Magha Pournima, Kaliyug Varsha 5115
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Delhi : In the drawing rooms of Lutyens Delhi there is these days a sense of an ending. The sort of feeling that comes when an empire is on the verge of quietly fading away and although an ‘anarchist’ as Chief Minister has something to do with this there are other reasons why in these last days of winter it feels as though we could be living through the last days of something very significant. While Arvind Kejriwal grabs headlines every day with some new antic or other behind the scenes something more historic is happening. The Congress that has ruled India for the past decade, and for most of our years as an independent country, appears to be preparing itself for a time away from power. There are still a handful of senior leaders in this party who continue in public to talk of how ‘things are not as bad as they look’ but privately even the loyalist loyalists of the dynasty admit that no matter how many times in the coming months Rahul Gandhi wanders off to talk to ‘common people’ like railway porters and no matter how many brave speeches and interviews he gives there is unlikely to be a dramatic change in the direction in which the political winds are blowing.
Would things have been different if Rahul Gandhi had come out earlier from the high security seclusion in which he has spent most of his life as a political leader? Would things have been different if the Congress had appointed him as their Prime Ministerial candidate earlier? Would things have been different if he had surrounded himself with real political advisors instead of sycophants and computer whizz kids? The questions no longer matter because even the loyalist loyalists now admit that Narendra Modi has laid out an agenda that has been unexpectedly popular with ordinary Indians. Even the loyalist loyalists admit today that he could get more than 35 seats in Uttar Pradesh and nearly that many in Bihar. This is something that they would not have admitted before the elections in December. But, when those elections resulted in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sweeping back to power in Madhya Pradesh, pulling off a stunning victory in Rajasthan, winning again in Chhattisgarh and almost winning Delhi things started to change. Now it is hard for even loyalists not to admit (albeit privately) that the Congress trump card, Rahul Gandhi, is not as much of a trump card as party strategists thought it would be. But, because there is no other card left to play the party’s campaign continues to put him at its centre.
So in the streets of Delhi (and other Indian cities) appeared last week sepia tinted posters of Rahul Gandhi with a faraway, brooding look on his face along side slogans that seek to convince the uncertain voter that he would do well to invest his vote once more in Congress. Unite do not divide. Governance not politics. And, other banalities in précis form is what you read on the posters. On television, it is hard to watch a news bulletin these days without being interrupted by some young man introducing himself as a Congress worker and someone ‘who works for Rahul Gandhi.’ The advertising campaign is more elaborate and expensive than any other in recent times and it seemed for a moment to take the BJP surprise but then came the ‘chaiwallah’ telecasts and Narendra Modi was back to setting the agenda.
What I have gather in my recent wanderings through the salons of Lutyens Delhi is that most senior Congress leaders have accepted the possibility of Narendra Modi becoming India’s next Prime Minister. In these salons mingle politicians and journalists, high officials and senior members of the diplomatic corps and all talk these days is of the coming general election. Whether you go to book launches, dinner parties or dreary Government events it is no longer possible to discuss anything other than the AAP factor and Narendra Modi. When Arvind Kejriwal is discussed there is agreement in these circles that he is showing signs of megalomania. He is not popular. My leftist friends admit that if the choice is between Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal they would rather have Narendra Modi to which I usually respond that if the choice is between Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal I would rather have Rahul. For someone with a reputation for ‘hating’ the dynasty this is some admission.
From ‘reliable sources’ in the Kejriwal camp, the news is that he is desperate for his Government to be brought down and it is to this end that almost on a daily basis he says or does something that he hopes will make the Congress withdraw its support. In this city of rumours, rumour has it that Arvind Kejriwal wants to get out of being Chief Minister of Delhi so that he can be a contender for Prime Minister. Rumour also has it that there are others among his comrades who do not want him to exit the Delhi Government because they themselves would like to become the Prime Minister. Rumours in Delhi cannot be believed but they cannot be discounted either. The victory in Delhi has made AAP dream big dreams.
If you listen carefully to Kejriwal’s daily utterances, you will notice that he now speaks of himself as a messiah. Listen to this. “I did not come into politics to become the Chief Minister. I came into politics to rid India of corruption.” Wise men know that this is not something one man can do but Arvind Kejriwal and his comrades are not wise men. If they were they would not let everyone see that they are already drunk with political power. Nobody sees this more clearly than senior Congress leaders but since for them the choice is between being tossed for a longish while into political oblivion or supporting someone like Kejriwal they would like to ride some distance on his wagon.
Having watched Governments come and go in Delhi for more than 30 years may I end by going back to what I said at the beginning of this piece. It feels as if this coming election is going to bring more than just a change of Government. It feels as if this coming election is going to bring an empire crashing down. I was not around to see the last days of the British Raj but from what I have read in history books I believe it must have felt a bit like it does in these last days of winter in Delhi.
Source : Niti Central
