- 46 minutes ago
A panel of prominent political commentators examines the political fallout of the INDIA Alliance rally at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan and the growing confrontation between the opposition and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Senior journalist and author Tavleen Singh notes the notable crowd turnout, remarking, 'this is the first time that I see real pushback against the government,' while expressing concern over the opposition's attacks on democratic institutions and the Election Commission. Political analyst Ashutosh asserts that the BJP leadership appears rattled by the opposition's street mobilization, questioning how the opposition can contest elections while challenging the credibility of the Chief Election Commissioner. In contrast, political analyst Rajat Sethi argues that optics and protests in Delhi do not equate to grassroots organization or electoral success, noting that regional partners like the Samajwadi Party will not boycott the crucial Uttar Pradesh elections. The panel discusses the high stakes ahead of key state assembly polls.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Let's take all these questions to our political analyst this evening.
00:03Joining me, Tavleen Singh, senior journalist, columnist, author.
00:06I also have Ashutosh, political analyst.
00:09We'll soon be joined by Rajat Sethi, political analyst.
00:12I just off the bat want to get your opinion, the both of you.
00:15Who would want to go first?
00:17All right, okay, let's go with the lady first, Miss Singh.
00:20What do you make of the rally yesterday, the India Alliance rally?
00:26I was very impressed with the size of it.
00:30It doesn't matter whether it was 50 lakhs or 60 lakhs or 10 lakhs.
00:35The ground was full as far as I could see.
00:37I wasn't there, but I've covered many rallies in Ramali Ramadan and the ground was full.
00:43So what I find a little bit embarrassing from the point of view of the BJP
00:47is that they should go on nitpicking about how many people were there.
00:52Yeah. So, you know, I mean, as far as I'm concerned, I thought that the rally was,
00:55was, you know, not just a show of strength, but a show of considerable strength.
01:02You've always, because, you know, you had a divergent point of view on the mock parliament,
01:06where you thought that was churlish, childish,
01:09and possibly the India Alliance should not have gone that route.
01:12Yeah, I am very clear about this.
01:15I've said it at least three times today.
01:17I believe that when you have a strong democracy, it is a democracy that is based on its institutions.
01:26And so it's, you know, as I said before, we're not in Pakistan or Bangladesh,
01:31where you have a very dwarf democracy, where the institutions are all compromised,
01:37where military rulers have controlled them.
01:39This has not happened in India, except once during the emergency.
01:44So I think that when you make a mockery of a serious issue by having a mock impeachment
01:50of your chief election commissioner, you're making a mockery of India across the world.
01:55And, you know, I personally am very uncomfortable with that.
01:59All right. Ashutosh, to bring you in, we had you yesterday as well,
02:03but like you've had like 24 hours to reflect on numbers, on the lack of numbers,
02:08the show of strength or what was going on behind the scene.
02:11What's your take for fear today?
02:13See, I'll go by the BJP's estimate that there was hardly anybody in the Ramila Maidan.
02:19And I accept the fact.
02:22So if somebody wants to live in some delusional world, what can you do?
02:26You can't do nothing.
02:28If there was hardly anybody in the Ramila Maidan, there was no crowd at all,
02:31then why Amit Shah is doing padhyatra in a different part of the country?
02:36Why? Why Nitin Naveen is doing that?
02:38Why the BJP is so hopelessly desperate today?
02:42That the issue is the BJP and entire leadership is hugely, hugely rattled.
02:47And it shows.
02:49Because not only Ramila Maidan, but within three weeks,
02:52the Congress has galvanized its cadre.
02:55And you remember on 12th October, when from Barakamba to Supreme Court,
02:59there was a huge rally.
03:01Huge, huge rally.
03:02In three months, in three weeks' time, if a political party does that,
03:07that means that the ground is really fertile, people are unhappy,
03:12and there is a great restlessness.
03:15Unfortunately, BJP has to explain why they are hitting the street.
03:19Is it because Ghospatiyas?
03:21If there are Ghospatiyas, then obviously BJP government has to be blamed.
03:25Is it because the national security is at threat?
03:28Then you are in the government for the last 12 years,
03:31and still national security is a threat?
03:33If there are Hindus in a threat,
03:36then Hindus in 2014 were in a threat or in a first place?
03:39See, these are ridiculous.
03:42I think BJP has learned few lessons in how to be ridiculed,
03:47how to ridicule yourself.
03:49Instead of doing that, they should take some course correction.
03:53They should do some soul searching.
03:55They should find out reasons why Congress has been,
03:59why we are witnessing a resurgent Congress,
04:02an emergence of Rahul Gandhi as a pole leader in entire opposition,
04:07and why BJP is so, so defensive today.
