Haunting past

THE maxim that you reap what you sow must be ringing in the ears of floor managers of ruling NDA. 

That the BJP in Opposition led by Sushma Swaraj had choked Parliamentary space of UPA-II would not yet have faded from the memories of Congress leaders. And the fact that the BJP had been so nasty to call the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh a thief must surely have run a knife through the heart of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. 

There is no denying the fact that Indian Parliament witnessed many a theatrical acts during the UPA time. The then Opposition had to lynch the UPA-II in the face of damning revelations made by the CAG. The UPA-II was struck by CAG vindicated torrents of scams.

Context is not permanent. And even memories fade away with the passage of time. But wounds of hearts do not heal even after decades.

Of all the attributes, Sonia Gandhi is uniquely gifted with combativeness. And she had been a steadfast protector of the honour of Manmohan Singh. That her son Rahul Gandhi ridiculed him the most is an aberration in an otherwise unique bonhomie of Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh.  

A week has passed by of the Monsoon session of Parliament. No business has been transacted. The Modi government has pinned much hope to push his reform agenda in this session. But the Congress is sizzling in forcing a lock-down on Parliament. 

THE Lalitgate and Vyapam scam are mere pretexts. They would have passed off as "routine" matters in times of cordiality between the Opposition and government. What Sushma Swaraj has done for Lali Modi has been done by every Congress politicians in their days of glory. And the Vyapam scam is a legacy of the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh, which lived through the BJP rule in the state as well. Those who grew in Bihar in 1990s know from hearts that impersonation in entrance and recruitment examinations had been well entrenched. Same continues in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere also. 

Impersonation and bribing to book seats in colleges and jobs have been Indian story.

Beyond the issues, Modi has not only to pay for the "sins" of BJP as opposition, but also for his brazen approach with the Opposition. 

Modi has charmed most of the non-Congress Opposition parties. He won over acerbic Mamata Banerjee. She made Modi a hero in Bangladesh. His bete noire Nitish Kumar hailed him. Mulayam Singh Yadav seeks cordial relations with him. And it's to the credit of Modi that he scripted excellent working relations with all of them.

But the Congress never figured in the scheme of things of Modi. That he coined "Congress mukt Bharat" surely seems to have outlived the election campaign. He has sought to demoralize the Congress. That the Congress is the largest Opposition party both in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha has hardly figured in Parliamentary scheme of things of Modi. 

And, the Congress has sized the "God send" opportunity to pin Modi down. 

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