Mallikarjun Kharge is an unexpected treasure the Congress chanced to discover when it, quite contrary to its characteristic way of late, went democratic when it needed a president. The man with one of the longest innings in Congress politics is the best match the party can produce against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, perhaps the maestro of mass communication of our times.
So when Mr Kharge felt a bit dizzy in the hectic campaigning and had to be helped into a chair while addressing a rally in Jammu the other day, the octogenarian politician displayed the tenacity that only a seasoned politician with a fire in the belly can possess. Referring to the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, which has been pending for long, Mr Kharge said “We will fight to restore it… We are not going to leave it. I am 83 years old, I am not going to die so early. I will stay alive until PM Modi is removed from power.”
Restoration of the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir is a basic right for its people but the Union government has been playing hide-and-seek with it for quite some time. Buried in Mr Kharge’s expression is the fear that Jammu and Kashmir will not have statehood restored as long as Mr Modi is in power. It is now the job of the Opposition to push the demand to the logical end and hence Mr Kharge’s assertion that the fight is on.
It’s in a way a belated response to the BJP’s whimsical slogan of ‘Congress Mukt Bharat’. The threatening slogan forced the grand old party, which once believed in its divine right to power, to become pragmatic, form an alliance and fight back; and the result is for everyone to see. The BJP is unlikely to raise that slogan again.
That Mr Modi called up Mr Kharge and enquired about his health is part of our political tradition; Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Opposition leader Sonia Gandhi expressed their mutual concern when Parliament was attacked in 2001. But politicians talk the hard way when they talk politics. Mr Modi and Mr Kharge are, in that sense, made for each other.
