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It seems so that Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha lives in his own world. He believes that the Bharatiya Janata Party did not win the 2024 General Elections and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “defeated” in these elections, while the Congress/INDIA bloc merged “victorious”.

 

While the US Democratic candidate Kamala Harris conceded the defeat in elections on the counting day itself, she said, “fight will go on”. That is being graceful and assertive at the same time. What the Congress lacks is graceful acceptance of having lost the elections for a third consecutive time.

 

2024 General Elections have helped the ‘Gandhi’ family to retain its grip over the Grand Old Party of India. And that is all. Also it can said that the Congress has not at all rejuvenated because of the recent loss same third time in Haryana state election and failing to have 1 cabinet birth inspite of alliance with NC in J&K. It still could not take its tally to a respectable three-figure mark and was stuck at 99. This was more because of the support of the INDIA bloc allies, than of its own.

 

With such a “powerful grip” over the party, there is nobody and no one to question the real ‘Boss’ in the Congress. While Mallikarjun Kharge is only the “president”, Rahul like his mother from 2004 to 2014 government remains its ‘Supreme Boss’. This becomes obvious when the Congress leaders mostly mention Rahul’s name before Kharge, if at all they mention his (Kharge’s) name. Even Kharge himself does not stop from singing paeans to Rahul in all his speeches, thus making it more than obvious.

 

With such power and authority, Rahul’s word is “the” law in the Congress and for the Congressman. Whatever he speaks is a truth for all the Congressmen and they have to defend it, irrespective of the fact whether they like it or not. So when he suggested during a US conversation that the Sikhs were not being allowed to wear a ‘karra’ (bracelet), one of the five religious symbols they wear or that they were not being allowed to visit a ‘Gurdwara’, which was far from the truth, nobody in the Congress “dared” to correct him. So much so, they came in strong defence, affirming that the Sikhs were threatened in India, a narrative similar to that of Sikhs for Justice Leader, Gurpatwant Singh Pannu.

 

Currently, Rahul harps on two issues; “threat to the constitution” and the “caste census”. He carries a small copy of the constitution and makes it a point to display it during his speeches saying “this”, while showing the copy, “is under threat”. During the General Elections this narrative did create a sense of insecurity among some sections of people that the BJP, in case it won more than 400 seats as it pedaled and played up the slogan of ‘abb ki bar, 400 paar’, it might do away with the reservations.

 

It was the “absolute failure” of the BJP leadership to counter and debunk this charge. Anyhow, it still managed to win and form the government along with some allies, much to the “great consolation” of Rahul, who started believing that the BJP had “lost” with 240 seats, while Congress had “won” with 99 seats.

 

Rahul’s second theme, which he believes is very powerful and will set off a phase of “revolutionary politics” in the country, is “caste census”. The idea of caste census in the twenty-first century, is not only divisive, but also regressive. Rahul gives funny arguments in defence. He once asked people whether they had seen any “Dalit”, “adivasi” or “OBC” winning a beauty pageant contest or performing in the Bollywood movies? Probably, he has an idea of reservation for beauty contests and Bollywood movies also.

 

Recently, during one of his “Samvidan Samman Sabha” in Nagpur, he said, he sometimes visits the Ganga Ram Hospital in New Delhi and he has “never seen a Dalit, an Adivasi or an OBC doctor”. Besides, he has often been asking, 'have you seen any Dalit, Adivasi or an OBC News Anchor?’, as he believes that the media has completely been captured by the select “five percent” people.

 

Rahul, as he claims that this is the twenty-first century where data matters a lot, claims that there are 15 percent Dalits, 8 percent Adivasis, about 50 percent OBCs and 15 percent minorities. He adds it up to about “90” percent of the country’s population and then goes on to claim that “this 90 percent population” has been completely marginalised.

 

His argument is that this “90 percent” population does not have any say, participation, representation or control over anything in India. He quotes several examples of different institutions and says, there are only “5 percent” people who have “grabbed everything”.  He forgets to remind himself that the country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is himself and OBC.

 

One of his other claims is that the “government of India” is controlled and run only by “90 officers”. He believes that no MP, MLA, or minister has any power, as it is “these officers” who run the show. Among these, he claims, he analysed that “there are just 3 Dalit, 3 OBC and one Adivasi” officers. This he alleges leads to discrimination with the “90 percent” population which, according to these figures compiled by him, suggests that this “90 percent population” has no or negligible control on governance, particularly the central policies like the budget making.

 

For this, he thinks, “caste census” might be the only solution, which he equates with an “X-ray” of Indian society. He claims that it will not only be a “caste census” but also “socio-economic survey” to find out which caste controls how much resources and has how much representation in various institutions including the private sector.

 

With the “caste census”, he asserts that he will ensure that the “fifty percent bar” on the reservations, imposed by the Supreme Court of India, is expanded. He says, ‘jitni aabadi, utni bhaagedari’ (to each according to his population share). That means that there will be “90” percent reservation in every segment as per his own logic of various population surveys, including the “private sector” also, as he has been prominently emphasising that “this 90” percent population does not have any representation in the corporate world.