‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.’ Given that personal attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi have always proved counterproductive for the Congress, why has it chosen to target him yet again, this time on the Adani imbroglio?
What’s more, despite the fact that the ‘NaMo vs RaGa’ scenario has always benefitted the BJP and hurt the Congress, it was Rahul Gandhi who led the offensive against the PM. In a high-voltage rant in Parliament, he all but accused the PM of having been party to Adani’s alleged shenanigans.
On the face of it, the Congress strategy does not add up. Attacks on PM Modi have typically been ideological, bundled with expressions such as ‘intolerance’, ‘politics of hate’, ‘anti-democratic’ and so forth. The one time the Congress sought to impugn Modi’s personal integrity, with the 2019 ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ campaign, it burnt its fingers badly.
But once again, Gandhi pointed a finger at Modi personally and said ‘J’Accuse!’. Sure enough, the PM’s emotive response in the Upper House – “they (Opposition) fling mud, I throw gulal (colour)” – put the Congress on the back foot.
Meanwhile, conspiracy theorists are having a field day on social media. Many see the anti-Modi campaign as a double whammy, conflating the British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) strategically timed documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots with controversial short-seller Hindenburg Research’s report on the Adani group.
A whole Twitter thread is devoted to Gandhi’s ‘Uncle Sam’ masterminding the anti-Modi blitz. Given the Congress’ lackadaisical approach over the last 8-9 years, that may be giving the grand old party credit where none is due! Whether the mysterious ‘Sam’ and the Congress prompted a short-seller to target the Adani group, or whether the latter indeed owes its spectacular rise to Modi’s purported patronage is purely a matter of conjecture.
The point is that the Congress must leverage Adani to undermine the ‘Modi factor’ ahead of the assembly elections. In two key states, the BJP is relying on Modi to beat anti-incumbency. Uttarakhand was won last year wholly and solely because the PM made the election personal, by asking people to vote for him. The victory in Gujarat was a historic landslide for the same reason. The Congress cannot allow the same outcome in Karnataka or Madhya Pradesh, lest it loses momentum before the 2024 general elections.
Gandhi’s new-found ‘Che Guevera’ facial hair swag seems to have emboldened his party. The Congress may well believe that post the Bharat Jodo Yatra, the de facto leader’s new image – mature, people-centric, a shade revolutionary – has made him a match for Modi, even if the Gujarat election and recent surveys argue otherwise.
It’s being said that the Congress strategy of taking on Modi directly owes to the ‘Bofors’ chip on Gandhi’s shoulder, and pitching Adani as Modi’s ‘Quattrochi’ will serve as some sort of vindication. But leaders of political parties do not build strategies around their personal demons. So, it is logical to suppose that the decision to put Modi in the crosshairs is informed by realpolitik.
Another important element of the strategy is playing to a global gallery. Even if the Congress cannot dent the PM’s popularity nationally, it can hurt his image internationally. The liberal Western media is notoriously prone to shoot first and ask questions later where Modi is concerned.
The game plan is risky for three reasons. First, the Congress, more than any other party, is open to charges of crony capitalism – for the simple reason that it has held power for much longer. In fact, back in 2009, the Congress-led UPA regime was targeted by India Against Corruption on precisely that issue. During Manmohan Singh’s tenure, Adani received a lucrative contract from the Food Corporation of India and entered the Forbes ‘rich list’ for the first time. And not too long ago, he committed to investing Rs 65,000 crore in Congress-ruled Rajasthan. Secondly, Gandhi’s allegations may not prove credible. Already, his charge that Mumbai airport was ‘hijacked’ from the GVK group and given to Adani has been refuted by GVK itself! Thirdly, with headlines in the Western press coupling Adani’s rise (and therefore his fall) with India, charges that the Congress is in fact lending itself to an anti-India narrative gain credence.
The Congress seems unlikely to benefit from Modi-bashing. As for the Indian media, at least the ‘ho-hum’ tenor of Parliament has been shattered, and there’s something to shout about.
Bhavdeep Kang is a freelance writer and author of ‘Gurus: Stories of India’s Leading Babas’ and ‘Just Transferred: The Untold Story of Ashok Khemka’. A journalist since 1986, she has written extensively on national politics. Views expressed are personal.
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