Every five years, the biggest democracy of the world, India, undergoes a process of electing a party that will govern it for the new term. Nation-wide elections, mostly involving two biggest political parties, United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and National Democratic Alliance (NDA), fight the war of ideologies using allegations, blunders, achievements, and failures of one other. Heated debates and unprecedented arguments among the supporters of parties on news channels, workplaces, and social gatherings becomes an inevitable course. Literally, the dance of democracy is on full display.
Comparing to other parties, Indian National Congress is a century-old political party formed to accelerate the nationwide movement of independence from British invaders. Prominent people from all walks of life were part of it. Under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, Indian National Congress in a way represented the whole India on political forefront. It was a beacon of hope, strength, unity, and all the other virtues, an ideal political party should consist of. It is a well-known fact that in addition to the efforts of INC, martyrdom of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose, Bhagat Singh, Veer Savarkar, Mangal Pandey, Rani Lakshmibai, and several known or unknown was responsible to snatch our land back from Britishers.
However, an ascension of Indira Gandhi as the Prime Minister rooted the foundation of dynastic politics in this age-old party. The emergency of 1975 and the massacre of Sikhs following her assassination uncovered the dishonest and vile facade of the goody-goody Indian National Congress. The rise in the corruption scandals, an increase in terrorist attacks, and choosing corrupt leaders like Lalu Prasad Yadav in ministry during Congress rule sealed the downfall of this party. An Indian common man became fed up with their fake promises and was sure that Indian National Congress, now United Progressive Alliance, would stoop low to any level to be in power.
Without any previous political experience, Rahul Gandhi became a de facto head honcho of UPA when he entered politics in 2004. For a decade of rule ending in 2014, he didn’t accept a single position in the ministry to get himself familiarized in Indian politics. Maybe, being raised with a silver spoon might have established a false dogma in his mind that he was born to be posted at the highest position. Rahul’s inability to contemplate issues of modern India, failure to answer most basic questions and absence of a firm solution to any existing problems gradually made him an undesirable politician.
The staged dramas like eating a meal in the shack of poor family, tearing of ordinance passed by his government, illusory promises of debt waivers, and unreal free housing schemes had turned Rahul Gandhi into nothing but a farcical leader meant only to entertain people. He became an example of a failed leader who depends on fabricated images and false news to take forward his party on the political plethora.
Nowadays, the common population is highly active on social media. A political party must be very sure before putting anything on the public platform. Lies get busted in seconds. Parties like RJD, SP, and BSP with exorbitant corruption cases are wiped off from power. Yet the prominent leaders of UPA along with the party supremo are busy sharing made-up videos and photos without proper verification.
Rahul Gandhi constantly questioned the brave efforts of armed forces in Balakot, Pulwama, and Galwan Valley forgetting that when UPA was on center, weapon modernization bills were never passed citing the reason for scarce economic conditions. The warnings of intelligence agencies fell into deaf ears during the same period, as confirmed by multiple sources, resulting in several serial bomb blasts. While the Bofors scandal was still fresh in the mind of the people, UPA never tried to take the armed forces to the next level due to their possible greed of making commissions through backdoor. They forgot that a common man might tolerate a corrupt government up to a certain extent but an injustice to a soldier risking his life at the borders for him because of petty politics is of course unbearable. In the last seven decades, hardly anything showcased progress during UPA rule, except for bank accounts of its top politicians.
Addition of separatists like Salman Nizami and appointment of Gujarat’s most hated politician, Hardik Patel, abetted in losing Gandhi family’s credibility in the eyes of the general public. Selecting candidates following suggestions from Lutyens media whose own knowledge on the plight of ordinary citizens is exiguous, turned disastrous for Rahul’s party.
The silence of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra on the Bengaluru riots exposed them to a much greater extent. UPA, under Rahul’s leadership, had become synonymous to a party whose only agenda is to appease a selective section of the society. Without stating obvious facts and digestible reasons, Rahul Gandhi and his party irrationally opposed all the decisions made by the current government.
During once in a century Covid19 pandemic, instead of standing shoulder to shoulder with the government on power, Rahul and Priyanka were busy in their hate politics at the risk of people’s lives. Rather than helping citizens with necessary things, UPA leadership occupied themselves in finding faults of the prime minister from their sophisticated safe havens. It was not a surprise when their plan of transportation of laborers from Rajasthan to UP turned out just another gimmick.
Swapping of the topmost post of UPA within the Gandhi family revealed the dynastic leadership games played by the regimes that existed in India during Mughal rule. Rusticating the leaders with a progressive mentality, UPA is still scratching their age-old issue of poverty without devising any staunch plan to eradicate it. Ironically, Gandhi family’s undeclared wealth has grown four-fold in the seven decades of public service including approximately $2 billion net worth of Robert Vadra whose business grew exponentially after his marriage with Priyanka.
Rahul Gandhi while accusing BJP of buying MLAs forgets the trade he carried out with Shiv Sena by appointing Uddhav Thackeray as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Recently surfaced photos of an alleged shady deal of Gandhi family with Chinese premier Xi Jinping hardly left any room to Indian population to trust them. The fake propaganda of Hindu terrorism concocted by Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Digvijay Singh, and other stalwarts of UPA turned out to be a huge dent on the party’s hopeful future.
People have witnessed robust India on the world platform under an exemplary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Isolation of Pakistan in the global community, determined counterattacks on Chinese intrusion, campaigns to encourage local industries, and fulfillment of promises by NDA has left hardly any chance for Rahul Gandhi to shine in politics. Indian public strongly felt the weakening of Pakistan under the current government, which was an unimaginable feat during UPA’s rule. Their denial of actions against terrorism induced by ISI turned a meager opponent like Pakistan a huge dragon. Return of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthman in 60 hours is proof of solid Indian dominance over the Asian peninsula.
From bogus promises to forgive the debt of farmers to the tearing of an ordinance passed by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi never cared to actively participate in analyzing and fulfilling the requirements of the Indian public. It is time that someone experienced from his party teaches him that politics is not just about power and money. It is also a chance to do a real public service. Fake propaganda ran through corrupt journalists who discuss issues of poor while sipping champagne in their million-dollar mansions won’t work anymore.
Rahul Gandhi miserably failed to understand the nerves of modern India where facts travel faster than air. With the powerful show of strength by India on the global stage in G7, G20, SAARC, and Covid19 pandemic, it is highly unlikely that Rahul Gandhi can succeed in his non-directional politics. India in the current situation is definitely in need of strong opposition but UPA, especially Rahul Gandhi, surely doesn’t qualify for it.
