If the exit polls about election results in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh turn out to be anywhere near right, the greatest threat to the Indian polity today will not be the usual accusations of corruption, communalism, dynasticism and criminality in politics, that are routinely traded between parties during election seasons, but that the country is steadily drifting towards a single-party “democracy”. In such a situation, one would have expected Congress president Rahul Gandhi to delineate a new vision for his party, state its stand on various economic-related issues, and also describe how he proposes to bring the party out of the morass of negative public perceptions that it is currently stuck in. Unfortunately, his inaugural speech can at best be considered as only an exercise in morale boosting of party cadres. In public perception, it will be seen as one more instance of the Congress’s inability to grow out of Modi-bashing and BJP-bashing even at a critical juncture.
A. Ramachandran,
ADVERTISEMENT
Palakkad