04:10They are failing to weave any narrative.
04:13That's the unfortunate part of it.
04:15And if you think there is an anarchy on the road,
04:17you are in the government, you control that.
04:20If somebody is creating a national security problem,
04:23put him in jail, you are not able to do that.
04:26You are just trying to create a false narrative across the world.
04:29Who's going to believe this?
04:30All right. Okay. Allow me to bring in Ranjit.
04:32You know, once we're, like I said,
04:34everyone's fixated on the numbers on Ramlila Maidan.
04:36I just want to put out there,
04:37even if the Ramlila Maidan was full,
04:39it's still 70,000 capacity.
04:41And that is, if there are,
04:42if it is filled to capacity,
04:44then at best it's 70,000.
04:46So, away from the numbers, Rajat,
04:48your biggest takeaways from yesterday,
04:50because we've had not just the opposition rally,
04:54but we've had in real time,
04:56between 12 to 5,
04:57which was the given time for the opposition.
04:59We've had the Home Minister,
05:00we've had the BJP Party President,
05:02we've had the Delhi Chief Minister,
05:03we have the newly, once again,
05:05Rajya Sabha MP, Mr. Puri,
05:07and other BJP leaders,
05:09who every half hour,
05:11were either in a press conference
05:12or issuing statements.
05:15Well, Piti Ji, good evening to you
05:17and to the fellow panelists.
05:18It seems like it is not Diwali.
05:20It seems like this is a festival of protests
05:22happening around the country.
05:23Everybody is very angry
05:25and everybody wants to hit the streets
05:27and try and puncture each other's narratives.
05:30The Congress Party, for a very long time,
05:33has been waiting for this desperate moment
05:35where they could finally anoint Rahul Gandhi
05:38as the leader of the India Alliance.
05:41And I don't remember right from,
05:43I think, in 2023 when India Alliance was created,
05:46they have ever had, you know,
05:48a common cause on which they could leave aside
05:50their zero-sum problems
05:52they had with the Congress Party
05:54and come onto the same platform.
05:56It is also partly because
05:58a lot of the leaders of India Alliance
06:00have lost their elections
06:01and have lost their bases completely.
06:03So, I don't expect Mamata Banerjee
06:05having the institute
06:07or the organizational wherewithal
06:08to do a similar rally now in Kolkata.
06:11Similarly with Stalin,
06:13similarly with Arvind Kejriwal.
06:15So, a lot of the leaders
06:16and with Tejas P. Adav,
06:18a lot of these leaders
06:18have been cut to size
06:20because of the electoral losses.
06:22So, I believe that Rahul Gandhi
06:24has now become that de facto face
06:27of India Alliance,
06:28which the Congress Party was trying so hard
06:30and it was beating resistance
06:32from leaders like Nitish Kumar first
06:34and then from Mamata Banerjee
06:35and then from a bunch of other leaders.
06:37Now, he remains that de facto.
06:39Will he be the de jure leader of India Alliance?
06:42That needs to be seen
06:43because, you know,
06:44narrative, narrative,
06:45all of this drama is good.
06:46When the rubber hits the road,
06:48it is when you start asking
06:50for a pound of flesh
06:51from your Alliance partners.
06:52That is where the things
06:53get much more complicated.
06:55If you go with a demand of 170 seats
06:58from Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh,
07:01what do you expect
07:02Samajwadi Party is going to do?
07:03If an Imran Masood,
07:05I think that's where Imran,
07:06I forget his last name,
07:08if he is unleashed
07:09to daily bicker
07:11and comment against
07:12the Samajwadi Party leaders,
07:13there will be pushback.
07:15So, no, that is the more complex task.
07:17Narrative is one thing.
07:19Organization building
07:20is altogether different thing.
07:22You can still mobilize people
07:23because all you have to do
07:24is to speak about certain lies
07:25and then carry on a narrative.
07:26But how do you organize?
07:28That's the tough job.
07:29And I still believe
07:31that Congress Party
07:32does not want to do
07:33the hard work
07:34of organizational making.
07:35You know, having 10,000 people,
07:37you can effectively do
07:38Chakka Jam in Delhi, right?
07:39But that does not mean
07:40that you will,
07:41even when the elections of Delhi,
07:42even a simple,
07:43simple panchayat election
07:45of a neighboring state
07:46or a municipal election of Delhi,
07:48you won't do that.
07:49That will not happen
07:51because still you do not want
07:52to do the hard work
07:54of organization building.
07:55So, live with this
07:56and I believe BJP
07:57is very happy
07:58that this election issue
07:59can drag on
08:00for next three, four months.
