Will be a 4-1 final tally? Power attracts, it proverbially corrupts too. After the BJP’s runaway successes in UP and Uttarakhand, the “bounce” (to use jargon of American political analysts) is clearly with the Modi-Shah combine. Hence in the two states that returned fractured verdicts the floating numbers seem to have fallen in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party. For all its crying “foul” over Goa in every possible forum, the Congress secured only nominal relief in the one that mattered ~ the Supreme Court. No “stay” was secured on the swearing-in of Manohar Parrikar, only an advancement of the floor-test, and the observations of their Lordships indicated that they found little merit in the objections the Congress was raising, which could prove relevant in a somewhat similar stand-off in Manipur. Their Lordships, rightly, did not get bogged down in arguments whether in a hung Assembly the single largest party or the largest combine should get the first shot at government and iterated that the test of numbers should take place only in the House. Technically that does provides the Congress party opportunity to prove its strength, but with the BJP having submitted the names of its supporters ~ which the Congress failed to do even in court ~ the chances of reversing the 
scenario in Panaji, and Imphal too (though there are marginal differences in form) appear rather slim.

The Congress has tried unsuccessfully to wipe the egg off its face by levelling an array of allegations against Governors, claiming the use of “inducements” etc, but failed to counter the argument that what the BJP was doing today was no different from what the Congress had done in the past except it was outgunned this time. Propriety and morality, alas, have ceased to play a role in political affairs, and to identify who triggered the decline in standards would prove embarrassing to Rahul Gandhi.

Advertisement

The man who has led the party to successive electoral reverses now faces some internal rumblings for having allowed the BJP to “steal” victory in a dirty game first played by his own outfit. For had the Congress allowed its “local” 
leadership a greater share of political management instead of trying to dictate terms from 
24 Akbar Road things might have turned out a little different. 

The delay in seeking support from smaller parties is indicative of a brand of arrogance ~ the “family” still believes it retains a divine right to rule. Not that the Modi-Shah duo is devoid of arrogance, but it indicated it was pragmatic enough to know when to put its pride in its pocket and flatter the smaller groups into extending support. Even if it might prove to be a case of flattering to deceive.