Who Will Stop the BJP? There’s No One in Sight
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(Photo:
The Quint)
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Rahul Gandhi. (Photo: Reuters)
Opposition Making All The Wrong Moves
The BJP’s adversaries have undermined themselves with self-defeating moves. Take for instance, the time Sonia Gandhi stalled the Manmohan Singh government's forward march on the economic front by opting for extravagant populist measures, thereby handing over her own government's development agenda on a platter to the BJP
As Chidambaram ruefully admitted later, the government should not have taken “the foot off the accelerator of reforms”.
Similarly, Kejriwal came to power with the assurance of providing a clean government as promised by his one-time mentor, Anna Hazare. While the social activist worked for the setting up of a Lokpal, an anti-corruption ombudsman, Kejriwal's own internal ombudsman, Admiral L Ramdas, had to leave the Aam Admi Party (AAP). He was ordered out for having questioned the CM’s authoritarian style, which also led to the ouster of Kejriwal’s former allies, Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan.
By the time Kejriwal had concluded the purge of his own party, it was clear that power was his primary goal and not governance like he claimed.
Once this obsession became clear, it was obvious that his party's days were numbered. The
aam admi, or the common man, after whom the outfit was named had seen through his act – the AAP's defeat in Delhi, Punjab and Goa is proof.
Nitish Kumar. (Photo: Reuters)
Like Kejriwal, Nitish Kumar, too, has failed to live up to the expectations he had drummed up during his stint as Chief Minister. Then, he had successfully rid Bihar of the lawlessness – or the jungle raj, as it was called – that was rampant during the tenures of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leaders Laloo Prasad Yadav and his wife, Rabri Devi.
But now, as an ally of Laloo Prasad, and with Rabri Devi backing her son Tejaswi’s elevation from Deputy Chief Minister to Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar's focus is to somehow hold on to power.
So, who will stop the BJP? Not only is there no one in sight, but there is little chance of the opposition parties being able to put together an anti-BJP combine because of their fractious internal relations.
They also lack a forward-looking economic agenda, one which appeals to the young like Modi's Make In India, Digital India and other programmes.
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