an election rally, that since India’s ‘Cash to GDP ratio’ has fallen substantially, we have less cash in the system and corruption has gone down. PM forgot to mention that ‘currency in circulation’ is back to pre-demonetization level. 15.45 lakh crore were demonetized but ‘ new currency in circulation’ is back at 16 lakh crore. Some simple facts puncture the story further. As on March 31, 2017, the cash to GDP ratio had stood at 8.8 per cent, while in June 2017, it increased a shade higher to 9.9 percent as compared to pre-demonetisation cash to GDP ratio of 12.2 per cent. What the Government is not telling is the simple fact that if the economic activity slows down, the growth in currency in circulation is bound to plunge. For the period of three months ending March 2017 and June 2017, the non-government part of the GDP (which forms around 90 per cent of the GDP) has grown by a little over 4 per cent. Further, the Reserve Bank of India tells us that India’s Cash to GDP ratio is now close to countries like Germany and France. But if we take the example of another developed country like Japan which has the highest cash to GDP ratio at 19.4 per cent, then will it mean that Japan has wide spread corruption? Answer is simply no. Even as per the Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index for 2016, Japan is the twentieth least corrupt country in the world. Unfortunately, India stands at the 79th position, despite having much lower cash to GDP ratio.

Third ‘Jumla’ which is being parroted by BJP leaders is that ‘interest rates for loans’ have seen a substantial decline. This is hogwash. BJP Government has actually targeted the country’s ‘Saving Rates’. Since 2014, BJP has made atleast 8 revisions in the interest rates for various saving schemes including Savings Bank Rate, Public Provident Fund, Kisan Vikas Patra and Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana. When there are no savings, then reduction of ‘interest rates for loans’ will be meaningless.

For example, Government’s principal bank i.e. State Bank of India (SBI) slashed saving bank interest rates from 4% to 3.5%. Saving Accounts in SBI are currently estimated at 37 crore with a deposit of 9.4 lakh crores. If there is a reduction of 0.5% in interest rate, there is a direct loss of Rs.4,700 crore annually to the 37 crore account holders. Couple this with the multiple charges being levied on ATM, Bank and Digital transactions; this has burned deep holes in the pockets of ordinary citizens.

Fourthly, we are being lectured on ‘loot’. This is preposterous. In September, 2016; bank deposits in scheduled banks saw an additional increase of Rs. 5,88,600 lakh crore. Out of this, fixed deposits made between 1st September to 15th September, 2016 alone were over Rs.3 lakh crore. Does it not prove advance knowledge of the decision of demonetisation and conversion of money?

Lastly, The BJP Government is claiming that now it has now obtained the ‘addresses’ of those who deposited 99% of the demonetized currency in banks. This is the biggest lie. Had it been the case, BJP Government had complete 365 days and all means to trace these addresses. Not even a single FIR has been registered against such people. Merely floating mismatched figures in the media only reflects a ‘shoot & scoot’ strategy. There is not a single document in public domain which names these tax evaders. Why is PM Modi lying ? 

Demonetisation has turned out to be the biggest scam of independent India. Examples are many:-

(i) Kolkata Unit of BJP was caught depositing Rs.500/Rs.1000 notes running into Rs.3 crore on the day of demonetisation in A/c No. 554510034. Despite repeated demands, BJP and RSS have not made public details of money deposited between Ist March, 2016 and 8th November, 2016 in its bank accounts across the country.

(ii) In the run-up to decision of demonetisation, BJP and RSS purchased properties running into hundreds of crores across the country. Congress has released details of 8 properties valuing Rs.3.41 crore in Bihar and 18 properties in Odisha. Actual market value of these properties is much higher. Despite this, Narendra Modi and Amit Shah have refused to make public the details of properties purchased by BJP/RSS in last one year. Does it not prove that BJP had advance knowledge of the decision of demonetisation and was converting its black money into assets immediately before demonetisation?

(iii) In September, 2016; bank deposits in scheduled banks saw an additional increase of Rs.5,88,600 lakh crore. Out of this, fixed deposits made between Ist September to 15th September, 2016 alone were over Rs.3 lakh crore. Does it not prove advance knowledge of the decision of demonetisation and conversion of money? Modi government has been unable to explain it nor has made public names of everyone, who had deposited Rs.25 lakh or more.

