The threatened “earthquake” did flatten ~ but only the hopes of those who had imagined that, eventually, the show-boy of the Congress would land a punch that would cause the post-demonetisation wobbles of Modi sarkar to genuinely stumble.
By regurgitating allegations that did not prove a firebomb when initially levelled ~ the final word from the apex court is awaited ~ Rahul Gandhi not only disappointed those suffering after the Modi-Jaitley misadventure, he eroded the contrived credibility that he would be a point around which the Opposition rallied.
His trying to “take the battle” into the Modi-heartland was as much of a squib as Mamata Banerjee’s procession to Rashtrapati Bhawan when the winter session of Parliament opened. As expected, Congress spokespersons tried to project the Mehsana message as a “mauling”, but struggled to avoid the embarrassment of their heir-apparent having let them down: as well as virtually spiking the Opposition’s guns when it was preparing to fire a broadside.
The haste with which Chandrababu Naidu “clarified” his position on demonetisation (as usual, the media got it wrong, he claimed), only confirmed an erosion of Opposition faith in the Congress leading from the front. It will now be no surprise if Nitish Kumar opts to sugar-coat his reviewed stance after Mr Modi’s 50-day grace-period runs out.
A couple of weeks ago Rahul had shown a little “spark”, at Mehsana he proved he had yet to graduate from child-like barbs like “suit-boot sarkar” and “fair and lovely”. In retrospect, the simple village folk in UP had got their diagnosis right when they made off with the string-cots arranged to create a rustic ambience for Rahul’s public meetings ~ they knew he had little else to offer.
The moot point now is whether what tries to project itself as the Congress leadership musters the courage to seek a more powerful talisman in the wake of Rahul’s self-scripted rout.
It is a tragedy of Indian politics that “right” and “wrong” (and everything else) are evaluated on a comparative basis, so even those who firmly believe that Narendra Modi & Co. could lead the nation into disaster really fear the TINA factor (there is no alternative), and will lap up specious theories that success in a series of municipal polls are an endorsement of the demonetisation exercise.
The series of “flips” by the finance ministry and Reserve Bank actually add up to a flop that articulates the inability of the government to address a crisis created by a whimsical, arrogant leadership, immune to the agonies of the common citizen. Yet the sufferings of the people appear set to continue ~ maybe until the Congress ceases to be the principal Opposition party, or it develops the “guts” to install a more potent spearhead.