Parliamentary elections are round the corner and one question which troubles every one’s mind is — will Modi be back as the prime minister?
Five years ago this time, it was certain that the Congress was losing and Modi would be the prime minister. But the same can’t be said about 2019. Now Modi is in the saddle and the Congress is the challenger. If there is a definite slide in Modi’s popularity, Rahul Gandhi is also not beyond question.
Stakes are high for both. If defeat can herald the beginning of the end for Modi, Rahul is also on an equally weak wicket. In a fast changing world, Rahul cannot sit idle. For him, at stake is not the future of the Congress but the future of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. It is assumed that the Nehru-Gandhi tag keeps the Congress afloat, it is the glue which keeps the party united despite several factions. If the Congress loses, the dynasty will be faced with existential crisis. The RSS will love to have a weakened Congress without the Nehru-Gandhi family. Disintegration of the family is their ultimate goal.
It is not an accident of history that Modi, even before he became the prime minister, has been severely attacking the country’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The date October 29, 2013 is significant. Modi was the prime ministerial candidate. The occasion was the inauguration of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Smruti Smarak, a museum dedicated to the memory of Sardar Patel in Ahmedabad. Modi, in the presence of then prime minister Manmohan Singh, launched a blistering attack on Nehru.
“Instead of Nehru, if Patel was made the prime minister, the destiny of the country would have been different. Every Indian still regrets this twist of history,” Modi had said. Manmohan was taken aback. He gently snubbed Modi, saying, “Sardar Patel was secular to the core and had deep faith in the integrity of India.” This was Manmohan’s way of questioning the credentials of Modi and the RSS. Modi remained unfazed. His tirade continued.
Four-and-a-half-years later, on February 7 this year, while replying in Parliament on the motion of thanks to the President, Modi blamed Nehru for the Partition of India. He also said that had Patel been made the first prime minister of India, all of Kashmir would have been India’s.