Analysts Fed on Government Spin Demand Facts From Rahul Gandhi

To expect the Opposition to stick to facts when the ruling party’s standard playbook is to feed its majoritarian narrative relentlessly, on a daily basis, is a bit rich.

M.K. Venu

To expect the Opposition to stick to facts when the ruling party’s standard playbook is to feed its majoritarian narrative relentlessly, on a daily basis, is a bit rich.

analysts fed on government spin demand facts from rahul gandhi

Rahul Gandhi speaking in parliament during the no-confidence motion. Photo: Screengrab from Sansad TV

Some political analysts and newspaper editorials have criticised Rahul Gandhi for not making a hard, factual presentation in the no-confidence debate on the Manipur issue in the Lok Sabha. At the outset, Rahul said he would speak from the heart and launched a scathing attack on Modi, likening him to Ravana, who perished because of his own arrogance. He charged the Centre with murdering Bharat Mata in Manipur. He also launched a wider attack on the BJP for using kerosene to spark divisive fires in other parts of the country like Haryana, which is engulfed in communal violence.

Gandhi was clearly trying to set a larger narrative about the BJP’s politics. He deliberately stayed away from a detailed questioning of the government actions or lack of it in Manipur. Some analysts have compared Gandhi’s 37-minute speech with Union home minister Amit Shah’s speech of over two hours, in which he gave a factual presentation on the Modi government’s overall governance record. Of course, Shah didn’t express any regret that his government, both at the Centre and in the state, had totally failed to control prolonged violence and civil war in Manipur.

The irony here is that the BJP under Narendra Modi and Shah has shown scant regard for facts and data over the last nine years, and have largely relied on toxic narrative-building based on the Hindutva ideology. Yet, political analysts were praising the home minister for a “factual” presentation of Modi’s nine years in power.

To expect the Opposition to stick to facts when the ruling party’s standard playbook is to feed its majoritarian narrative relentlessly, on a daily basis, is a bit rich. Rahul tried to set a counter narrative, straight from the heart, by talking about the death of Bharat Mata in Manipur.

In its lead editorial, the Indian Express said that it was a missed opportunity for Rahul, as he could have asked hard questions on Manipur which the government has been avoiding. Perhaps every right-thinking Indian has by now realised that the Modi regime has no respect for facts or data, and will seek to convert every situation to its advantage, based on its deeply divisive reflexes. Manipur and Haryana are just the two most recent examples.

Also read: Parts of Rahul Gandhi's Speech Expunged and Missing Sansad TV Camera Angles

So it is really futile to expect the opposition to wade through myriad factual details when the other side is playing some other game altogether. On the contrary, a broader counter-narrative strategy deriving from the basic framework from the Bharat Jodo Yatra may be the urgent need of the hour. Which is what Rahul was attempting. The fact that Sansad TV camera chose to focus on Rahul only 40% of the time during his speech , as opposed to near total focus on Shah during his address, shows the nervousness of the ruling party.

In any case, listening to Modi’s response in the House, it would seem Rahul was right in resorting to a broader narrative of the BJP as an ‘enemy of Bharat Mata’ because even Modi hasn’t dealt with facts or details of anything. He is also building a broader narrative.

The prime minister clearly tried to portray the opposition parties as anti-India and a group in whom the people had no confidence left. Modi said India had entered a golden period under the BJP rule and this would "lay the foundation for a 1,000 years of India's glory". Such hyperbole has little to do with facts on the ground. Modi's was an election speech for the most part when people expected him to say something substantive on Manipur violence. In some ways, Rahul might have anticipated this.

So he was probably right in pre-empting Modi with his sharp and focused attack on the BJP as having "murdered Bharat Mata in Manipur". His charge that the BJP under Modi was throwing kerosene and setting fire to different parts of India with its divisive politics is likely to be a theme for the Congress in the 2024 elections.

This article went live on August eleventh, two thousand twenty three, at thirty-two minutes past eight in the morning.

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