The
attempt of the Congress party to impeach the Chief Justice of India merely on
allegations has set a very dangerous precedent for our polity. Democratic values
require that political parties have patience when in opposition. Democratic
constitutions have carved out a special place for opposition and they are
supposed to play that role responsibly. The problem has arisen because the
Congress believes it has birthright to rule over India and its commitment to
democratic ethos holds good only till it keeps retaining power. Once out of
power, it is working to undermine the very structure that keeps the country
together. Congress’s disdain for democratic values is also very clear from the
complete absence of it in its inner party structure and workings. Congress is
not an ideologically coherent party and power is the glue that keeps it
together. There is no ‘lakshman rekha’ for it. This has been the history of the
Congress and its first family.
Jawahar
Lal Nehru made concerted attempts to ensure that any challenge to his
government or to his leadership did not emerge from any corner. As prime
minister, he undermined the contributions of his contemporaries in the Congress
like Sardar Patel, Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, Dr Shyama Prasad Mookerjee etc and
sought to discredit rival ideologies, for e.g, by linking the murder of Mahatma
Gandhi to the Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Emergency,
the only blot on our vibrant democracy, was imposed by the Congress government
under Smt Indira Gandhi, when she saw power slipping out of her hands. Similarly
Rajiv Gandhi, in his desperate attempt to woo Muslim electorate, reversed the
hon’ble Supreme Court’s verdict in the Shah Bano case and when faced by a
political backlash, allowed the shilanyas at Ram Janmbhoomi at Ayodhya. It is
in this context that Salman Kurshid had to accept that Congress has the blood
of Muslims on its hands.
It
has to be accepted that our Government, in spite of many initiative still being
work in progress, has done a remarkable job in a short span of 4 years and is
comfortably placed for 2019 general election. Thus, Congress is faced with an
existential dilemma and has resorted to mindless and vicious attacks on
constitutional and other institutions. It has done greatest disservice to the
nation by attacking the Supreme Court, the Election Commission and the Defense
Forces.
When
Congress performed abysmally in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections in 2017, it
laid the blame on the door of the venerable Election Commission of India and
the electronic voting machines (EVM). Democracy has taken deep roots in this
country because the people have faith in its electoral process. A country
deemed to be unfit for democracy, has seen peaceful transfers of power. By questioning
the credibility and impartiality of election commission, Congress is sowing
seeds of a tree that will bear bitter fruits in the future.
Similar
has been the attitude of the Congress towards the hon’ble Supreme Court of
India. So long as the Congress did not have problems with the decisions of the
Supreme Court, it chose to keep quite but raised grave doubts on the
impartiality of this institution when in certain matters the decisions did not
meet the wishes of the Party. The most reprehensible attempt to bully the
higher judiciary of the country was its decision to impeach the Chief Justice
of India on completely baseless grounds, which was rejected by the Chairman of
the Rajya Sabha.
It
must be said that the manner in which the impeachment drama has unfolded has
led credence to the theory that the initial threat of impeachment was a hint to
the CJI of the consequence that was likely to follow if he did not deliver order
which the Congress wanted in the PIL seeking investigation in Judge Loya’s
death. The initiation of impeachment is also to compel the CJI to not take up
the Ayodhya dispute matter.
In
September, 2016 the Government announced that Indian armed forces had carried
out surgical strikes across the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir in
response to the Pakistan sponsored terrorism. Congress demanded proof from the
government about the surgical strikes. Dragging the completely apolitical defense
forces in the political slugfest was a new low in Indian politics.
Contrast
all these with the behavior of the BJP and its predecessor Jan Sangh. It had
ideological differences with the Congress government but it showed full faith
in democracy and has never attacked the democratic institutions. We kept
patience for 60 years since independence expressing dissent, but never
disrupting governance.
In
a vast country like India with diversity and long historical background there
is bound to be a multiplicity of values, interests and beliefs and multiple
parties representing them, but parties that undermine the building blocks of
this country and its society, will not be accepted by the voters. The same fate
awaits the Congress party now under Rahul Gandhi.
Gopal
Krishna Agrawal
National
Spokesperson of BJP
Gopal.agarwal@bjp.org
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