Fifth

COLUMN
SINGH
lwlttetptdv•leemsird)

Crijninality
or politics?
WI IY the (liqqoalification of Rahul
Gandhi week have the
jeek polit ics? Why does a Prime
Ministerwit h he highest approval ratings
of Id leader seejn afraid of a man
his spokesnu•n inely (licmiss as a goof?
the jnost j»wejful politicali).åtry
in the secjn suddenly unsure of its
statute? Ifyoo think I have the answers to
these questions, you are wrong. but they
questions that are being asked and
should bc asked.
Rahul Gandhi may not be the most
skillful politician, but it is hard to see him
as a criminal who deserves to have his en-
tire politicalcareer ended because he made
a Silly speech. The court in Surat that sen-
tenced him to twoyears in prison for'crirn-
inally defaming' everyone whose name is
Modi had barely announced itsjudgement
when the administrative machinery of
Parliament swung into action. The court
gave him thirty days to appeal against the
sentence but before any appeal could be
filed Rahul found himself disqualified as
the Member of Parliament from Wayånad.
It is not the legality of what has hap-
pened that should be a cause of concern
but the politics that seems to envelope
what happened. Ever since Rahul said 'on
foreign soil' that democracy in India has
been weakened since Narendra Modi be-
came prime minister, he has been a BJPtar-
get. For the first time ever, Parliament was
prevented from functioning not because of
the opposition but because ofthe treasury
benches. Senior ministers lined up to de-
mand stridently in the house and outside
that RahulGandhi apologize to Parliament
for saying that he was prevented from
speaking in it
After the 'A' team had finished their at-
tack, the BJP's'B' team that consists of its
spokesmen was ordered to attack and they
did. Brutally. One spokesman, whohas
been the TV face of the party. went to the
extent of declanng that Rahul was the Mir
Jaffarofour times. For those who do not l?-
member this historical figure. a shon re-
minder. He was the traitor who helped the
Bntish win the Battle of Plassey.What did
Rahul say in London or Cambridge
Universitythat makes him a traitor?
Nothing.
He wanted tocome to Parliament to an-
swer the charges being flung at him by the
BJPbut was not allowed to speak. After this
came the disqualification without gWing
him time to appeal the sentence. So, What
is really going on? Could it be that the most
popular leader in the world is seriously
worried about a man who has led the
Congress Party to two defeats in general
elections? The more important question is
why Narendra Modi appears to be going
out of his way to prove Rahul Gandhi's
charge that he has crippled ourdemocratic
institutions by exerting upon them his im-
mense power?
Surely,he does not believe that Rahul
is so big a criminal that he has no place in
Parliament. He cannot possibly support
Rahul's disqualification since accordingto
 Surely, he does not believe that Rahul
is so big a criminal that he has no place in
Parliament. He cannot possibly support
Rahul's disqualification since accordingto
the Association of Democratic Reforms:
(116) ofthe BJPs winning candidates in
2019 had criminal cases against them. The
Congress Party scored higher at 57%or 29
MPs with criminal records.Many have
charges far more serious on their records
than criminal defamation. All Rahul did
was ask rhetorically why it seemed that all
crooks were called Modi. This comment of-
fended a BJP man whose name was Modi,
so he filed criminal defamation charges on
behalf ofthe entire Modi community.
What wornes me as someone who has
covered Indian politics fora very longtime
is how very thin-skinned our politicians
seem to have become. Clearly, they have
not heard what the American President,
Harry Truman, said about the pressuæs of
public life. "If you can't stand the heat get
out of the kitchen." It is worth remember-
ing Truman's words because the defining
in re-
trait of nearly all our public figures
so eas-
cent times is that they are offended
Indian me-
ily that even the once mighty
kowtowing. This
dia has learned the art of
unfortunate because we already have
is
officialsand Bollywood stas kowtow-
high
opposition leaders living in monal
ing and
the midnight knock thatcould
dread of
the Enforcement Directorate
bring either
Central Bureau of Investigation to
or the
their doors. passed last
Meanwhile, the Budget got
without debate because Parliament
week hope that Rahul
the
has not functioned in saying that Indian
for
Gandhi will apologise Now, he has no
democracy is under threat
to because the doors of Parliament
need
are closed to him for the immediate
house
The question really is whether all
future.
will help the BJPwin a third term and
this
answer is that by the time the nextgen•
the
election comes around, who knows
eral opposition leaders will
how many more
themselves reluctant to stay in'the
find
because the heat has got too
kitchen
tense. they seem to all be
For the moment.
on the side of Rahul Gandhi and
standing
good news. So far, they have been
that is Congress Paltys projece
suspicious of the
leader as a future prime min-
tion of their have said more than Once
ister, and many
becomes prime ministercan on)!
that who the election results come.
be decided after
have AIVind Kejriwal saying that
Now we Rahul Gandhi's fight alone but
this is notwell
theirs as
Kolkata
The author talls about her view on the charge of
defamation put on Rahul Gandhi.