Lalitgate: A silent Namo, misplaced roadmap of Congress

If you try to pass judgement with malice and hostility, you deceive not only your opponent but yourself.  - The Last Question by Saratchandra Chattopadhyay

Virtually this approach and spirit is guiding the Congress response to the Lalitgate controversy. As a result Congress is convincingly appearing leaderless and rudderless. The manner the likes of Ghulam Nabi Azad and Digvijay Singh are quoting L K Advani on daily basis suggest a very interesting phase -- the total bankruptcy in Congress arsenal wherein they could have had the Modi regime on the mat.

"Advaniji doesn’t give hints, he states everything with clarity. But ‘jo na samjhe  woh nadaan," said Azad almost elevating BJP patriarch as an elderly statesman. These appear like trying to use Advani's aging shoulders to shoot at the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Both Vasundhara Raje and Sushma Swaraj are important BJP players - besides being women-in-power faces; but the Congress attack is only a bit of cacophony. 

Most of the media briefings by the likes of Jairam Ramesh, supposedly the architect of a pathetic Land Bill in 2013 and who also damaged party's prospects in Andhra-Telangana region, is like barking up the wrong tree.

In the process, Congress is only betraying its helplessness and absence of home work in taking on the Narendra Modi-led dispensation. This does not augur well for democracy as a weak and allegedly a ‘bogus’ show by opposition only would make the incumbent government more arrogant and perhaps also dictatorial.

“By creating a defence entirely based on FEMA, Modi-supporters and BJP-proxies have been able to create a smokescreen that the Congress hasn’t been able to penetrate. This is their biggest failing. Could it be deliberate? Possibly yes, because the Congress camp is full of sharp lawyers, including former finance minister P Chidambaram….,” says Firstpost. (Link: http://www.firstpost.com/politics/all-noise-no-point-congress-attack-on-bjp-over-lalit-modi-scandal-is-aimless-heres-why-2317280.html)

The worst sin committed by Congress in the entire drama is the absence of home work – and thus confusing Light Blue Corner notice with Blue Corner or even Red Corner.

By raking up Dholpur palace controversy, Congress has again only shown its bankruptcy and sheer desperation even as despite the ‘mandate’ on Lalitgate at TV studios, the BJP is not buying the resignation line especially for Vasundhara.

True, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chose to remain silent on Mann-ki-Baat radio programme on the major row but in the eagerness to exploit that Congress has again given away certain loopholes in its campaign to be exploited by BJP.

A strategic silence or Blunder

The repeated use of the word ‘Bhagoda (fugitive)’ by none other than an educated and well informed Jairam Ramesh for Lalit Modi is again a baffling episode.

The saffron party has thus said even if Raje had backed the immigration appeal of Lalit Modi, former IPL chairman, she had "not testified in court on his behalf" and hence the Opposition criticism of her supporting a man wanted for financial crimes in India was "misplaced".

"Can anyone cite before us an instant wherein Vasundhara appeared before the court of law as is being made out by our political opponents," BJP spokesman Sambit Patra said.

Another BJP spokesman Shrikant Sharma said the Congress is not doing its homework properly. So the question is, has the Congress blown the issue over.

Moreover, look at the Congress misplaced priority. Just to make a political point, Ghulam Nabi Azad flayed Prime Minister for not mentioning Ramzan, a festival of Muslims, and instead had raised Raksha Bandhan, a Hindu fest, with insurance schemes for women.

This gave BJP an opportunity and BJP women workers thus staged a protest against Ghulam Nabi Azad, Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, for his remarks that while PM Narendra Modi had mentioned about Raksha Bandhan during his radio address yesterday, he did not refer to Ramzan, a major festival of Muslims.

The agitating BJP workers also had demanded an apology from Azad. 

Both Azad’s Ramzaan-Raksha Bandhan jibe and Jairam Ramesh raking up Dholpur palace episode came as blessings for BJP, which was left cornered during last fortnight.

The BJP has thus sought to revive the 'National Herald scam' and demanded that the Congress Party should come clean on the same rather than making allegations against individuals and their 'private property'.

Reacting to Congress leader Jairam Ramesh's accusation earlier that former IPL chairman Lalit Modi and Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje 'conspired' to convert the Dholpur Palace, a government property, into a luxury hotel, BJP spokesman GVL Narsimha Rao said that the Rajasthan government had 'no role' to play in this entire issue.

The BJP also questioned whether former Rajasthan chief minister of Congress Ashok Gehlot, who was in power in the state until 2013, was a party to the transaction or not.

"I think these are completely baseless allegations which the Congress Party has chosen to make simply to be in the news. We would rather demand that the Congress Party should come clean on the allegations concerning the manner in which Rs 2,000 crore worth National Herald was taken over by the Gandhi family."

"Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi owned almost the entire share in Young India which acquired the entire property under National Herald for a pittance. This is called looting the public property. The Congress Party should come clean on this rather than make allegations against private individuals and their private property," he said. 

This is truly a case of skeletons in your own cup board when you say that neighbour’s backyard was stinking.

Ends