DIRTY DESIGN

 

 

 

 

THE country is being made a victim of a dirty political design as part of the Opposition tool-kit aimed at keeping India disturbed ahead of the next Lok Sabha elections. The purpose obviously is to malign the image of Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi so that the national electorate downgrades the Central Government, which in turn result in adverse electoral outcome for Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance. There also are a few State legislative elections whose outcome too can be impacted by this dirty design, as most political observers apprehend. Politics is often described as a dirty business, a game scoundrels play. So some vile designs are going to be part of the political action that keeps haunting the nation. Yet, when those designs include planned violence on a widespread geography, then considerations are different. Such an impression gathers gravitas considering the planned violence in Manipur and Haryana. Add to this overall picture the filth the Opposition is practising in Parliament by refusing to cooperate in running the parliamentary business in a dignified manner. So dirty has the Opposition’s approach been that Lok Sabha Speaker Mr. Om Birla has stressed that he would not chair the meetings until the Members of Parliament start behaving in a dignified manner and in accordance with the rules of the House.

 

No matter what the Government does and says, the Opposition refuses to join the proceedings of the House -- Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha -- with dignity, sanity and sanctity. It raises issues with which the Government just cannot agree for reasons of discipline, decorum and dignity of the House and the purpose of the business at hand. Yet, the Opposition refuses to see sense in the Government’s argument -- in the process driving the chair to frustration. This is what has happened in the case of Speaker Mr. Om Birla. All this is an integral part of the dirty tool-kit the Opposition is masterminding in the country. In Haryana, for example, there is every evidence available showing that the attack on a Hindu procession was a planned affair that invited an emotional reflux as well -- resulting ultimately in extended violence engulfing a big part of the State of Haryana. And the Opposition has nothing to say about the Haryana incidents of violence. That is very surprising, as the otherwise very vocal Opposition chooses to keep quiet when Haryana burns.

 

None of the Opposition leaders has condemned the attack on the peaceful procession. These many other pointers are available to suggest a well-planned violence into which the country is being pushed. In the next few months before the Lok Sabha elections, many incidents of planned violence would come to fore -- with the shameless Opposition unconcerned about the decline of the quality of the country’s social fabric. The Opposition’s calculated responses to the violent developments create an impression that it is happy about what is happening in the country. This is where the suspicion about a dirty political design at work gets strengthened. No matter what the ideal situation should be like, the Opposition in India has generally proved itself to be highly irresponsible, interested in heaping abuses and blame on the Government in the most thoughtless manner. As a newspaper, we hold no brief for the Government, since it is also our job to keep pointing to the flaws in governance etc. But we realise that the Opposition parties should be more responsible and sensible while doing its work as Devil’s Advocates. If they realise this role properly and act accordingly, the country will be happier. But what is being witnessed at the moment is a dirty design at work ahead of the next Lok Sabha elections.