Political implosions

Along with extensive use of technology, BJP has also apparently mastered the technique of political implosions to reach their stated objective of 'Congress-mukt Bharat' but in the process, is almost making India an 'Opposition-mukt country'. With the opposition parties virtually reduced to clueless non-entities, are we to sing Sayanora to our democracy?

Plutonium or Uranium placed at the core of a nuclear bomb explodes when there is intense outside pressure to squeeze the atoms to a dense super-critical mass. It happens when explosives detonated on the outer surface cause implosion, to send shock waves to reach the core synchronically and exert enormous pressure for less than a microsecond and trigger the huge nuclear explosion. BJP's politically explosive actions are literally causing such implosions over the opposition parties.

Although unaware of this future development of science, implosion was used for the first time in the Plutonium bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki only in 1945 while Mussolini and Hitler used this method politically, much earlier.

After becoming the PM of Italy in 1922, Mussolini dismantled all democratic institutions, juxtaposed confidence with terror; extended the implosive situation to the executive, judiciary and economic organisation of the state and importantly, to the reformatting of the minds of the Italian people by establishing absolute control over all elements of information dissemination. Promoting the Fascist agenda became the cardinal duty of the media. Any activity contrary to the 'national interest' and 'faithfulness to the Fatherland' was routinely abused to stamp out any vestiges of dissent. Every system was imploded into submission. Hitler, too, followed the same technique when he came to power in 1933.

Hilter's implosions put an end to the Weimar Republic, which was established in Germany in the aftermath of World War I. Liberalism, freedom of association, free media, etc., that were cornerstones of this first democratic experience for 14 years, were all devoured by the Third Reich. The culture of active citizenry of the media was changed to one of unthinking obedience. It became so submissive in five years' time that it even blacked out the news when hundreds of Jews were murdered and their properties destroyed on November 9 and 10, 1938. And, the holocaust! People of both these countries paid a heavy price because their institutions did not stand up and get counted when needed.

We are passing through times when the goings-on are not far different. Encounter killings are not even reported; news of religious bigotry is suppressed; it is no news when much-advertised Modi's rallies are thinly attended – like in Haryana; it is not news when lakhs of Dalits or farmers protest in Delhi. Media is 'His Master's Voice' propagating 'nationalism' and 'anti-nationalism' as per the wishes of the government, causing immense mental agony to honest and conscientious journalists.

Every action of the government is virtually a detonation, be it the demonetisation of the past, surgical strikes, half-cooked GST, Kashmir, NRC, or the latest Hindi issue. While the supplicant national media helps the government in highlighting every such action and suppresses or glorifies their failures and falsities, the opposition parties appear to have no means to come out with a counter-strategy. In fact, they are the culprits for losing the opportunity in the elections with their incoherence, selfishness and caste-miscalculations. The country is suffering because of their folly since a healthy opposition is a sine qua non in a democracy.

Once the battle is lost, the winner takes it all, including the right to pursue rivals relentlessly by excavating cases and controversies that remained buried in obscurity. And the PM has made his intentions clear when he said in Jharkhand, 'Puri film toh abhi baaki hai'. Either there is direct action against the leaders or there is intimidation or inducement. Although government agencies come to the aid of the Modi government, it is the weaknesses or misdeeds of the past that make these leaders vulnerable. For fear of these implosions, already many are seeking the safer option of singing in sync with the ruling party, instead of facing extinction.

The voice of Mayawati, with several cases arraigned against her and Raj Thackeray, grilled by the Enforcement Department in IL&FC scam, is already muted. Mukul Roy of Sharada scam has coasted himself to safety. There are many others. The Mulayams, Naidus, etc., have been finished. A solid backing of upper-caste Hindus could immensely help the BJP to strengthen their Hindu majority vote-share. In the meanwhile, there is aggressive action against Chidambaram and DK Shiv Kumar.

