MICHAEL VAZ, MERCES
PRIME Minister Narendra Modi seems to be possessed with one obsession and that is to free India of Congress. For quite some time his oft-repeated slogan has been ‘Congress-mukt Bharat’ and now during his visit to Bengaluru on Sunday he pitched for a ‘Congress-mukt Karnataka’. Let us delve a little deeper into these ill-conceived catchphrases. Whatever may be its limitations the Congress party has the distinction of ruling the country for the longest period since the Independence. It is the main Opposition party in India. It cannot be denied that for its misdeeds it was shown the door during the last parliamentary elections in 2014 with an unprecedented humiliating electoral verdict. But since then it is steadily gaining momentum, as can be seen from the recent elections and bypolls in the country. Despite being the home turf of Modi and with such momentous campaigning, Gujarat has seen the diminishing influence of the BJP. Moreover, the verdict in bypolls held in Rajasthan, where the BJP lost both the Lok Sabha seats and the lone assembly segment to the Congress, points to voters’ angst against the ruling party. People in general will not be taken up only by sloganeering but by the performance of the government and its attitude towards the electorate. The very concept of ridding the nation of Congress is an aberration. What does the BJP intend? Is it to have a single party rule and subvert the Constitution and stifle people’s freedom? In a republic we always want a strong Opposition to question the government for its every action or inaction, failing which it would spell doom for the democracy. What the Indian masses aspire is not so much to free the country of the Opposition parties as to liberate India from the number of evils plaguing the nation. The agrarian crisis, healthcare, unemployment, poverty alleviation are some of the issues, and the government may claim that the new budget lays special focus on them. However, the nation needs to be redeemed of several other issues like the menace of blind beliefs, unscientific approaches, child marriages, female foeticide, gender discrimination, honour killings, retrograde religious practices et al.