Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday. He told the Kashmiri people of Ramban and Anantnag districts that he will return statehood if the Congress government is formed. But Rahul Gandhi has tried to show as if he does not know about this issue by maintaining complete silence on the issue of Article 370. Ever since Rahul Gandhi has become the leader of the opposition, the public is paying attention to whatever he is saying. In the political corridors, the Congress feels that they have won the battle on every word he says. On the other hand, the BJP tries to prove that Rahul Gandhi still talks like an immature politician. But whatever may be the case, Rahul Gandhi is at least now being taken seriously in Indian politics. But the Congress and Rahul Gandhi have given so many statements on the major issues of the country that it becomes difficult for the common people to understand which side the Congress is on. At least this is true about these 5 issues. The question arises that why is Rahul Gandhi doing this?
1- Why is Rahul Gandhi’s attitude indecisive on Article 370?
The silence of Rahul Gandhi, who demanded statehood in Kashmir, on Article 370 is not understandable to the common people. Even a week ago, when Rahul Gandhi visited Jammu and Kashmir to take feedback from party leaders, he was seen in silent mode on the issue of Article 370. However, the party with which Congress is contesting the elections has a different opinion on this issue. The National Conference has made it clear in its manifesto that if our government is formed, Article 370 and 35A will be restored. However, it is not understandable on what basis the National Conference is talking about the return of Article 370. Because it is a simple thing that the return of Article 370 is possible only after getting power at the Center. It is obvious that the National Conference is not going to get a majority at the Center.
Secondly, their ally Congress has maintained silence on 370. This is the reason why the Bharatiya Janata Party is getting a chance to make allegations. The simple question is whether there was any secret agreement between the National Conference and the Congress? Because when 370 was abolished, the Congress was not confused about it. There were definitely two types of ideologies in the party, but the Congress was opposing the abrogation of Article 370. But after the Supreme Court’s decision in favor of abolishing 370, the Congress is confused about what stand to take on this issue.
When the Narendra Modi government repealed Article 370 by passing the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act in Parliament in August 2019 and divided Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh into union territories, the Congress was opposing this decision. The party then expressed its strong opposition in Parliament. In a meeting on August 6, 2019, the Congress Working Committee launched a scathing attack on the government for the manner in which the revocation was carried out.
The CWC argued that the terms of the Instrument of Accession between Jammu and Kashmir and India in 1947 were embodied in the constitutional recognition of Article 370. On August 4, 2019, a day before the Centre’s move to scrap Article 370, several Jammu and Kashmir parties, including the PDP and the Congress, met at the residence of National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Gupkar Road in Srinagar. They issued a joint statement defending Article 370. It is obvious that the Congress does not remember anything now or the Congress is playing political games.
2- States have promised old pension scheme but the centre is not aware
Secondly, let us talk about the Old Pension Scheme. Congress could not bring it back in the 10-year tenure of the UPA government, but since the Narendra Modi government is at the centre, Congress has started singing the tune of Old Pension Scheme. But Congress makes this promise only during assembly elections. In the assembly elections held a year ago in Himachal, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Congress had promised to re-implement OPS in its manifesto. But in the manifesto released by Congress for the Lok Sabha elections, OPS was not even discussed anywhere. Congress has not been able to implement OPS even in the states where it promised OPS and won the elections. It is clear that the general public is not able to understand what Congress thinks about this OPS scheme. But by creating an image of a party supporting OPS among the common people, Congress has proved that Rahul’s strategic cleverness of remaining silent on any issue is proving successful.
3- The stance on CAA kept changing depending on the opportunity
In 2019, the central government implemented the Citizenship Amendment Act. After that, Rahul Gandhi and Congress’s stance on CAA has always been changing. To confuse the public, something else is said at the center and something else is said in the states. In December 2019, Congress organized a huge demonstration against CAA. In which hundreds of party supporters including Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi sat on Satyagraha at Rajghat. Rahul Gandhi tweeted, “Many thanks to the students-youth of India and all the workers of the Congress party for making the ‘Ekta Satyagraha’ organized at Rajghat in protest against the division of the country by Modi-Shah a success.
But after the implementation of CAA, keeping the elections in mind, Congress and Rahul Gandhi kept quiet on this issue. During the Lok Sabha elections, CAA was a big issue in Kerala. During the election campaign, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was constantly trying to prove why Rahul Gandhi was not speaking on CAA. Vijayan had once even said that the Kerala Assembly passed a resolution against CAA, but why nothing was done against CAA in the assemblies of states where Congress is in power. But during the election campaign in Kerala, Rahul Gandhi kept quiet on CAA. Actually, the biggest vote bank of Congress in Kerala is of Hindus. Due to the BJP not rising yet, Congress is the party of Hindus in Kerala. Whereas the Left Front is known for appeasing Muslims there. Rahul Gandhi did not want that by speaking on CAA, he should be deprived of the votes of Hindus.
4- Rahul’s stand on Dalit sub-quota is not known yet
After the Supreme Court’s decision on Dalit sub-quota, there is a pre-storm earthquake in the country’s politics. All the parties are confused about what stand to take on this decision. The Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled states Telangana and Karnataka, who were at the forefront in welcoming the Supreme Court’s decision, immediately welcomed the decision to create Dalit sub-quota. Both these states even said that advertisements will be issued in accordance with this decision in the upcoming recruitments in their states. But no official statement has come from the Congress yet. The party is still considering it. There was a lot of confusion in the Bharatiya Janata Party about this decision, but the Dalit MPs of the party met PM Modi and demanded a ban on the implementation of this decision. Later, the Central Government held a press conference and said that the government has no intention of implementing this decision.
5- Caste census will be conducted across the country, but there is silence on Karnataka-Telangana and Himachal
Rahul Gandhi is continuously making statements about caste census. From Parliament to the streets, there is no platform in the country where Rahul Gandhi is not talking about caste census since last year. By repeatedly talking about caste census, he has become the brand ambassador of this issue. He has even left behind Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, former UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who raise the issue of caste census. But the way Nitish Kumar worked on the issue of caste census, Rahul Gandhi is not seen doing anything like that. Rahul Gandhi talks about caste census across the country. But the way Nitish Kumar got the census done in Bihar and made laws for the deprived sections, Rahul Gandhi is not doing that. Nothing is happening in the name of caste census anywhere in the Congress-ruled states of Himachal Pradesh, Telangana or Karnataka. In Karnataka, caste census has already been done in the previous Congress government, only the report has to be made public. But this work is also not in Rahul’s control or he does not want to do it.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)