By S.M. Anwar Hussain
Rahulji ! You are the strongest and worthy aspirant to snatch the seat of Prime Ministership from Mr Narendra Modi and occupy it after 23rd of this month on an auspicious day. You have led the battle of votes against BJP from the front. You have organised hundreds of road shows in this hot summer throughout the country. You have addressed mammoth rallies in the election campaign. You have let a lot of sweat flow from your body to enthuse Congress workers to remain active throughout the election.
For the first time after 1990, many of the Congress stalwarts have been noticed coming out of their cool drawing rooms and facing the public under the hot sun. You have inspired and motivated people, who felt cheated, deceived, befooled and looted by a highly unreliable regime persistently indulging in falsifying, romancing, fabricating, manufacturing and fibbing lies after lies, to stand up and vote against Modi. People did respond to you. They in high numbers gathered around polling booths and voted against Modi. Yes, they did, what you asked them to do.
Uri attack, Pulwama suicide bombing (self-engineered or enemy planted?), Surgical Strike, Airstrike, the bundles of notes, cartons of wine bottles — nothing could deter them from voting against Modi & Co. The eggs of hate that RSS were laying and hatching for last 90 years, came out of their shell, grew as cocks of hate, but have started hitting with their beaks at their own parents and forefathers for creating hate, division, disunity, false notions of patriotism, inventing lies after lies every day. People have almost done their job.
Overwhelming majority of people have voted against Modi and RSS. I vouched for it. They want to see an India of peace, mutual love and respect, Nehruvian polity and Ganga Jamuni Tahzeeb again. Now comes your turn. It is your responsibility now to save the public mandate from being subverted, from being converted, from being tempered, from being drained away through drainage pipes by various agents of Modiji, by RSS weapons of deep conspiracies and scheming new plots and designs of destruction with Israel against its own people.
Sir, to bring people out from their shelters to vote against a hated enemy is not a very great task. Yes, I do agree that you played a great role in exposing the real, corrupt, ugly, nefarious, and anti-nationalist faces and aspects of RSS and BJP. You did a lot to expose their sins and black deeds, but Sir, sorry to submit that you being born with a silver spoon in your mouth, took a lot time to come out from the cozy home to the bumpy road of politics.
Although you belong to a family which could rightly boast of giving leaders and politicians like Nehru and Mrs Indira Gandhi who never failed to shun luxury and comforts of life for achieving their political goals. When Mrs Indira Gandhi re-embarked on the politics of struggle in 1979 or 1980, after her crushing defeat in 1977, She had got converted a mini truck in a small living home and would travel throughout the length and breadth of the country to reach people. This mini truck was her bedroom, washroom, meeting room, kitchen, and dining table — everything. She believed in the constitutional authority of different power organs but she didn’t go to them for the redressal of her grievances except for review petition against the judgment of Allahabad High Court. She went to public court straight and drew her strength from there.
The world always suspected the landslide victory of Modiji in 2014 and saw a possible role of EVM behind the unprecedented victory of BJP in the parliamentary and state legislature elections. You too did. But you wasted a lot of time by approaching Election Commission and Supreme Court. A shrewd lawyer always studies the bench before deciding when and where he/she should file their petitions.
It was always a question in people‘s mind, “Can secular alliance win the election if NDA is in alliance with EVM”? Sir, you didn’t take this question seriously. You have lost the first round. You may be a novice in politics, but your party is not. It led the freedom movement. It has ruled the country for sixty years. But I am surprised to note that nobody appears to have advised you to go to the public on the issue of EVM before you go to hustings. You should have fought first a decisive battle against the use of EVM with Election Commission in public Court. If you had exhorted the public to boycott the EVM, and demand for paper ballots. But you didn’t do. So, the first round you have already lost.
Now comes the counting day. I don’t know what plans do you people have to protect public mandate from any distortion and disruption. You should know that it is a do or die battle. If not now, then never you will have to chance to capture power in Delhi.
The only card left with you is to involve public on this day. The public is fed up and wants the demons to go now. Just give a public call to come forward to protect their own decree or judgment from any subversion. The public should be asked to gather around every counting centre in huge strength laced with sticks (if permissible under law) to chase away RSS goons. All booth agents should be there with the records of a number of votes polled on the polling days. If Public comes out in huge numbers on the streets to protect their own mandate, even If Mohan Bhagwat is made chief Election Commissioner that day, he won’t dare declare a pro BJP verdict. He knows well that his own organisation has given people marvellous training and skills in mob lynching.
Before you give a call for the public to monitor and supervise counting, you should call a meeting of the leaders of all the like-minded political parties, discuss the strategy and take them into confidence and seek their full involvement.
Being a ruling party for most of the time you are well aware of the who is who in India. Call a meeting of ex-army general, ex-police officers, ex-IAS officers , ex-diplomats — all of repute and Integrity and take them into confidence.
Another important thing to do is to have a close and continuous vigil on Israel Embassy people and other Israeli agents not attached to the Embassy directly. I am sure that day entire Israel’s diplomatic corps and intelligence agencies will be trying their best to ensure that power remains with BJP. So sir, now it is for you to decide that on 23rd May, you will emerge as victorious or defeated — India will be back to Nehruvian polity of secularism and equality or it will be pushed in a long unending communal and caste riots. Secular India still has high hopes from you.
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The author is ex-President of AMU Students Union.He can be reached at Email: smanwarhussain@gmail.com