It’s payback time in Indian politics, and those at the receiving end would do well to recall an old saying: those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones (at others). A glass house indeed the BJP has been in for a decade and it has thrown stones at others without a care in the world, now the stones are coming back thick and fast.
The Opposition’s attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi was expected after it returned to Parliament in a position of strength. He has been, by design, the sole face of the party and its mascot. He has been leading the party’s attack on political opponents in all elections, assembly, parliamentary and even local. He, it must be accepted, has not been discreet with his words. It’s not surprising that the Opposition, now a significant force, is giving it back.
The balak buddhi jab of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi now has a matching retort from the Opposition: bael buddhi. One roughly translates into immature boyish intelligence, the other into dimwit like a bael. Bael in Hindi means bullock. Both are not nice words to be used, but then we don’t live in nice, picture-perfect political times.
In the social media there is a flood of posts pointing out gaffes in Modi’s speeches. For a gifted speaker like him, there are indeed too many, some downright silly, some logically challenged, some factually incorrect. One is about biogas collected from the sewer drain through a pipe directly to light a stove to prepare tea. Another is his remark in an interview that his energy was not biological; it came straight from God.
The nature of the discourse is unpalatable, but unfortunately, it’s expected to remain the same till the next parliamentary elections, which is more than four years away. We already notice the Opposition launching a spirited attack on the ecosystem, including television personalities and social media characters among others, of Modi’s blind supporters. It’s on the offensive, a clear shift from the position prior to the results of the 2024 elections. This is certain to intensify.
The recent stand of the Congress on Rahul Kanwal, television news anchor at India Today, is a clear hint that the party is going to escalate its attack on journalists playing the role of unofficial spokespersons of the BJP brazenly. It might take the battle to the owners of the news organisations as well. With good results in a few financially powerful states, the INDIA coalition can squeeze their revenues.
At this point, the united Opposition has more options to escalate the verbal war than the BJP. The spokespersons of the latter – usually loud, cantankerous, short on logic and more inclined towards making personal attacks than addressing issues on hand – suffer from lack of novelty. Unless the party replaces them with new ones with a fresh approach to debates, it would find it difficult to face the Opposition’s assault.
As the leader of a party dependent on others to stay in power, Prime Minister Modi’s freedom outside Parliament and inside it stands curtailed. Earlier, he could ignore the Opposition and NDA allies in the House and communicate directly with people at large to make a point. His failure to win the election on his own strength has dented his aura significantly. His words and charisma are likely to have a lesser impact than earlier.
It’s a new challenge for his party. The BJP has to make a big shift in communication strategy to regain its appeal. Also, if it manages to stop reverses in the upcoming assembly elections, it can reassert itself.
For bystanders in Indian politics like us it is time to sit back and watch how the balak buddhi and bael buddhi fight pans out.
(By arrangement with Perspective Bytes)
