The White Paper tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is a master tool to attack Congress.
By reference to UPA regime's weakest links to 10 years of Sonia Gandhi's defacto rule and infamous Scams and Corruption, the BJP is able to revive the decade old issues.
These issues including the 2G and Coalgate scandals and also economic concerns like double-digit inflation were the period when middle class and neo-middle systematically moved away from Congress and also from other regional parties towards BJP.
This was the era when Narendra Modi emerged as a Middle Class hero; and hence these help in 'repackaging' before the 2024 elections.
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| 2014 Campaign |
By attacking Congress chiefly, there is another 'big picture' message -- BJP and Regional satraps and parties can be friends.
Look around, what's happening? Parties such as TDP led by regional stalwart N Chandrababu Naidu, that left NDA in 2018, is now back in the ring. Nitish Kumar is also back. In terms of perception, just goes well that there is no alternative (TINA) to Namo, his Moditva phenomenon and the saffron party.
This is why from attacking the opposition bloc as “Ghamandia (arrogant)” and calling it “INDI” alliance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has successfully trained his guns exclusively on the Congress and Rahul Gandhi in his recent speeches.
The White Paper is actually a typical Poll campaign material seeking to make scathing criticism of the Congress-led UPA government’s handling of the policy crisis challenge and the economy especially during its tenure from 2009 to 2014.
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| Corruption cases/scams of 2010-11 revived anti-Congress polity ... but ultimately helped Modi |
Looking back, the Coalgate scandal was the fifth corruption case the UPA establishment had faced.
The CAG had alluded to kickbacks and dubious deals in the allocation of 2G telecom licences, leading to a US$32 billion loss. Corruption on a massive scale was also alleged in the organizing of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010 as well as a housing scheme for widows of war victims and the privatization of Delhi airport.
These scandals all resulted in a round of resignations and the imprisonment of several government ministers and executives. Analysts said, the fungus of corruption has eaten into all spheres of life in India. Worse, the scandals had "nosedived the credibility of the then prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh, who was credited till the other day for honesty.
In fact, in scathing criticism of the UPA government’s management of the economy, the White Paper of Feb 8th, 2024 recalls how the Manmohan Singh government failed miserably to facilitate economic activities.
“Instead the UPA Government created hurdles that held back the economy. It basked in the afterglory of the lagged effects of the reforms of the Vajpayee-led NDA government and benign global conditions and proceeded to exploit the resultant fast economic growth for narrow political purposes without much concern for long-term economic consequences.
The result was a mountain of bad loans, a high fiscal deficit despite much of it being hidden, a high current account deficit, double-digit inflation for five years which hit the pockets of many Indians and membership of the club of “Fragile Five” in 2013,” it said.
The document goes to say, “They (UPA) not only failed to impart dynamism into the economy but also robbed the economy of it such that our industrialists went on record stating that they would rather invest abroad than in India. To drive investors away is easy but to win them back is hard.
The UPA government also demonstrated that it is easier to hurt the economy than it is to help it. They inherited a healthy economy and bequeathed an enfeebled one to us. We have restored its vitality.” While the document focused on the economy, Modi in his speeches in the two Houses of Parliament attacked the Congress on all possible grounds — as “anti-Dalit, anti-Adivasi and anti-OBC”.
He also said UPA and Congress was 'influenced' by colonial thinking --- something hat goes well with a large section of poor and middle class voters.
Modi's big picture scenario is clear and almost lethal -- right from the time of Jawaharlal Nehru to Indira Gandhi to Rajiv Gandhi and the present leadership of Rahul Gandhi -- things were pretty bad if not rotten.
Modi's calculations are pretty good and based on smart politics. The guiding heme being One should choose one’s friends and foes wisely.
Some regional parties are embracing NDA, some like BJD continue to maintain clever relations that suit BJP and there are players like Mamata Banerjee and even Arvind Kejriwal, who are in the Opposition alliance, but harming the Congress and Rahul Gandhi more !!
One can call them 'sleeper cells or covert allies'. Why should BJP attack them?
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