(iv) Shockingly and just before demonetization on 08-09-2016, cash of Rs.3 crore was seized from a Maruti Swift Car bearing Regn. No. HR-26AR-9662 at Indira Puram, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. The two occupants of the car, Sidharth Shukla and Anoop Aggarwal claimed that the money belonged to them and they were taking it to Lucknow. Ghaziabad City BJP President, Ashok Monga reached the Police Station and certified on a letter pad that the money was being ‘sent by BJP Central Office to BJP State Office in Lucknow’. Will Modiji and Amit Shah answer the source as also the reason for transferring the money in stashes of cash just before demonetisation instead of a digital transfer, which they are promoting? 
As ordinary people languish in bank lines for days together to withdraw their own money, a parallel ‘black market’ flourishes in converting black money into white by charging a commission upto 30% as also sale and trading of new currency notes with the tacit approval of Modi government. Important issue is that role of none of the BJP leaders involved has been investigated.
(a) BJP National President, Amit Shah is a Director of Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank, Ahmedabad. As much as Rs.500 crore were deposited in this bank within 3 days of demonetisation. Why has Amit Shah not been investigated?

(b) BJP Maharashtra Minister, Pankaja Munde and her sister & BJP MP, Pritam Munde are owners of Vaidyanath Urban Cooperative Bank. In a raid, a sum of Rs.10 crore in old notes and Rs.10 lakh in the new currency of Rs.2000 were recovered. Why have they not been investigated?

(c) Mahesh Shah of Ahmedabad, Gujarat made a declaration of Rs.13,860 crore in the voluntary income disclosure scheme. He later resiles. As he was giving a TV interview disclosing names of politicians and bureaucrats, he was taken away by Income Tax authorities. Former Gujarat CM, Sureshbhai Mehta has openly spoken about links of Mahesh Shah with Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. Why have they not been investigated?

(d) Ramesh Gowda, an associate of Karnataka BJP leader & former Minister, G. Janardan Reddy, committed suicide and left behind a suicide note stating conversion of Rs.100 crore of black money by the BJP leader.

(e) Cash worth Rs.91.50 lakh was recovered from the car of BJP Minister for Cooperation, Subhash Desmukh in Maharashtra.

(f) A number of BJP leaders were caught with stashes of cash. Sanjiv Kamboj, co-Convener of Legal Cell of BJP in Punjab put up photographs on social media with wads of new Rs.2000 currency notes. Manish Sharma, a BJP leader from West Bengal, close to a Union Minister, was caught with Rs.33 lakh of new currency notes. In Salem, Tamil Nadu; Arun, a BJP Youth Wing leader, was caught with new currency notes worth Rs.20.55 lakh. BJP leader, Sushil Vaswani was raided in Madhya Pradesh and a lot of ill-gotten money was recovered.

“Jingoism, racism, fear, religious fundamentalism: these are the ways of appealing to people if you’re trying to organize a mass base of support for policies that are really intended to crush them.”
– Noam Chomsky

When the going gets tough, the tough gets going. At the end of its half term, the Narendra Modi Government may be still cruising steadily in perception, but in reality the people of India have lost faith in this Government. Rapid signs of disillusionment are being witnessed on ground, in conversations with people and in the nature of the discourse. To its credit (or discredit), the Bharatiya Janata Party is aggressively fighting this perception battle with 3 M’s – the management of the media, the management of events and the management of opinion. The economy is in crises, foreign policy is confusing, reforms are stagnant and governance is diminishing. Devoid of any ideas, to keep the momentum of perception, the BJP has now adopted ‘Nationalism’ as the primary tool to set the agenda of the discourse.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has embarked on a nationwide Tiranga Yatra. Union Ministers and MP’s have criss-crossed the entire country, with party workers riding on bikes, many a time seriously violating road safety rules. These party workers, mostly RSS cadre who are accustomed to fly a Bhagva Jhanda (saffron flag) are flaunting large Tricolours shouting slogans of “Bharat Mata Ki Jai“. These workers might not have ever imagined that this day would ever come in their lives when the BJP flag or the Sangh flag will be replaced by the National flag. After all their political ancestors always taught them that this was the India’s flag was the ‘Congress flag’ which the Indian National Congress cunningly (sic) imposed on India. This is the reason why the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) never raised the National flag at its headquarters till 2002- precisely for 52 years after independence.

