The Congress-led move to impeach the Chief Justice of India points to a degree of desperation in the party now led by an immature president. Which cannot be seen in isolation from other equally childish moves: like moving a no-confidence motion against the government in the Lok Sabha ~ though aware of its inadequate numbers (that the NDA reacted equally pathetically is no justification).

For there is a very slim chance of the impeachment motion getting Parliament’s nod, and the Congress can hope to do no more than make a media-splash, which is tantamount to scraping the bottom of the political barrel to score some cheap points.

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The apex court has recently deprecated “political interest litigation”; what is now being attempted is a parliamentary equivalent ~ an opportunity to whip us a storm, but little more. Sadly, the views of saner elements in the party ~ Manmohan Singh, Salman Khurshid, Ashwini Kumar and Veerapa Moily ~ have been ignored.

To have expected the party leader in the Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, to have pressed for more mature action would have been expecting too much, his leadership has proved disastrous. Ghulam Nabi Azad should have brought his experience to bear, but who is the leader in the Rajya Sabha to stand up to super-brat Rahul Gandhi? Clearly the day was carried by theatrics-specialists like Kapil Sibal. Never forget that Falstaff too was a Shakespearean character.

Without commenting on the merits of the impeachment motion, it must be asked if elaborate process can be concluded ~ provided the Chairman admits it, which is a big if ~ before the retirement on October 2 of the Chief Justice of India, Mr Justice Dipak Mishra.

That explains the calls for him to voluntary step aside. The motion could wind up being dismissed as infructuous. And with some Opposition parties declining to back the move, Rahul & Co. will have to work wonders to muster the special majority required in both Houses to have the motion approved.

Virtually as tall an order as the Congress winning an election these days ~ though admittedly its prospects in Karnataka are not hopelessly dim. The impeachment motion is just another act of despair from a floundering party that has come close to pressing the self-destruct button.

That eminent legal luminary, Fali Nariman, has powerfully articulated his pain over the impeachment initiative. Not only has he pointed out that it exceeds the administrative grievances aired earlier this year by four senior judges of the apex court, he has warned of the dangers of making the judiciary subservient to the majority party in Parliament.

Clearly, Rahul is playing with fire, but does he really care? Every time he burns his fingers he takes off on a jaunt abroad, but his party is hardly capable of rising from the ashes.