Rahul Gandhi at fulcrum of Opposition Unity will need test on ground
Photo credit twitter Milind Deora
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, March 25: Dust will settle on disqualification of former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha in the due course. But he’s seen to be emerging as the fulcrum of the Opposition unity for sole reason of the fear factor among the non-BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party).
Gandhi on Saturday struck a defiant note, asserting that he was kicked out of the lower House of Parliament for questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Adani issue. “I’ve been disqualified because I raised questions. But I will continue to raise questions outside Parliament,” said Gandhi at a presser in the national capital on Saturday where he looked fiery, as he also ended up roughing up a long-term Congress beat reporter by attributing him the BJP sympathizer label.
Now, Gandhi has to fight a long legal battle, with pre-condition that he has set of not apologizing. “Gandhi has to first win the court battle in quick time to be ready to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Congress will certainly attempt to play a victim card as the political battle now shifts into the people’s court from Parliament,” said Anand Mishra, who has been a Congress observer for over two decades.
The BJP MP Sushil Kumar Modi seemed aware of Congress blitzkrieg to play the victim car. He told the reporters that “the BJP had no role in the conviction of Gandhi by the Surat court”. The BJP is already building a template of an affront to the OBC constituency by Gandhi’s remark made in Kolar, Karnataka in 2019 – “why all thieves have Modi surname”.
“The political battle certainly has now moved out of Parliament. The ability of Congress to cash in on the victimhood plank will be tested. But Gandhi may definitely have emerged as the rallying point for the Opposition outfits. There is a fear of who will be the next after Gandhi. This existential threat of the Opposition parties may act as an accelerator for the non-BJP outfits to work a mechanism for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections,” added Mishra.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashvi Yadav appears to have the possible structure of the mechanism. “Let regional parties be in the driver seats in regions where they are strong, and Congress can take the same position in places of its strong footprints. There are 200 Lok Sabha seats where Congress has to be in the direct contest of the BJP. Congress is the largest Opposition party,” Yadav told reporters.
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