The Counter Offensive
Ever since 25 January, when the Hindenburg report on Adani hit the headlines, the BJP media team went missing from TV debates. The party spokesmen only appeared post Rahul Gandhi’s speech in Parliament on 7 February. Until then it was left to the right-wing ecosystem to come and counter the Congress on TV debates. There was a reason for this—countering the Congress meant defending businessman Gautam Adani. And the party had not been given a clear signal to do so. Hence, it was left to spokespersons from the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, VHP and other organisations to appear from the “other” side. Only they were also not quite sure what the “other” side actually stood for. It was only when Rahul launched a scathing attack on the Modi government that various ministers and party spokespersons became visible again, targeting the Congress more than defending the Hindenburg report.
A Political Afternoon
Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda threw his annual winter’s lunch last week and it was a warm sunny afternoon as various Congress leaders along with some opposition MPs took a break from Parliament to eat some delicious chaat, chola bhatura, puri-aloo and rabri. Seen at the occasion were Ambika Soni, Digvijaya Singh, Gaurav Gogoi, Pinaki Misra, Mahua Moitra, Anand Sharma, Jayant Chaudhary and his wife Charu, Nassir Hussain, Priyanka Chaturvedi, Gurdeep Singh Sappal and Supriya Shrinate, with the entire Hooda clan playing gracious hosts. What was interesting was that all those who had accompanied Rahul Gandhi on his Bharat Jodo Yatra had a tanned and fit look (this included the journalists, who claimed that they walked around 24 km a day with Rahul). In fact, a journo even gave Digvijaya a backhanded compliment when he commented that the veteran Congress leader was very fit for his age. When asked if he saw this as a compliment or not, Digvijaya laughed and said, you are only as old as you feel. Clearly the mood was very upbeat in the Congress camp.
Should the PM have addressed the Adani issue?
Not only did the Prime Minister ignore the Hindenburg report and its allegations, the Lok Sabha Speaker also ordered most of the references to Gautam Adani be expunged from Rahul Gandhi’s speech. However, the focus outside Parliament has been on the Hindenburg report and its impact on the market. Interestingly, the day Rahul Gandhi spoke the markets rallied around the Adani stocks but the day of the PM’s reply, the shares fell (make what you will of this). However, Congress leaders are privately comparing the PM’s reaction to that of the Congress. During the UPA years, the whiff of a scandal was enough for the then Congress president Sonia Gandhi to ask the said minister to step down (even though most were cleared of the charges against them later on by the courts, but by then the damage was done). This is part of the reason why the UPA is known as one of the more corrupt regimes. On the other hand, the current government refuses to acknowledge allegations without proof—from Vyapam to Pegasus to the Rafale deal. They too have been cleared by the courts in most cases. Which makes you wonder if the Congress leader was right when he complained about the Congress suffering from a strong Christian streak of morality. Also, it begs the question: does good optics make good politics?