why politics?

 

 

THE fact that a few Opposition parties such as Congress and Akali Dal did not join the all-party meeting called by Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi to discuss the COVID-19 situation, does not go well with the seriousness of the overall challenge the nation is facing in its combat against the ugly virus. It was only natural for the Prime Minister, therefore, to express his disappointment over this move. This is the time to rise above politics and for all to work as a team to combat the pandemic, he stated in his address at the meet, thus highlighting the high degree of collective commitment needed at this hour of crisis. But then, this has been the style of a few Opposition parties -- to keep opposing the Government on every count, and refusing to offer appropriate cooperation.

 

Whatever may be their respective political agendas, most parties must stand together and work together to offer a common front against one of the worst crises that hit the country in the past 75 years since Independence. But as the Opposition camp is yet to understand the importance of united thought and action at a point in time when the country can win the combat decisively when the pandemic is showing signs of abatement. With three States under its full governance and participation in power in the fourth, the Congress party is the country’s biggest Opposition party. Thus, it has a great capacity to affect the lives of massive numbers of people in a big part of the country. From this angle, it should have attended the meeting to discuss the COVID-19 situation threadbare and also to understand the Government’s idea of the combat against the pandemic. But an obstinate opposition has been the Congress party’s policy approach all the time. It is true that the second wave of the pandemic was really far deadlier than most had expected. Yet, the manner in which the Government handled the situation and brought it under control is praiseworthy. Fairly rapidly, the second wave was fought back.

 

That effort created such high promise as to make the nation think that a possible third wave may not come at all, or would be contained effectively and quickly. The all-party meeting was an opportunity for the country’s political community to express its solidarity with the national effort and take a pledge of unity on all counts as far as the pandemic was concerned. Unfortunately, one section of the Opposition camp stood away from the exercise -- and in the process gave a picture of larger disunity, something that could be avoided quite easily. It was not quite clear, however, why the Congress and the Akali Dal stayed away from the party. Nevertheless, they did expose the cracks in Opposition camps at a time when talks are in the air about a possible united front to defeat Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi in the next Lok Sabha elections two-and-a-half years later. The common people got a hint that the fault-lines in their camp may not allow Opposition parties to put up a grand and united show of strength against the monolithic Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that thinks and acts as one person. Even as the all-party meet considered the ways and means to combat the COVID-19 pandemic unitedly, a disturbing development took place in Kerala where the State Government allowed Bakri Eid festivities in the usual manner.

 

That action did invite the ire of the honourable Supreme Court, of course. But the fact that the Left Front Government in Kerala fell prey to pressure of one community and did not mind throwing to the winds the COVID-19 norms, came as a shock to the nation, particularly when an another such occasion, the Kanwar Yatra, was put off in Uttar Pradesh. As the country prepares to offer an effective counter to a possible third wave, it is essential that all components of the larger Indian society, including the political community, stand together. The all-party meeting was expected to evolve a common thinking on the issue. However, a couple of Opposition parties appear to have another point of view -- most unfortunately.