Farcical theory of conspiracy

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a rare show of animosity towards the opposition advanced the theory of conspiracy. It‘s unbecoming of his political stature to make such baseless allegations on the opposition ahead of the budget session.

The ruling and the opposition parties are already divided on a host of things like the Rohith Vemula episode, the JNU cauldron, the GST tangle etc. Prime Minister’s latest accusation on the entire opposition would only accentuate the acrimony detrimental to the smooth functioning of Parliament.

The conspiratorial theory cannot go unsubstantiated. Prime Minister cannot but put before the nation the concrete evidence of any such conspiracy being hatched against his government.

The BJP on its own has a clear majority in Parliament. The NDA has more than required strength. The Congress is feeble. How can party with a marginal presence in Parliament engineer a conspiracy against a Prime Minister who came to power with such a massive mandate?

In fact, Modi’s new allegation finds a parallel in the political history of democratic India. The then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi voiced the same conspiratorial theory in 1970s when she was fast losing political ground.

Ultimately, this postulation landed the nation in the darkest chapter in its contemporary history. She also portrayed the opposition as nation’s traitors. Several black laws like Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA), Preventive Detention Act etc., were used to silence the dissent.

The opposition voices were suppressed. Democracy was burtalised. Finally, the promulgation of internal emergency was its nadir. A similar campaign is now seen in the country. The climate of intolerance reached its crescendo.

All voices opposed to ruling party are being dubbed anti-national. Opposition is termed seditious. Now comes the conspiracy debate. The democratic forces should be vigilant over this disturbing parallel.

Ironically, the BJP in its earlier incarnation was instrumental in the fight against Congress-led authoritarianism. As part of the opposition, they were also victims of nationalist frenzy and pernicious propaganda machine unleashed then by Indira Gandhi regime.

But, the things have changed a lot. Media has become hyper active. Social media heralded a new superstructure. Polity is not monolithic. Civil society is acting as fifth estate. Judiciary is active and assertive.

Still, Modi brought in politics of conspiracy, perhaps to defame the opposition. Modi’s team successfully created a nation-wide pro-Modi hysteria by ensuring the political discourse to be vertically divided into Modi versus Rest of India.

Modi’s campaign managers are planning to repeat the same marketing exercise at a time when the nation is to witness a series of crucial elections in many States.

But, Modi and his followers have to realise that aspirational India that rallied behind Modi in a wholesale manner is slowly getting alienated. This process is captured well in Delhi and subsequently in Bihar elections.

Even rural Gujarat and other BJP strongholds displayed the changing people’s mood. May be the conspiracy theory, Team Modi hopes, would come to his rescue.