08:01They are very comfortable
08:02in doing this
08:03counter-protest, protest.
08:05All of this is going to carry on.
08:06They are very happy through this
08:07because they can then rely
08:08on the organizational might
08:10and still win elections
08:11and let this Delhi,
08:13South Delhi-centric
08:14or Central Delhi-centric drama
08:16carry on.
08:17All right, okay.
08:18But not entirely South Delhi,
08:20but okay.
08:20So, while organization is big,
08:22there's also optics,
08:23there's also a play of chemistry.
08:25Some would think
08:26that this was also
08:27the launch of
08:27the Uttar Pradesh campaign
08:30for the India Alliance.
08:32I want to come back
08:33to Tavleen Singh on it.
08:34Tavleen Singh,
08:35what's also interesting
08:35is with what is happening
08:36on ground
08:37because,
08:38and it's amusing as well,
08:40because you have a government
08:41that has hit the streets
08:42in protest.
08:43Usually you only see that
08:44coming in from the opposition.
08:46Do you think
08:46that this is foresight?
08:48This is the BJP,
08:49you know,
08:50that's answering point by point
08:52to the opposition?
08:53Or is it the opposition
08:56this time building narrative
08:57and BJP catching up?
09:00For the first time,
09:02I said that earlier
09:03on another show,
09:05for the first time,
09:06I see the Modi government
09:07on the back foot.
09:09And I see these rallies
09:10as desperation.
09:12And I think most people
09:14would see them as desperation
09:16because the tone
09:18of the speeches
09:20shows that.
09:21There's a kind of menace
09:22in the way that,
09:23you know,
09:24that they're talking
09:25about Rahul Gandhi.
09:27I mean,
09:27they've made Rahul Gandhi
09:28a bigger leader
09:29in the past two or three days
09:31than anyone could have done
09:32because they've given him
09:33complete,
09:33they've just homed in on him
09:36to attack him.
09:36I'm no big fan
09:38of the dynasty,
09:38as you know,
09:39or of the Congress Party.
09:41But certainly,
09:42I would say to you
09:43that this is the first time
09:45that I see real pushback
09:47against the government.
09:49But, you know,
09:49Uttar Pradesh is when
09:50we'll find out.
09:54Well, you're right there,
09:55Uttar Pradesh is when
09:56we find out.
09:56And I just want to dip
09:57into the latest
09:58political battle
09:58from the macro picture
10:00of the protests
10:01taking place
10:01in the national capital,
10:03the micro picture,
10:04which is not quite really micro
10:05when you look at it
10:06on a larger scale.
10:06Let's listen in
10:07to these quick reactions
10:08on Uttar Pradesh
10:10because the battle
10:11will now be Uttar Pradesh.
10:12Listen in,
10:13and we are back
10:14with our panelists.
10:18Naujewaan
10:18Berojgaar
10:19Ho Gaya
10:21Logia
10:22Bhooko
10:23Mertwee
10:23Thay
10:23Aar
10:24Sabse
10:25Bada
10:25Khadiyan
10:26Ghotala
10:26Samajwadhi
10:27Party
10:27Ki
10:28Sarkar
10:28Ke
10:28Samaj
10:29Sik
10:29Gondha
10:29Me
10:29Hoa
10:30Tha
10:32Beno
10:33Baio
10:43Sarkar
10:45that when he came back he had always been
10:47not to be able to make it
10:49and we want to say that
10:51who are the people who come to UP
10:53came to
10:55they will UP
10:56and they will
11:00if they are good
11:02they will better
11:05and
11:09now
11:10we have
11:11a lot of people who have
11:15in 2017
11:17there will be such
11:19that the
11:21people who have not
11:22all right
11:23now the politics of protest for the
11:28india alliance especially need to go into
11:30the politics of electoral win
11:32now i know you are
11:34a votary that it doesn't matter whether you win an election
11:37but as an opposition if you are trying to build
11:39together a cohesive unit
11:40you are moving towards electoral wins
11:42and uttar pradesh
11:44is not really far off
11:45it's what less than three months counting
11:49see pretty i think
11:50before we go to the UP election
11:52the issue has to be settled whether
11:54the opposition would like to contest election
11:56if mr gyanish kumar is at the
11:58helm of the affair
12:00but they have said they are
12:01contesting
12:02no no
12:03let me answer this
12:06sure sorry
12:06if opposition is saying that mr gyanish kumar is a cheat
12:11and he should go to jail
12:13and still opposition decides to contest election
12:16then is it not
12:19that opposition
12:21is trying to reverse its own logic
12:24then who is going to believe them
12:26that for the last one year and so
12:27you are saying that the election commission is a cheat
12:30election commission is working for the benefit of the opposition
12:32of a benefit of the government
12:34and we are still contesting elections
12:36these two logics can't go together
12:38so i think before UP elections
12:41either the opposition decides to contest or not contest
12:44they have to take a call on this
