Opinion BJP’s Rakesh Sinha writes: Congress is neither here nor there. Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra only adds to the confusion about what it stands for

Parties like the SP, RJD, JDU and DMK understand the Congress’s limits and, therefore, none of them is prepared to play second fiddle. Moreover, Rahul Gandhi’s old formula of presenting himself as the first among equals in chanting anti-RSS and anti-Modi slogans has failed to give him an edge.

So, how much has the Yatra bolstered Rahul Gandhi’s leadership? The answer to this question has less to do with his individual identity and more about the ideas he cherishes. His oft-repeated statements against the RSS and V D Savarkar only appeal to intellectuals of the Nehruvian and Marxist lineage and do not excite the masses. In the changed context of Narendra Modi’s pro-marginalised politics and consistent government policies, it is difficult for the non-BJP forces to convince people with their propaganda. Instead of spelling out its economic views, Congress has been confined to polemics against the BJP government. The party has been caught in a paradoxical situation. The party think tank endorses neo-liberalism while it tries hard to push Rahul Gandhi’s pro-poor image.

While capitalism has been making aggressive advances all over the world, PM Modi’s economics is close to the people’s aspirations and provides ideological and political deterrence to crony capitalism. Once a votary of the socialistic pattern of society, Congress has seen its social base, the poor and the marginalised, moving over to the BJP. Today, these sections are vocal supporters of PM Modi. Interestingly, even the communists have not taken on Modi-economics as being opposed to their concept of socialistic governance.

It is in this context that anti-BJP parties are compelled to rely on political gimmicks based on caste and communal polarisation. Each of them is conscious of Modi’s outreach to their traditional support base. The BJP-RSS is meticulously addressing emerging social classes. Now, the “changed” Rahul Gandhi has added more confusion for the Congress rank and file than ever. He uses metaphors and symbols to prove himself a genuine Hindu and at the same time denounces the BJP-RSS’s Hindutva as majoritarianism.

The Congress and its intellectual allies have failed abysmally in comprehending that the battle of ideas is now based on the civilisational and cultural identity of India. Modi represents the mission of redefining India by freeing it from the web of Eurocentric mentality. This was long due. The last attempt was made during our anti-colonial struggle by nationalists like Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Bipin Chandra Pal and Bal Gangadhar Tilak. They tried to re-Indianise the country by reviving its art and culture. However, this movement was nipped in the bud before it could be articulated as a basis of the nationalist struggle. The Europeans abhorred it due to their cultural colonisation agenda and the dominant leadership of Congress denounced the movement as a militant and religious revivalist one.

The current ideological battle is part of a cultural renaissance. The current generation may be apprehensive about it but posterity will acknowledge the new strength of India. The question “who are we?” can’t be answered by only swearing loyalty to the Constitution. A nation is far more than a constitutional society. This is as true of Israel as it is of the US and India. Rahul’s Hindu claim is welcome but does it answer the aforesaid question? Modi’s decolonisation agenda, seen in the reimagining of structures and symbols which were reminiscent of the colonial aggressors, is criticised by a class of intellectuals in India and abroad who in the same vein quote Ngugi wa thiong’o and Frantz Fanon. Ngugi was a celebrated Kenyan author who not only abandoned English as a colonial language in support of his mother tongue Gikuyu but also changed his name from James thiong. Fanon believed that colonial structures must be removed to achieve decolonisation. The hypocrisy of the Congress and its intellectual allies confuses more than gives clarity to the party.

Rahul Gandhi lacks an unambiguous definition of secularism and, therefore, India for him remains defined within the Nehruvian ideological moorings. His metamorphosis is just for electoral gains. India’s cultural march led by Modi is now irreversible. No political party can now win the confidence of the people by escaping from the discourse on our civilisational history and identity. The decline of Congress was first visualised by its former president, Shankarrao Deo in three consecutive speeches in 1949. He remained unheard. And Congress is now a victim of the syndrome of being neither here nor there.

The writer is a BJP Rajya Sabha member