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The face that launched a thousand hardships

The Shroud of Turin broke her silence on the Congress defeat at the hustings, naturally, via a written statement: "The result calls for introspection, frank assessment and determined action... In the meantime, we accept unhesitatingly the verdict of the people. The task our party has undertaken to give itself a new shape and character, and better fulfil the aspirations of the people, has to be pursued with greater vigour. A greater responsibility now rests on all of us to protect and preserve the basic ethos of the country and our party. Let us rededicate ourselves to fulfil these cherished objectives."

"In the meantime" and "greater responsibility" leave me with no doubt about what the determined action to preserve the basic ethos of the country will be: The cherished objectives pursued with a greater vigour will entail destabilising a BJP-led government. For, the basic ethos of this country is everything other than the aspirations of its majority. And, the basic ethos of secularists consists of the phobia of everything that that majority mandates.

The people of India -- and I'm told by psephologists that Muslims and Christians en bloc voted against the BJP -- have made the "Hindu nationalist party" the single largest in the 13th Lok Sabha. What is their verdict vis-a-vis the hate campaign waged by various human rights orgs, NGOs and media pinkos? In Gujarat -- where the Parivar committed atrocities against Christians -- the BJP won 20 of the 26 seats, bettering its previous tally by 1. In Orissa -- where minorities were systematically murdered by Parivaris -- the BJP improved its previous total by 2 and the BJP-BJD alliance won 19 of the 21 seats.

The poll stats from the districts where Graham Staines, Arul Doss and Sheikh Rehman were killed are interesting: In Keonjhar, the BJP's Nayak defeated the Congress's Laguri by 2,22,253 votes. In Mayurbhanj, the BJP's Murmu defeated the Congress's Tiria by 1,47,940 votes. Meaning, ground reality crushed propaganda: Social unrest, caused by the Christian insistence on conversions, can no longer be ruled out...

Let's move on to other things. The Shroud declared, "The BJP-led coalition government, which assumed power promising to give a corruption-free administration, has been involved in so many scandals." To back this divine notification, the Ambulance Chaser came up with his scam-a-day scheme: sugargate, wheat scam, oil scam, telecom scam, the house allotment scam... Result: the NDA sits in Parliament with 297 seats.

There's no mystery about it at all. You see, the people haven't yet forgotten the term "seven per cent raj"; they know perfectly well the stuff Congress is made of... Besides, what with Sonia's loving support to Laloo and the Great Wall... But let Arun Jaitley speak: "This corrupt Trimurti of Indian politics has a single-point common minimum programme -- how to save their leaders from the corruption charges pending against them. It has a single objective -- how to beat the Prevention of Corruption Act." Another point to note: On September 23, the Delhi high court, taking a strong view of the alterations in the original trust deed of IGNCA, cleared the decks for "suitable action" by the government to restore its control on the institution...

There was another unfinished business: The Congress high command supported independent candidate from Baramulla, Saifuddin Soz, as he "reflected the secular forces." Prof Soz had defied his parent party, the National Conference, on the issue of pulling down the Vajpayee government. NC's Abdul Rasheed Shaheen trounced Soz by over 40,000 votes. The NC has increased its tally by 1, winning Srinagar, Anantnag and Ladakh, too. Dr Farooq Abdullah has now declared that "NDA is my party and I will join it," and gone on a padyatra to Vaishno Devi. And how can I forget Suresh Pachauri in Bhopal, whose star campaigner was Vishnu Bhagwat...? He lost by 120,000 votes to Uma Bharti. In Nalanda, George defeated the CPI candidate by a margin of 105,821, hahahaha...

Then there's the Kargil issue. At her election rally speech in Ahmedabad, the Shroud declared that "thousands of brave Indian soldiers were murdered in Kargil" due to the government's incompetence. Harin Pathak, the BJP candidate from here, won by nearly 53,000 votes. At Rajnandgaon she said, "Action must be taken against erring officials for the Kargil intrusion... The prime minister must own responsibility for the intrusions." The BJP candidate from this constituency won by nearly 30,000 votes. At Jharsuguda she quoth, "A government which could not protect the security of the country is not fit to be in power for even a day." Orissa Congress president Hemanand Biswal, a native of Jharsuguda, has resigned from his post. He lost to the BJP candidate by over 86,000 votes.

Do you seriously believe that voters wouldn't have taken serious note of: "Statements of Opposition leaders, including Ms Sonia Gandhi, on the Vajpayee government's handling of the Kargil crisis are being used by Pakistan television and radio for propaganda against India. Ms Gandhi's statements on the Kargil crisis have been continuously aired and broadcast on the official Pakistani media -- PTV and Radio Pakistan -- for the past couple of months." In August, Sonia had told reporters that Kargil would be the main election issue of her party. She followed through with that resolve. And look where she's today...

