‘Don’t do your best, it is not required’…Ayn Rand wrote in ‘Atlas Shrugged’. That is what the Congress appears to be suggesting to its talented leaders like Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari and Salman Khurshid, each one of whom is part of different delegations currently touring the world to explain India’s point of view in the aftermath of Pahalgam terror attack and India’s retaliatory action against terror bases in Pakistan.
The Congress dilemma springs from multiple reasons. It does not want Prime Minister Narendra Modi to get the credit for the success of ‘Operation Sindoor’. The party has been very subtly trying to suggest that the operation was a failure. It has been at the same time suggesting that the armed forces did a great job. The defence forces cannot be separated from the government of the time as success or failure is always attributed to the government, not the defence forces directly. Decisions are taken at the political level. If the Congress believes that it can manage to draw a line between the government and the defence forces, it is badly mistaken.
The Congress has a moral fear of BJP’s ‘war games’. The Congress does have a reason to try and prevent Modi from getting credit for the success of Operation Sindoor. The party knows that the ‘wars’ have been the main winning election planks for the BJP. It has, so far, won two General Elections because of the wars only. In 1999 the BJP led NDA won the General Elections in the aftermath of the Kargil War.
Again in 2019, when the BJP’s popularity had dipped quite a bit and its return was doubtful, Pulwama terror attack happened. The BJP government retaliated with full force, carrying out the surgical strikes. These delivered a decisive victory for the party in the subsequent General Elections. Although there are no General Elections round the corner, which are actually scheduled for 2029, the Bihar assembly elections are just a few months away. Bihar is quite important for both the BJP led NDA, as well as the Congress-RJD alliance.
Modi government may or may not have any specific political motives behind sending the ‘all party delegations’ across the globe, but it did send a positive message of unity. The Congress, which has been in perennial opposition mode, apparently found it difficult to be seen with the government. Hence it started with discordant notes. So much so that the Congress has now completely taken a position where it suggests that the Operation Sindoor was definitely not a success. Otherwise, what is the point and purpose of asking for specific details about the operational losses, which are part of any combat?
The Congress’ dilemma is so difficult that it has virtually not only disowned its three prominent and talented leaders like Tharoor, Khurshid and Tewari, but has even tried to malign them and question their loyalty towards the party. So much so that Khurshid had to remark, “It is so difficult to be a patriot”. He is right. How can the “national interest” be different from, rather contrary to the “party interest”? If the Congress believes and asserts that “Modi is not India and India is not Modi” and rightly so, it should have the courage to own up and capitalize on the performance of its leaders abroad.
Tharoor, Tewari and Khurshid have won millions of hearts the way they presented the country’s cases abroad. However, the Congressmen back home have taken an exception saying they were toeing the “BJP line”. That is quite understandable. The party apparently does not want any leader to “outgrow” in stature lest it becomes a challenge for those who are already established or are still trying to establish themselves.
Interestingly, while the Congress leaders are defending the country abroad, the party’s official line at home is that “Narendra Modi” has surrendered, without realising that when the party says so, it does not mean Modi as a person, but Modi the Prime Minister who has surrendered, eventually suggesting that the country has surrendered. Prime Minister of the time cannot be separated from the country.
And it is not just the Prime Minister the Congress is targeting, it is “officially” targeting its own talented leaders, who will always be deemed as assets by any party and not a liability, as the Congress tries to project them.
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