CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury is one of the prominent Opposition leaders, who is part of the efforts to form a single platform to take on Narendra Modi-led BJP. However it seems that National interest is not on of the top items on his list. He believes NDA is facing a credibility crisis, such belief may be all right. However he should not be using the Rafale deal to strike at Modi as Congress is hell bent on doing..
Rafale is not the Bofors moment for the BJP. The deal was between two Governments which considers the ongoing and futuristic geopolitics together with the price. The deal between MoD of India and the Manufacturing company was going on since ages when Congress was in power. Years went by but the deal was not getting finalized. IAF was desperate and both the lives of the Pilots taking on the enemy in obsolete MIGs and the safety of the Country was at stake. Cost itself was increasing day by day.
So Modi asked the IAF for minimum inescapable requirement for the time being. The IAF said two squadrons with upgraded avionics and missiles. Then Modi went to France and the Government to Government deal was made. Naturally the latest package increased the per Unit cost of each Rafale. After all neither we were begging nor France was gifting it.
So Yechury should warn the Opposition that there is no point in parties coming together if they are doing it without a political narrative based on programmes. In any case attacking any thing connected with defence and security of the country itself should not be done on baseless charges. There are many things which cannot be divulged and there are others which should not be divulged as the enemy too will gain from it.
Shri Yechury says that the degree of corruption and the substantive amounts involved are far bigger than the accusations and instances during the UPA. It is not only corruption but this government is also guilty of endangering the social fabric of the country through poisonous communal polarisation. Further, it is guilty of undermining almost every Constitutional authority of our Parliamentary democracy. The atmosphere of hate and intolerance is leading to the worst form of violence that we have not witnessed since India’s partition. All this together make it a much worse situation than the UPA-2.
It is very clear from the above wordings that attack on Modi is completely political. Yes Opposition in a democracy has all the Rights to attack the Government. However what is despicable is the desire to do so by hook or crook. Also it becomes treasonable when you try and destroy even National Security and Safety while attacking the Government of the Day. After all if the Opposition wins the will they save the country or sell it ?
A JPC on Govt to Govt deal will reveal many things which India has already has given Sovereign assurance that it will not be revealed to any one. Any such information may affect France’s commercial deal with other countries and there may be other things which both may not be wanting to be known to even other countries however much friendly as on date.
Objectively seen, Yechury should know that betrayal of the election promises is something else but betrayal of the Country itself is a permanent sin. Credibility of the Govt of the day as a manager of Indian economy may be matter of perception (after all India’s international rating is increasing day by day).
Also Demonetisation, GST implementation, knee-jerk reactions on economic matters, each may have their own opinion. Finally the voters will decide whom they want to lead the Nation but certainly the Jaichands and Mirkasims will not be spared.
There is a section that believes that there is no credible opposition face to take on Modi. How do you respond?
This is not what people feel but this is what the BJP propagates. The same question was posed when A B Vajpayee was the Prime Minister. Who is there to take on Vajpayee?
What happened in the 2004 elections? Did anybody think that Manmohan Singh will be the Prime Minister? So there is no problem with this. The issue is that the BJP is trying to build a perception. They are trying to build a personality cult around Modi.
Opposition parties complain that Congress is showing one-upmanship. What is your message to Congress?
The Congress will gain in my opinion if it appears to be accommodating. But its nature is such that it wants to dominate, which is counterproductive if the objective is for maximising the anti-BJP vote.
The Assembly elections are seen as a test dose of opposition unity. But there is more disunity than unity in the Opposition ranks. Has this affected the narrative on taking on Modi?
The narrative against Modi has to be on issues. Merely saying that we are coming together to defeat BJP does not help.
Secondly, the electoral unity or parties coming together necessarily has to be state specific. State-specific alliances will ultimately result in an all-India formation which will form the alternative government.
This has precisely happened earlier, especially in 1996 and 2004. Also, the BJP and RSS are spending a lot of money to ensure that there is a third front in these states so that the anti-BJP votes are split.
