Poor Dr Manmohan Singh is repeatedly resurrected by the Congress party to rescue it from the mess it finds itself in. No one ever accused him of being articulate, but he did start with a personally clean image and a reputation for ‘unimpeachable’ integrity. Alas, both of these ‘assets’ have been over-exploited, and for all practical purposes have been rendered ‘non-performing’. The time-serving, underwhelming ex-PM cuts a very sorry figure when he tries to defend the indefensible, suddenly finding his tongue, and tries to convince all who care to listen that whatever his government did to help a ‘Captain of Industry’ Vijay Mallya was ‘routine’, confirming to best global practices.
P Chidambaram, sitting by his side, smiles patronisingly at his former nominal boss reminding the viewers who really called the shots in the UPA. The man who loved to advertise himself as the ‘King of Good Times’, today reminds one more of a ‘Devil May Care’ fun-loving skipper of a pirate ship than any responsible ‘Captain of Industry’.
The portrait of an industrialist as a wealth-destroying playboy, serial defaulter in repayment of bank loans, can’t be conveniently hidden in a hard-to-find closet in the basement. Bright young sparks like Randeep Surjewala keep trying to keep the creaking doors of the Congress cupboard in place, but the skeletons keep tumbling out.
It is no point shouting ‘media trial’ every time a scandal hits the headlines. Dr Manmohan Singh had tried his best to keep himself ‘at an arm’s length’ from whatever was happening proverbially ‘right under his nose’. He forgot that no Yogi, adept at contortionist asanas, can manage this feat. This is what is the basic cause of his misery now.
Not many though are moved by the plight of the old man. The numbers of those bothered about the electoral performance of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab are even less. Ever since Priyanka-G managed to rescue the ‘gathbandhan’ between the SP and INC, Rahul-Ji has resumed costume-coordinated campaigning, marching in step with young Chief Minister, Akhilesh Yadav. Not a great idea—this forced jugalbandi. It effortlessly underlines the contrast between a performer and a pretender. One may find faults with Akhilesh, but he has not shirked responsibility and has had the courage to take on challengers on his own. Nor does he disappear from the view from time to time. The family needs him more than he needs the family. As the two walk along, aka ‘Qadam Qadam Badhaye Ja! Khushi Ke Geet Gaye Ja’, it is difficult not to ask where have all the other young comrades—Sachin Pilot and Jyotiraditya Scindia to name just two—gone? Forget comrades; doesn’t even an arms-flailing and floundering crown prince miss the essential entourage of knights in shinning armours?
What is obvious is that Rahul can no longer be projected as solitaire with unmatched sparkle, an uncut Kohinoor. Speculations regarding the more charismatic and voter-friendly sister coming to the rescue of the party haven’t added any lustre to his fading image either.
The media no doubt will continue with its ‘trials’ of glamorous absconders, and ‘coverage’ of celebrities in courts. Salman Khan’s alleged conflicts with law show no signs of resolving. It seems too many people are obsessed by ‘framing’ him. The sideshows, like the Jallikattu agitation or protests against director Sanjay Bhansali’s film Padmavati, continue to compellingly distract us from substantial issues in politics and economics. Who has the time for these when ‘culture’ has to be defended and ‘history’ requires rescue from those wishing to rewrite it?
It can’t be denied that extra-legal censorship by vigilante gangs has assumed extremely distressing forms. Those who never tire in raising their voice about the imperilled freedom of expression in this land, find it convenient not to hear hate speeches inciting communal polarisation that threatens to spark violence. The courts may not be able to protect the innocent or punish the guilty, but the mob can lynch or silence anyone with impunity. Electoral considerations and compulsion of coalitions tie the hands of the government all the time.
As we talk tirelessly of the USA under Donald Trump as a bitterly divided nation poised on the brink of an abyss, we forget that India, too, is riven by dangerous strife. The glue that held together the composite culture has lost its adhesive strength. ‘Syncretic’ is not a word in people’s vocabulary. Forget clichés like ‘Unity in Diversity’, differences are perceived as divisive and people unlike us are identified as enemies.
Let us not forget that these elections will pass. The results would continue to be analysed in the context of 2019, but the immense collateral damage inflicted on ‘family and friends’ as foes, will be hard to repair.
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