The failed Cong strategies

While Congress tried to corner NDA in the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh polls on the issues of demonetisation and GST, it did the political benefit it had expected. With Rahul Gandhi leading the party from the front, it lost in both the states. One fails to understand why the politically starved Congress was so agitated over the issue of demonetisation. It says it is concerned about the hardships which the countrymen faced after the implementation of GST and the banning of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes by the government, but it seems as if its 'stalwarts' are concerned more about themselves. Skeletons have already started tumbling out of the political closets. Enforcement Directorate, which is looking at accounts which have attracted unusually high deposits in outlawed currency notes of Rs 1000 and Rs 5000, had come across a deposit of Rs 104 cr in the BSP account. BSP has several accounts in different banks in the national capital and outside. Of the total deposit of Rs 104 cr, Rs 101 cr had come in notes of Rs 1,000, with those of Rs 500 accounting for the rest. The issues of demonetisation and GST had come as a fodder to the politically starved Congress. The party, which was virtually left with no issue to take on the Modi-led NDA government at the Centre, had become active all of a sudden. The real target remained prime minister Narendra Modi. The known Congress faces, which had vanished from the political scene after the crushing defeat of the party in the last Lok Sabha elections, had again started appearing on national TV channels. The issues had given Congress some political space. Of late, Congress has been trying to make issues out of no issues. In the controversy, involving ex-IPL chairman Lalit Modi also, Congress had raised a hue and cry, targeting external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje.

Congress says it would continue to hold protests against the NDA and the prime minister. During the Lalit Modi controversy also, which has now died, Congress and other parties had built up pressure on BJP. However, after he had threatened to come up with more bombshells, implicating the erstwhile prime minister's office also, Congress had gone into a silent mode. Apart from having connections with some BJP leaders and ministers, he also had connections with some top leaders of Congress and other political parties. Mounting pressure on the NDA government, Congress had then demanded a Supreme Court monitored probe into the matter.

Other political parties too had joined the chorus. After the demonetisation of high value notes, Congress had protested inside and outside the parliament and is still trying to bring all the opposition parties on a common platform to launch a united fight against the banning of notes and GST. It is doing all this because after its rout in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and the subsequent Delhi assembly polls, it had been struggling to find its feet.