“Ripped, Waned and Wrinkled Die-Nasty…."

There is a bizarre semblance detected in the Indian masses, our social media and the character of the fabled Rip Wan Winkle. They all rave, rant and do brouhaha when the water is pretty much under the bridge!!!!

Things are scarcely going good for the Congress Party. The grand old party started off with absolutely no plan or man (ahem woman too, considering it believes in their empowerment), no strategy, and no goal. At best, the bits and pieces of extrapolating their strategy is basis what one can gather from several interviews, headlines and articles staged by a decidedly idiosyncratic and belligerent social media with its own axe to grind. 

The stark absence of senior Congress leaders (the old guard), the deafening silence from the likes of Chidambaram, AK Antony, and Mani Shanker Aiyer, the visible faces of less influential and inexperienced leaders like Shashi Tharoor and Jairam Ramesh, the shelving of Pranab Mukherjee, the making of the president, the back door lip-serviced alliance with AAP, the release of “The Accidental PM”, the campaigning of Priyanka Gandhi in Amethi and Rae Bareli, the ho-hum interviews of and with RG, the matte finished lip service rallies .... the list goes on!  There is hardly any effort being made by the party to augment alliances and / or strengthen itself basis any of its past laurels. Last but not the least, the shocking comment from Amarinder Singh of giving ‘a clean chit to Jagdish Tytler is perhaps the last nail that the party needs to assemble its 2014 coffin!  He makes a comment on a televised interview on a Saturday and the distraught masses wake up late Monday morning to protest outside the AICC office which has kept mum since them.  Clearly, feelings like distress, a sense of being thwarted, and resentment take a back seat over the weekend and the weakened!  Am not sure if the Congress party buoyed by the media is arguing its way to prevail by doing the exact opposite of what the BJP expects it to do.

There is a pattern detected here – an insuperable aversion to any kind of rewarding labor that will aid them stay on in power. It doesn't take too long to logically deduce that the efforts put in are insufficient to win a national election. And thus the intriguing speculation – is this a plan good enough with the goal to win a defeat? This conjecture rings true than that of any other.   It’s best to scheme a loss while pretending to be in the game; than to make any efforts to win the 2014 elections!  It is a well couched victory solely spelled as a defeat?

The defeat of Rahul Gandhi at Amethi, and / or of Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli will perhaps be the signature of a well-orchestrated self-inflicted beating.  

So, what does the party have to gain with this victorious defeat? 

For one, it sews up its role as the key opposition in Parliament – albeit, a weak, slighted and feeble voiced opposition that the BJP and 24 of its disparate allies will have to deal with.  A parliament is a monolithic and (hopefully) homogeneous institution. The role of the opposition is primarily to offer political alternatives, and to articulate & promote interests of the voters. The congress party, in its present shape and structure lacks the IQ to effectively play this role. This inability could only further bolster the ruling party’s forte – its audacious high-brow aptitude!  One can only hope that this aptitude comes with some remnants of a sense of latitude, accommodation and common-sense when debating and deciding on the nation’s most complex and sensitive issues.  

With the BJP leading a NDA government, the country hopes for good governance in the area of Infrastructure, Finance, and perhaps Defense too. There is immense speculation and anxiety on Foreign Policy and Home. It’s best to stay tight-lipped on HRD and education. In a world governed by International Laws, the nation and the opposition will witness duelogues between the largest and the biggest democracies. The BJP’s opinion of our neighbors, its commitment (within the manifesto) to construct the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, and the heavy-duty  influence of the RSS on its governance are all pretty much indicative of round 2 of an accidental PM; albeit in saffron.  ALL this is fodder for the Opposition!!!! The only tool that the opposition will need is a tart temper, a sharp tongue and an edged media – all of which it has aplenty.

The congress party now has a 5 year period to groom its Gen-Y.  The 10 years that Rahul Gandhi spent on learning instead of developing a vision and leading the party towards a victory will now be replaced by a 5-year period of learning for his sibling. It’s time for her to enter the fray.

The Hindustan Times predicted that the 2014 election stands poised to deliver big surprise and observed that the defeat of India's oldest political party and dynasty is a real moment of reckoning. Guess, the prediction and the comment is not true anymore. There will indeed be surprises; however, none of them big. A victory of India’s most feared (for fanatically propagating a Hindutva ideology) and insular party seems to be an absolute. The defeat of India’s oldest political party and dynasty is a given and NOT a moment of reckoning. The aftermath of the defeat is what is reckoning. It remains to be seen if this much speculated Plan B of the Congress party, that suffers from a lack of IQ and the old guard, will be successful. We can only wait and watch. What can guarantee a victory of Plan B is the ruling party’s (BJP's) complete and unmitigated lack of EQ. Narendra Modi’s ability to move the public is not sustainable.  Not every meeting will be a rally and not every decision secluded to the state of Gujarat.