And look where her minions are, too! As you know, Army HQ initiated a court of inquiry against Brigadier Surinder Singh for leaking confidential documents and going public with his report about a possible Pakistani infiltration being ignored by senior officers. Subsequently, the court summoned journalists from Frontline and Outlook magazines to appear before it at Leh. Both magazines had carried exposes on the letters supposedly written by Brig Singh to the army chief -- which were used by Sibal to foul the electoral air. Both magazines have now declined to send those responsible for the reports to appear before the court...

The presiding officer for the court of inquiry explained that the journalists were needed as witnesses before the court to probe the "circumstances under which, allegedly, contents of confidential communications were made available to unauthorised persons by army personnel in contravention of the Official Secrets Act." Vinod Mehta, editor of Outlook, refused because, get this, "Their invitation is so vague -- against whom has this inquiry been constituted, and what documents have been leaked?" N Ram, editor of Frontline, said, "The so-called summons which was issued to our correspondent is utterly without any legal basis... The military court of inquiry has no jurisdiction to command civilians in this way." Tch, tch, tch... What's it, running scared...?

The Pioneer reported in July that army officials are disturbed over "the mudslinging being indulged by the Congress... We have to fight on two fronts -- one at the frontier and one in our own house. Our boys have sacrificed their lives. And now they are being told they are to be blamed." Well, boys, take a breather: The face that launched a thousand hardships has been held at bay...

Actually, the Shroud's chamchas have no time for the army now: They are busy trying to depict the Congress' debacle as a triumph of sorts. Whence comes her ghost-written line, "it has also gained support in some areas and our share of the vote has risen." Her close advisers -- none of whom have soiled their reputations by ever winning an election -- would have us believe that Sonia's victory in Amethi and Bellary indicates that Indians do not consider her a foreigner. Meaning, henceforth, there's to be no question of any opposition to her becoming the PM on the ground of her Italian origin...

Which is rank garbage. No fundie has a problem with her nodding off in Parliament -- it's her aspiring to be PM that makes us see red. The fact that her feckless party, and all those which it supported, have verily been thrashed nationwide shows that a majority of people think so, too. But more significantly, that Sharadrao has been given a lease of life, that Mulayam bettered his 1998 account by 3 seats, that Chandrababu has been crowned king of Andhra, is indicative of strong support to secularists who oppose her. In less than ten words: India does not want Sonia to be prime minister.

The great and the good are praying that the Congress will mend its ways, that it will shirk the dynasty and evolve to trounce the fundies next time: Every editorial and column is replete with such advice from the panic-stricken. There are stirrings within the Congress itself: Digvijay Singh said that he favoured a reconstitution of the CWC: "Jab puraney patte jhad jaate hain to naye aatey hain (old leaves are replaced with new)." Kamal Nath quoth, "Congress needs to revamp itself and there is a need for a new generation of leadership to take the party into the new millennium." Rajesh Pilot on Janata ki Adalat: "All of us are responsible for the party's defeat. Soniaji is responsible; we are also responsible... Election will be through consensus, but if a contest is required, it will take place." The first Congresswallah who pinned the blame...

P J Kurien, P C Chacko, Jar Jar Jogi, Balram Jakhar, P Shiv Shankar, Bhajan Lal, Manmohan Singh -- none got a leg-up from the charisma of the object of his adoration. A shrill way of shooting off charges, no political skills, no knowledge of the country, no on-spot responses to complex national and international situations -- all made for a campaign from a galaxy far, far away. Realisation must have dawned on Conggies that Sonia is not electorally viable; that she has failed to suck in the votes; that the gameplan has seriously backfired; that the party is now indelibly tainted with the charge of forcing an election the country could ill-afford.

Even so, the Shroud's own position within the party will remain intact. Congressmen will trip over themselves pledging eternal support to The Family. There will be no move to dislodge her from party presidentship. She will be "elected" to all possible posts. In fact, I'm praying that she takes over as leader of the Opposition, too -- I can't wait to hear her parliamentary debates. Fortunately for us, the woman banks on the likes of Arjun Singh, the parasite who raised the slogan of Nehru-Gandhi dynasty during Narasimha Rao's tenure, and Pranab Mukherjee, the slug who single-handedly destroyed the Congress in Bengal. There will be no manthan, no overhaul of the CWC, no facing up to realities. The Shroud's coterie, each of whom will surpass every known test of loyalty in order to protect his deity, will continue to do the fundies' work for them. That is, by and by, annihilate the party.

We know a ship's sinking when the rats leave: Said Jayalalitha, "Our alliance with the Congress was only for the Lok Sabha polls and I would not like to say anything more... The mistake on the part of the Congress of not projecting a prime ministerial candidate had a telling effect among the electorate." Reminds me of the Shroud's assertion, "If the BJP could not prevent the break up of 18 parties allied with it, how can it hold together 24 parties pulling in different directions."

All in all, lookin' goo-ood! I'm pleased to note that the people of India treated this election simply as an interruption. It's time to light another cigar and enjoy a round of prime-ministerial verse: Hindu tan-man, Hindu jeevan, rag-rag Hindu mera parichay... What can I say, I'm darn good at rubbing it in...

Varsha Bhosle