Ever since the supreme court of India by its landmark judgement of 10th July 2013 declared that the members of parliament ( MP's ) or members of legislative assemblies ( MLA's ) will automatically cease to be MP/MLA if convicted by a court for specific offence. Also such legislators will not even be entitled to contest the election. This created big commotion in the polity for in India about 30% of lawmakers i.e. MP's and MLA's have criminal charges against them and the polity was trying to find faults with this order. Also polity wanted to prove the supremacy of legislature over judiciary. With these dual aims the cabinet committee of Indian government cleared an ordinance to protect tainted politicians
There was a lot of anguish and uproar in the public at large and this became the most debated issue in the Indian media.Sensing the public mood and outcry on this, Nehru-Gandhi dynasty scion Rahul Gandhi on Friday slammed a cabinet move to protect politicians found guilty of crimes, embarrassing the government led by his own party just months from a general election.
The nation is witnessing a political drama and every politician, majority with criminal credentials or credentials leaning towards criminality are shouting at the top of their voice that they are totally for nobility and saintliness in polity. But Rahul Gandhi appears to be playing a much deeper game. After all it is not just for nothing that he has chosen to slight the prime minister and senior cabinet colleagues of his own party government.when elections to three major states and the country are round the corner.Through this calculated outburst he is trying to give the party and himself an image of honesty, sincerity and seriousness of purpose by claiming the right to food, right to education, right to information, land acquisition reform bill etc. being party's initiative. By showing his utter disgust in his carefully chosen words "My opinion on the ordinance is that it's complete nonsense and it should be torn up and thrown out," he said. "I feel, personally feel, that what our government has done as far as this ordinance is concerned is wrong." all the ills of the nine year misrule of the government, be it corruption, scams, policy paralysis, poor governance, inflation and messing up of economic health of the nation have been attributed to the old guard.
In this rather calculated move there is much more than what meets the eye. It is a war within congress between the rightists and leftists to guide the country in their own way and preferred directions. To an unbiased observer history seems to be repeating itself. There is a lot of similarity in the saga of 1969 split of the congress engineered by Rahul's grandmother wherein it was a battle royal between the rightists, mainly the old guard (controlling the party/ organisation) and socialists/leftists in control of the government. Today again we have the same situation, though the rightists, champions of free economy are mainly part of government and old brigade and the socialists/leftists headed by Rahul Gandhi himself are in the party/organisation. The country still has more than six months to the next general election and it appears that Rahul & co will not have to struggle to attain ascendancy in the power corridors as the family has complete control over the organisation and there is no mass leader with pan India appeal in the government.
