Rahul takes battle to Modi camp

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s interview to PTI last Sunday is an altogether different cup of tea from anything he has said in a comprehensive fashion on national affairs. Above all, it signals his change in emphasis from getting systems right, of which he has spoken drearily and incessantly, to confronting the basic challenge to Congress’ “idea of India” posed by the RSS and the BJP and their campaign mascot Narendra Modi.

The Congress has espoused the credo of an integrative society in which religion, caste, region and language are not to be pressed as divides for the sake of public mobilisation and advancing a political agenda. The BJP’s election campaign, specifically Mr Modi’s campaign, has not done this explicitly, but it has artfully sought to leverage the so-called development model of Gujarat in such a manner as to make any recall of the Gujarat violence of 2002, which struck at the root of a “secular” India, redundant. Mr Gandhi’s interview seeks to place this in perspective. In the election season, the Congress vice-president’s shift of gears is likely to be welcomed not only by his own party but also by others who are not of a saffron political hue.

In the absence of this thrust the Congress’ campaign had appeared listless. By specifically arguing that the “clean chit” to the Gujarat CM in respect of the Gujarat communal violence may be politically expedient for the BJP but is “far too premature”, the Congress’ chief campaigner has succeeded in taking the battle to the Modi camp. Mr Gandhi has appropriately pointed out that the Supreme Court-appointed SIT whose report bails out Mr Modi has been interrogated by credible experts, and that the lower court judgment clearing Mr Modi, basing itself on that report, has not yet been subjected to judicial scrutiny by higher courts. This observation has value for the Congress as it pointedly questions the essence of the BJP’s campaign that the “bogey of secularism” is trumped by the “development model” of Mr Modi. Mr Gandhi also speaks of Mr Modi’s “legal accountability” and “the inexcusable failure of governance under him”. The key word here is “governance”, of course, of whose lack it is usually the Congress that is blamed on account of its 10 years in government.

Mr Gandhi’s summary dismissal of finance minister P. Chidambaram’s assessment that the Congress starts as an “underdog” in the election will please his backers and place Mr Chidambaram’s wisdom under scrutiny. The Congress leader’s signal that he is ready to do business with those who are “determined to fight sectarian and communal forces that seek to divide India” leaves the door open in the post-poll phase for those who may be his challengers, including the DMK and Trinamool.