Sir,
The plight of Congress is worse than that of a coward who the Bard says dies a thousand deaths before he actually dies. The grand old party of Nehru and Gandhi seems to be suffering from a strange death wish, a death that has larger than life proportions.
Despite a virtual decimation in the polls, the party could still hope to enjoy some clout — and relevance – due to the numerical situation in the Rajya Sabha, where Modi’s NDA is clearly short of the required numbers. That was one chance for the ‘secular’ Opposition to keep the saffron flag from fluttering away to glory. But developments in recent days have proved that the Congress, read Opposition, advantage was only a mirage.
The ease with which the Government managed to push its controversial Right to Information (RIT) Act amendment bill through Rajya Sabha, despite the draconian nature of the legislation, which should have united all Opposition parties against it, showed that the issue transcended mere numbers. It was a real snub to Congress, particularly Sonia Gandhi, who had apparently played an important role in bringing such a landmark legislation during the UPA government’s rule.
The worst was reserved for later this week, when the Triple Talaq bill also cleared the Rajya Sabha hurdle. The ‘criminalisation’ clause in the bill had provide a ground for unity for all ‘secular’ forces to stand united as it was clearly seen targeting Muslim men, though their wayward behaviour was never worthy of any sympathy. Still, as a issue it had an appeal that could cut across political affiliations.
K Raveendran
on e-mail
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