Call Rahul; Save India

Fascism or family rule? It may look an absurd question when put directly. What has fascism got to do with family rule, and when neither of the two possibilities are looming over Indian polity currently, you may tend to ignore such a question. But if you appraise the current political developments in Delhi over the India-U.S nuclear deal with a nose for something more than the usual, you could feel that things are being led to such a situation that soon our electorate will have to decide that a very special family is better than fascism! An average citizen may be still ambiguous if such an option would ever come before him, because in a multiple party polity, a handful of self-styled leaders rule the roost in all post-election arrangements. They state numerous reasons for it, and finally set conventions like outside support, jumbo cabinets, and many more.

For almost one month now, to be more exactly, ever since Manmohan Singh, our beloved Prime Minister, but a feeble person lashed out against the left for opposing the nuclear deal, there has been talk that the left would withdraw support to the minority Congress government at the center anytime. It was the first time our Prime Minister has been speaking like a person in authority, and the message was, if the left knew 'how to bite,' let them do it. May be it was a new found ally in Mayavathi's Bahujan Samaj Party, dissidence in the BJP, and the general mood ( don't know how far opinion polls can be relied on) across the country in favor of a Congress led government that permitted Manmohan Singh (Words are put into his mouth) to open up. Then came Ram Sethu controversy, first in the Congress itself, and later carried forward by the Tamil Nadu veteran Karunanidhi very colorfully. It's now elated mood in the BJP, and the congress too is not showing signs of reconciliation as the left might have expected. The latest development is, Sonia too has come openly against the left for its stand against the Nuclear deal, and has even described the left as 'elements opposing India's progress.' Now that the left seems to be in the defensive can be read from Bardhan's words that the Congress is 'imposing an election!'

So Sonia's congress bought time remaining at the helm of the affairs, to re-organize her party, to pop up her son to key positions, and find new allies across the fronts - all at the cost of the left who told people that fascism was the major threat, and congress is better. They made people forget those 2 years of emergency rule by a power craving lady, bearing the legacy of a great family, when everything about civil rights were suspended, and none of the left could do anything to prevent it. If India has anything of a taste of fascism, it was emergency, and that too for protecting a family rule. 'Call Indira; Save India,' and 'India is Indira' reverberated across the country then, and as dead persons cannot rise up from their graves, a reasonable as well as the most effective logic would be to 'call Rahul, and save India.'