VIEWPOINT
AMITABH SHUKLA
Fighting a battle for political
survival in Haryana amidst senior party members deserting the sinking ship of
the Congress, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda stirred the hornet’s nest
when he declared that he would not attend any function of the Prime Minister.
Two other Chief Ministers, both
battling crisis within and outside the party, were quick to lap the idea so was
the Congress, desperately looking for issues which can help it score brownie
points at a time when the party cadre are dejected and lying low after the
historic defeat in the Lok Sabha polls.
In Maharashtra ,
Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan decided not to attend any function in which
Prime Minister Narendra Modi participates. The reason is not difficult to find.
He is extremely unpopular even in his own party what to talk of the entire
State as a recent revolt against his leadership indicated. The Congress workers
in Maharashtra and those in ally NCP know well that he
has been imposed as Chief Minister by the party high command (read Sonia and
Rahul Gandhi), loathes electoral politics and never contests elections himself
and clearly knows the writing on the wall.
Another is Hemant Soren, the
Jharkhand Chief Minister. His only claim to fame is that he is the son of
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief Shibu Soren and happens to be the Chief Minister
due to a ragtag opportunistic coalition in the mineral rich State which is
infamous for its unstable Governments ever since it was carved out of Bihar
in the year 2000. The Congress is supporting Soren’s Government due to its own
vested interests and for him too, the writing on the wall is clear. His days as
Chief Minister are over.
So what is the surprise when all
the three were booed by the crowd, jeered and mocked at in the presence of
Modi? If Bihar Chief Minister Jeetan Ram Manjhi or Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh
Yadav share the stage with Modi, they too perhaps would meet the same fate.
It’s not a rocket science to know that both are extremely unpopular at this
point of time in their respective States. But if Odisha Chief Minister Naveen
Patnaik, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa or West Bengal Chief Minister,
Mamata Banerjee share stage with Modi, it would be difficult to visualize the
crowd hooting and jeering at them. Clearly, the hooting of the three Chief
Ministers was more due to their unpopularity and anti-incumbency of their
parties rather than a planned move by the BJP against them.
The three Chief Ministers are
merely disguising their unpopularity and imminent defeat in the Assembly polls
by making proclamations that they would not attend functions where Modi is
present. Why blame Modi for your plight and weakness? They could have come up
with better explanations on their hooting rather than blaming the BJP and Modi.
A political answer would have been to gauze the public opinion in advance, use
the expertise of the intelligence agencies at your disposal in the State police
and if there was a possibility of jeering, get your own supporters at the venue
and then shout down those opposing you.
But then, I doubt if there are
any Hooda supporters left in Haryana or for that matter a Chavan supporter in Maharashtra .
Similarly, it would be difficult to locate any Hemant Soren supporter in Ranchi
given his unpopularity in the State. Realising that they were bereft of any
support base, all the three Chief Ministers did was to make a loud noise
without any
substance. It was more a
reflection of their political helplessness and a desperate attempt to generate
some sympathy when elections are round the corner.
In the three poll bound States,
first it was the turn of Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan to face
the ire of the public. He was heckled while sharing the dais with Modi at a
function in Solapur. Instead of any political sound political reply, all he did
was to flout the established protocol and boycott the Prime Minister’s
programme in Nagpur for a project
for Metro.
Then in Haryana, Hooda was booed
and not allowed to speak in the presence of Modi at a stone-laying ceremony at
Kaithal. Within an hour, he convened a Press conference and declared that he
would not attend any function with Modi. Of course, three days later, Hooda
arrived in Delhi and had a cup of
tea with Modi and issued a statement saying, “I fully respect the
constitutional post of the Prime Minister. We discussed such issues concerning
Haryana as fall under the purview of the Central Government”.
After Hooda, Hemant Soren in
Jharkhand was at the receiving end who had to face the ire of the crowd who
started chanting pro-Modi slogans in the State Capital Ranchi. Earlier, in
Jammu & Kashmir too, sentiments were expressed against Chief Minister Omer
Abdullah in the presence of Modi.
As all the cases of heckling have
been reported from the four States going to Assembly polls later this year, the
political temperature on the issue boiled soon. Though Abdullah did not express
his thoughts, the Congress immediately sought to make a political capital out
of the issue by directing its Chief Ministers to boycott functions of Modi.
Anyone with even elementary
understanding of public rallies would know that almost all the people who
attend rallies are brought in by the leaders and the cadres to the venue. Gone
are the days when people used to travel distances to hear their popular leaders.
In the age of 24-hour news channels, every leader has been heard countless
times and no one has the time and energy to Assembly for rallies in hot and
humid conditions. So, people are brought in bus loads and provided all
facilities like packed lunch and water so that they do not have any grievance.
When Hooda, Chavan or Soren felt that there was a likelihood of their hooting,
they could have followed the procedure for rallies and brought in their own
supporters too.
Interestingly, in all the three
States where the Chief Ministers were booed and jeered, the Congress was
practically wiped out in the recent Lok Sabha polls and it was the BJP alone or
with its allies all the way. So the hooting also perhaps reflects the public
mood and also the fact that people at large realise that the Governments in
power in the three States do not represent the will of the people.
In all this high drama, there was
sane voice too. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal called upon the
representatives of all the political parties to strictly maintain decorum,
discipline and refrain from creating ruckus by way of ‘hooting’ and other
unsavory acts of distraction during public functions. The veteran of many a
battle, the septuagenarian termed this an unhealthy practice. No one would
disagree with Badal. But the fact remains that as a political strategy, such
incidents will continue to take place.
I have seen Hooda himself
employing a similar tactics against his rivals in Congress in front of the
party president Sonia Gandhi over a decade back. At a rally in Gohana in
Sonipat district, Hooda supporters not only showed black flags to Bhajan Lal
but also shouted slogans against him. You reap what you sow, if you sow a wind,
you reap a whirlwind. This is perhaps what has happened to Hooda. Now, he is
simply shouting grapes are sour. (August
25, 2014 )
http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/2014-08-24-63001.html
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