Vested Politics: Confused Birds for Rafales

In India, political parties love nothing more than the exposure of major scandals. Bofors, Tahelka are the best examples of such a mindset. While Bofors successfully ended the late Rajiv Gandhi’s regime, Tahelka finished the political career of the then BJP president Bangaru Laxmanan. So it was expected that Rafale will generate same sort of reactions. But initial public response to the disclosures regarding Rafale deal is nothing but tepid.

Although Congress president Rahul Gandhi is continuing to attack the present day government on an almost regular basis, other political parties including the Left are yet to make the Rafale deal a full blooded political issue.

The reaction has been somewhat uneven and sporadic. The Samajbadi Party (SP) has demanded a Joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to probe the matter. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Pattanaik and his party the Biju Janata Dal (BJP), a strong regional force, criticised the government on various issues, but did not say anything regarding Rafale. Given party supremo Mamata Banerjee’s frenzied opposition to Narendra Modi, TMC’s response to the entire issue is mild to say the least. Dalit leader Mayawati too has taken a stand similar to Mamata.

When the need of the hour is unity, such a fragmented approach of the opposition parties is hard to believe. Can they not see the writing on the wall? Are they not aware of the ground realities of the country? Are they really interested in dethroning the present regime? The answers are very simple. When Congress started losing ground in various states, regional forces came up to fill the void. Naturally, these parties are more interested in consolidating their positions in respective states, rather than playing a pan-India role. This is why Mamata is interested in winning as many seats possible in West Bengal to increase her bargaining power with the Centre, rather than being too bothered about who captures Delhi. In such a situation it is no wonder that she feels that she can dictate terms either to Congress or Bharatiya Janata Pary (BJP) when one of the two occupies power.

Again her call for a Federal Front, to which the Congress can play a supportive role, is hardly helpful for Congress ambitions or the future prospects of Mr Gandhi. Such a stand is bound to please the BJP, which naturally treats the Congress as its biggest challenge and in Mr. Gandhi it finds its strongest opponent in the national context.

The other factor which remains common between Mayawati’s BSP and Mamata’s TMC is the corruption charges that they face at the highest level. Cynics say that both parties are out to win as many seats as they can, their combined strength will not be easy to ignore in any closely fought election.

So, when our leaders are more driven by the personal choices, ignoring the cries of the people, such a muted response is not unexpected. But will it be good for the nation? Only time can tell.