by Ram Singh Kalchuri*
The strident rather combative and antagonistic RaGa (Rahul Gandhi) tone is a sure give away to the determination of the GOP scion to atone the past mistake of spurning office in the Manmohan era. It also is a clear pointer to his resolve to jump on to the driver’s seat at the earliest.
The mimicking and gimmicking that has become a part of Rahul Baba speak these days shows how calibrated is the new narrative designed to usher in NaMo roll back by not giving even breathing space to put the 3.0 act together.
Apparently, a couple of factors have influenced the script/speech writers at 24 Akbar Road. And the talkathon of lateral entrants Jairam Rameshs and Pawan Kheras.
Foremost is the known Modi Rekha or what Lutyens’ Delhi has come to term as the circuit breaker -75 that has pushed the likes of Lal Kishan Advani and Murali Manohar Joshi into the high-sounding cold storage of Marg Darshak Mandal.
The Hindutva Kamaraj plan has made to fall by the roadside later entrants to the Moditva-fold like Najma Heptulla, who, as the Bhopal born grandniece of Islamic scholar and renowned freedom fighter, Abdul Kalam Azad, had cut her political teeth in the Indira Congress.
So much so, the expectation in the Congress as also a section of the BJP is that NaMo himself would not be around New Delhi to celebrate his 75th birthday in 2025.
Where would he go?
Well, to his favourite hill station, Kedarnath in the Himalayas!
In such an eventuality, will RaGa be the chosen one to become the fourth Prime Minister from Nehru- Indira clan. There is no ready answer.
Opinion appears divided though with some going to the extent of saying luck is in short supply to him.
Second factor is the Khan Market view of Nitish and Naidu as also Paswans and Nishads – that they are unpredictable allies guided by their own short-term pursuits.
NaMo himself has given currency to the Alnaskar’s dreams of his bête noires with his unimaginative budget, which has been rightly debunked as two-crutch show.
Yet, another factor, which is deemed the most important, has gone into the Congress calculations, given the fact that many leaders in the Congress are addicted to reading ‘What the Stars Foretell’ column regularly.
Many of them have their own family, Peter Vidals.
How many times these in-house star gazers have delivered is something the likes of Arjun Singhs alone can tell.
What is germane to our discussion, however, is the ‘prophecy’ that NaMo down fall is destined to take place in about three-four months.
“As per my prediction Narendra Modi will face downfall from January 14, 2025,” asserts confidently, Sundar Balakrishnan, a professor of Astrology at Mumbai based Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. His prediction appeared in the FPJ recently
Ok. His exit is going to be there.
Will that translate into advantage RaGa?
What about the ‘in-house’ aspirants like Nitin Gadkari, Raj Nath Singh or the presumed No 2. Amit Shah?
“Though quite a few expect Gadkari to be the choice as the next PM after Modi’s debacle, his charts do not support that. He will be powerful, but not the PM”, says the learned crystal gazer.
He appears to be silent on the other likely in-house contenders. All of them will cancel out each other with their gaze refusing to look beyond their nose, going by the averment of lobbies familiar with Nagpur and Jhandewalan.
The next obvious question is what about Rahul Gandhi’s stars?
For that matter of Arvind Kejriwal- Mamata- Akhilesh the leading lights of INDIA grouping.
Well, wait for the next instalment of Peter Vidals.
Indian politics is a theatre of the absurd.
And the politics of parchment have no place for scientific temper with all the attention zeroed on Instant Power Nirvana.
The quest for power even with twenty odd crutches has pushed the discourse to the never imagined lows – like the lament about lack of freedom to the Sikhs to practice their religion in India that makes students of history and politics to squirm with unease.
Just an aside. Are the Khalistan politics and Pannun’s US and Canada backers are factoring on the prophecies in circulation in India?
Your guess is as good as mine.
(Ram Singh Kalchuri is Delhi-based senior journalist and commentator, and is now consultant to the Deccan Council for Strategic Studies)
