The Congress has hit the streets with an intensity not displayed by it in a long time as former party president Rahul Gandhi was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the National Herald case and has attempted to project the scenario as an ideological fight with the Narendra Modi regime.
The party has rallied around Rahul, the show of strength involving the who's who of the top leaders of the party, including chief ministers Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel, MPs, MLAs and AICC functionaries. The idea conveyed is that the vast majority of leaders and workers have faith in his leadership and they stand by him. This is significant as it comes just months before the party's presidential elections and doubts about whether Rahul is amenable to making a comeback as party chief.
The developments over the last two days have projected Rahul as the undisputed leader of the Congress even as party leaders have accused the Modi government of targeting him because he has been the only strident voice against the ruling dispensation and has not made any compromises with the BJP regime.
“Be it China, inflation, economy, COVID, the plight of migrant workers during the pandemic, farmers' issues, the divisive policies of the BJP government or crony capitalism, Rahul Gandhi's has been the most powerful voice asking questions of the Modi regime. The ED case is an assault on that voice,” said AICC Communications Department head Randeep Singh Surjewala.
The attempt to project Rahul's questioning by the ED as an ideological fight with the Modi government has seen the Congress comparing the restrictions imposed by the police on the party as it attempted to carry out street protests in the national capital to the repressive tactics used by the Britishers against freedom fighters. And the party has asserted that Rahul will not be cowed down by the alleged moves by the Modi regime to target him.
The aggression displayed by the Congress over the last two days, however, has not found support from others in the opposition bloc, the other parties letting it be an issue that belongs purely to the principal opposition party. The BJP, on the other hand, has hit back strongly, accusing the Congress of hitting the streets only to save the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty and the assets of the first family of the party.
The protests by the Congress, which have been lent weight by the presence of top leaders including its two chief ministers Gehlot and Baghel, have been countered strongly by the BJP with a press conference by Union minister Smriti Irani and comments from other party leaders.