Chidambaram is now cooling his heels in Tihar jail, apparently paying the price for ensuring, when he was a powerful man in Delhi, grilling of Modi for 9 hours and sending Amit Shah to jail, in relation to Godra case. But, at the same time, his present fate is also because of his running feud with another Harvard-product, Subramanian Swamy and his efforts, as Finance Minister in Devi Gowda's regime, to get him arrested for FERA violations as the head of the Trust of Chandraswamy. Now, with the tables turning, Swamy got the opportunity in Fairgrowth, 2G-spectrum scam, and in INX. Then, DK Siva Kumar's vacillation in joining the BJP along with his Vokkaliga vote-bank and his consistent trouble-shooting activity for Congress in Karnataka has cost him dearly. Enforcement Directorate, that would have buried their case had he listened to the

BJP, has now put him behind bars. Yediyurappa, with serious corruption charges, is a CM and a saint for the BJP! In Madhya Pradesh, however, with Scindia in the BJP's pocket, Kamal Nath's fate is in limbo; there were raids on his staff and relatives and the 35-year-old Sikh-riots case has been reopened by the MHA.

Reasons for the present fate of opposition are too obvious. They did not inspire confidence in the electorate when they did not come out with a united face, although it was a great opportunity when the country was reeling under the failed promises of Modi. 'Nationalism' and 'strong leader' overshadowed all the caste-calculations. Even now, the parties are imploding with intra-party fault-lines and chasms among friendly parties and several of the leaders on the brink of scurrying for their own safety.

Modi and Shah know very well what it requires to reach the centre of power and to stay there – money, absolute control of media and institutions, promises to the voters, and importantly a stable government under a strong leader, whose writ is followed in letter and spirit by everyone. Surgical strikes, space science, Kashmir, NRC, Hindi, etc., have been used to the hilt to invoke feelings of nationalism. Even the SC is seen giving leeway to the government, as is happening in the Kashmir matter. The backing of a committed cadre of RSS is always there since this is a singular opportunity to promote their Hindu agenda. Neither the Congress nor other parties have these advantages of being in power; they do not even have the benefit of a committed cadre since their foot-soldiers are mostly self-seeking opportunists like their leaders. BJP is only exploiting these weaknesses to make forays and expand, driving the country in a unipolar direction, politically and socially.

It is time that in spite of all their frailties, the opposition parties come together, as one strong alternative, if not as a monolithic body. A robust conglomerate – of Congress, Janata Parivar, Regional parties, and the Left Parties – should come into existence. For this to happen, firstly, Congress should take its splinters like TMC, NCP, YSR Congress, etc., back into its fold; erstwhile Janata Parivar, like JD(U), SP, and JD(S), have to unite into one party; and then all those with Left and Socialist ideologies have to merge into one strong entity to look after the interests of agricultural labourers, organised and unorganised sectors in the present atmosphere of detrimental crony capitalism. These three parties along with AAP and other regional outfits would then be able to form a conglomerate as a Federal Front to counter the monolithic BJP which allies with Shiv Sena, Akalis, etc. This is also needed to strengthen our secular credentials and counter the

pernicious RSS ideology. Primarily, the Federal Front should come out with a clear ideology and agenda that would convince the electorate about their commitment. Furthermore, only an outsider, with great credentials, can lead it to success, since people have lost faith in the integrity of most of the present leaders.

It is only through their combined strength that parties can skirt the explosions and implosions of the ruling party. This has to happen if democracy has to survive. If not, each one of them would be enfeebled to become irrelevant, and may even pass into extinction.

However, in this moment of crisis, it gives hope to remember that the BJP is in power because of demagogic charisma, casting a spell with religious rhetoric, outright lies and distortion of history and science, with a supplicant media standing in attendance; truth surely would get exposed, sooner or later. History, too, gives us hope. Fascism did finally end; Adolf Hitler and his mistress committed suicide, and Mussolini and his mistress were executed.

(Dr N Dilip Kumar is a retired IPS officer and a former Member of Public Grievances Commission, Delhi. The views expressed are strictly personal)