Sore losers, INC

He finds imagining a sadhvi suddenly changing into a professor of economics to be naivete of the highest order. He should know, having changed from a loyal footsoldier of Tamil Nadu’s Puratchi Thalaivi into an ardent crusader of grassroots democracy in Myladutharai.

His arithmetic is awry: he claims that in the three states that the Congress lost, the massive slide in its votes went only marginally to the BJP. We must be dreaming, for all the news channels had colourful arrows matching the Congress downswing in votes with the BJP surge. He says that even today the BJP is as far away from 300 seats in the next Lok Sabha as the Congress is from 272. A reality check, Mr Aiyar: on present reckoning, shouldn’t the figure for the Congress be closer to 100 and not their Great Leader’s magic 272? He says the BJP will never lack for partners who sleep with the enemy. A case of sour grapes?

Aiyar’s thinking exemplifies what is wrong with his party. It lives in disregard of ground realities, in its own fantasy world as a once and future ruling party. It sincerely believes that inconvenient facts do not exist and employs sophistry (the BJP did not win, the Congress lost) in place of cold logic. It wants alliances but spurns willing allies. And it displays monumental arrogance even in a humiliating defeat. It is said to be in denial, opposing policies it had itself ushered in.

The more accurate description would be that it is in decline, and a terminal one at that. Its dilemma is that it will continue to lose with Sonia Gandhi, but without her, it will cease to exist! The real losers, however, are millions of Indians who cannot stomach voting for the BJP and the Congress effectively denies them any alternative to it. The true architects of the BJP victory now, and who knows, in the future as well, are Congressmen and women, such as you and your leader, Mr Aiyar, out of sync with India. So don’t cry for us.