National Herald case is perhaps the best thing to happen to Modi after a long time
Fresh from a humiliating defeat in Bihar Assembly elections and a poor show in Gujarat civic polls, the BJP appeared humbled till barely a week back. They changed their strategy and also their attitude. Suddenly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited Congress president Sonia Gandhi and his predecessor Manmohan Singh for tea on November 27 after his reply on "Commitment to Constitution" in Rajya Sabha on the same day in which he praised first PM Jawaharlal Nehru and spoke about the virtues of conciliation and consensual decision-making.
However, fate took a queer turn the very next week and now the Congress is on the defensive while the BJP is gloating over the developments in the National Herald case. Despite Modi having thrown the ball in the Opposition's court last week, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi was unrelenting in his attack on the prime minister. He perhaps had an inkling of what was coming. The Congress continued to create ruckus in Rajya Sabha, where the BJP does not have majority and where the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill has to be passed in order to become a law (the Lok Sabha has already cleared it). BJP's volte-face had raised hopes for a smooth winter session of Parliament and passage of crucial Bills, but they have now been dashed with the obstructionist approach of the Congress MPs.
What Nehru-Gandhi family fears the most is that the National Herald matter happens to be the first major setback in a corruption case to directly hit it in about 30 years since the Bofors scandal heavily dented the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's image. The Congress lost power then and the family suffered immensely after that. Similarly, the National Herald case has the potential to gobble up whatever is left of the Congress and help fulfil Modi's dream of a "Congress-mukt Bharat".
No wonder, in a scenario where they have everything to lose, Rahul and Sonia Gandhi have gone to the extent of turning a legal battle into a political and parliamentary one. While Sonia is invoking former prime minister Indira Gandhi by saying she is her daughter-in-law and she won't be scared of anyone, Rahul is alleging "100 per cent political vendetta coming out of the PMO".
The national discourse has taken a steep turn from the "intolerance debate" to corruption yet again, with the Congress at the receiving end once more. While the BJP was on the defensive over the intolerance issue, now it is the Congress, and particularly its first family, which is in the dock. The Congress leaders are seen defending the indefensible as Sonia and Rahul have been summoned by the trial court after the Delhi high court quashed their petition to cancel it.
On the other hand, the BJP leaders are restraining themselves even in their attack on the Congress. Pushed to the wall over the stalling of Parliament proceedings by the Congress MPs, the Union ministers are seen refuting the allegations being levelled at the ruling party. Speaking at a programme in the capital on December 10, Modi expressed sorrow at Parliament getting disrupted. He said democracy cannot function at the whims and fancies of anyone.
Union finance minister Arun Jaitley rejected Rahul's and other Congress leaders' charge of "political vendetta". He reiterated that it was a private complaint and the government did not have anything to do with it. Parliamentary affairs minister Venkaiah Naidu too stressed that the government had no role in the case.
In this political roller-coaster, while the National Herald case has come as a big shot in the arm for the government, nothing could have been any worse for the Congress.