In an interview with The Wire, Pawan Khera from the Congress was asked whether this Lok Sabha election feels like a win or a loss. He replied, “Desh jeeta hai, desh ka samvidhan jeeta hai (The country has won, the Constitution has won).”
According to Khera, the greatest strength of the Congress is that it is an issue-based party, a movement, and through the Bharat Jodo Yatra, the Congress has been able to once again imbibe its mantra of going “back to the basics” and connecting once again with the people. He claims, “Jo TV pe dikhta hai, vo sadak par nahi hota. Jo sadak par hota hai, vo TV pe nahi dikhta (What is portrayed on TV does not reflect the reality on the ground. What really happens on the streets is not portrayed on TV).”
Khera believes that “Jo party apne mudde samaj par thop deti hai, dheere dheera samaaj se kat jaati hai (The party that imposes its own agenda on the people, slowly gets cut off from them).” He says that “Ahankaar bardaash nahi karta yeh desh (This country does not accept arrogance).”
The real issues that should have dominated the election, according to him, are unemployment, farmers and women’s safety. “Yeh desh vo nahi jo shaam ko prime time TV shows pe dekhte hain, vo artificial hai (This country is not what one sees in prime time shows in the evening, that is artificial).”
However, after these elections, Khera is certain that Modi and Shah cannot be “dictators” any more. Even if an NDA government does form, he doubts it will last five years, because over his 25-year political career, Modi has never had to rely on anyone, and Khera believes that such a man cannot run a coalition government.
According to Khera, “Jo das saal ki lambi kaali raat thi, vo khatm ho chuki hai (The ten year long dark night has come to an end).” He thinks that India must have faith in the resilience of its Constitution, and the public must continue questioning, after all “Sawaal puchne se hi loktantra ki dhadkane chalti rehi hai (It is only by questioning that one keeps alive the throbbing heartbeat of democracy).”
On the topic of the Constitution, he further states that Ambedkar’s Constitution will never be easy to change, and if ever a government does talk about getting 400 or more seats, that should already ring an alarm in the minds of the public. After all, he adds, “Sarkaar 272 se banti hai, to 400 kyun mang rahe hai? Neeyat kya hai? (A government is made up of 272 seats, then why ask for 400? What is the agenda?)”
He promises that in the future, for as long as the Congress remains in the opposition, they will keep raising issues of the public and will continue fighting for the interest of the country, its Constitution, and its people.