The Hindu mahasabha (the original avatar of the RSS) despised the National Flag. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is on record that any challenge to the National Flag by the Hindutva Right wing elements will not be tolerated.
The RSS want to somehow impose its boxed bigoted ideology of Majoritarianism into the circular ideology of India and its people who believe in Inclusiveness. 

When the regressive statements of Hindutvavaadis didn’t cut any ice, when the RSS got encircled in the tolerance debate by majority of right thinking people of this country, when the likes of ‘Love Jihad’ failed, when attempts to foil a ‘National’ vs ‘Anti-National’ debate surrounding JNU and other universities failed, the Sangh Parivar is now latching on to this debate of Nationalism. 

Narendra Modi in his recent speech to party workers thundered that “No political party in India has sacrificed as much as the BJP”(sic) . He said that “Nationalists are with the BJP” and BJP stands for Nationalism. Nationalism is the political card which the BJP seems to be waiving these days. In reality, it is not Nationalism, but Jingoism. BJP wants to create a disquisition, wherein it is seen as the most strident political force on nation state issues. The PM’s uncalculated Baluchistan gambit is also an element to bind this discourse. All this is being planned and managed in order to escape the real questions of governance. 

However, the people of India are unperturbed. The common man on ground is more concerned about whether he will be able to earn for his family, provide them with basic daily needs and fight the daily battles of sustenance. Who cares about ‘Nationalism’? They worry about the Rs 200/kg Daal and the soaring prices of vegetables. They worry about the education of their children and whether they would be able to afford the medical bills of their parents. Their spirit of nationalism ends there. 

The BJP’s game plan does not end here. The Hindu Right has always been devoid of credible icons. In the past 30 years, no political party in India has been able to form a single party government at the centre. 2014 elections have provided this golden opportunity of a brute majority to the BJP. The BJP is exploiting this chance like no other. It is virtually robbing the Congress (known for its exemplary role in the Freedom Struggle) of its icons and of its legacy.

First they came for Sardar Patel, when they announced building of that mammoth statue in Gujarat. Then they came for Mahatma Gandhi. The way Gandhi ji is being potrayed in the Swachh Bharat campaign is for the world to see. 100 years of Gandhi ji’s Champaran Satyagraha is being observed by the Government next year. Then they came for Babasaheb Ambedkar. The Dalit plank of the BJP might not be working because of the upper caste Hindutva hegemony prevalent in their rank and file, but the BJP is trying hard to appropriate Babasaheb and play the backwards card. Now they are even coming for Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. They officially celebrated 125 birth anniversary of Nehru and the Tiranga Yatra even has banners carrying his portraits. In fact, the Government is also celebrating the 125 year Birth Anniversary of Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan (known as the frontier Gandhi) this year. History records all of them as Congressmen. Period. 
Jingoism is only one part of the reality. The other one is to instil fear at local level. Vigilantism has become the order of the day. It is not just limited to the menace of Gaurakshaks and the Bajrang Dal activists or the beef controversy; it has now reincarnated itself into every aspect of our lives. The nanny state is trying hard with its official and unofficial dictates’ – what should we eat, what should we wear, what should we see and even what should we speak. Those who do not conform to the state or its vigilantes are branded as ‘Anti-Nationals’. The recent cases of actress turned politician Divya Spandana, the proclamation by the Culture Minister on skirts and the Sanskari Censor Board’s antics are few of the hundreds of examples in which fear of the nanny state has entered in our lives. 
Two decades ago, the BJP adopted Religious Fundamentalism as its core ideology in the form of Ram Janmabhoomi Andolan; now when it has reaped the political benefits of the same; it has adopted Jingoism in the form of Nationalism and Fear to rule the masses. 

This is the unfortunate truth.