12:46and the government has to take a call with them
12:48mr gyanish kumar continue as a
12:50as a chief election commissioner or not
12:52these the election
12:53the opposition contesting election
12:55and gyanish kumar helping at the
12:56and being at the helm of affair
12:58these two cannot go together
13:00that's that's a bottom line
13:01we've reached the crucible now
13:03at least where the opposition is concerned
13:04absolutely
13:05they don't find themselves
13:07in that moral space to contest an election
13:10yet criticize the system
13:12preeti i heard rahul gandhi very clearly
13:15mr gyanish kumar you will go to jail
13:18that means gyanish kumar has committed
13:21a crime and crime is what manipulation of elections
13:25for whom for the government and the bjp
13:28and if you're still contesting election
13:30when gyanish kumar is at the helm of the affair
13:32that means opposition has been lying all through
13:36okay
13:36so the credibility of the opposition is at stake today
13:39and the government also has to think about
13:41that whether the government
13:42whether the government and the bjp
13:43can afford to go for election
13:45when the opposition is not there
13:46so i think this issue has to be
13:48has to be settled first
13:50so you're saying you've one is reach that point
13:52because at least the congress is very clear
13:54that they will have to defeat the bjp
13:56or at least the think tank is such
13:58through the electoral process
13:59but you are saying that there is no electoral process
14:02if you're questioning the basic premise of it
14:03okay
14:05rajat see do you want to weigh in on this
14:06the situation is extremely fluid
14:08and anything can happen in the next few weeks
14:11all right okay
14:14rajat you want to weigh in on this
14:15how do we define anything can happen
14:17if anything is pointing to something like
14:21our neighboring countries
14:22and that is a wrong slippery slope
14:24because then you know
14:25there will be a whole counterweight of people
14:27hitting the streets
14:28and ensuring that none of that happens to our country
14:30but i agree with ashutosh to the extent
14:33either the congress party genuinely feels
14:36that it does not intellectually have
14:39basically aligned themselves
14:41see one thing is narrative
14:42and talking to the people
14:43all right
14:44but there's altogether different thing
14:45wherein you yourself
14:46are convinced with that logic
14:47wherein you genuinely feel
14:49just like a bnp
14:50a bangladesh nationalist party
14:51you just stay out of election
14:53just to say
14:53and make a prove a point
14:54that yes this is a farcical exercise
14:56i do not trust in that
14:57i said this even in the previous election
14:59this still carries on
15:00but the problem is not this
15:02the problem is that their alliance partner
15:04in up the principal alliance partner
15:05akhile shayadav
15:06does not agree with this
15:08he never ever is going to
15:10boycott the elections
15:11because he can smell victory
15:12he can still feel
15:14that till the point
15:15there is something
15:16which is not tangibly proven
15:17in a neutral court
15:19in a neutral arbiter
15:20not of anybody's choice
15:22till that time
15:23neither the bjp is going to yield
15:26to the point wherein a motion
15:27is admitted into the parliament
15:28nor should the constitutional head
15:30of a body
15:31like the election commission
15:32should resign just like that
15:33so this is not going to go away
15:35this
15:36so congress party does this
15:38primarily because this
15:39they think
15:39they honestly feel
15:40that this is one issue
15:41that they have got
15:42wherein they can hit the streets
15:43which is a flawed understanding
15:45of our quality
15:46there are many many important issues
15:48which congress does not
15:49give that much of importance
15:50primarily because they don't
15:51have the organizational strength
15:52so they've latched on to this
15:54they have anointed Mr Rahul Gandhi
15:56I think the bigger objective
15:57and take away for congress party
15:58is that let us somehow anoint him
16:00as the head of the India Alliance
16:02that seems to be settled
16:03but this bycotting and all
16:04you need to be
16:05you need to have some agreement within
16:07you can't fool yourself
16:08when you're watching yourself in the mirror
16:09you know okay you have a point there
16:10and Ashutosh she does have a point there
16:11and I want to bring in Tavleen Singh on it
16:12because it's an interesting
16:13you know thought Tavleen Singh
16:15because you're fighting against
16:17the electoral system in this country
16:19you're fighting against the
16:20chief election commissioner
16:21and yet you're preparing for elections
16:23in two months time
16:24it doesn't quite add up
16:27well I actually wrote about that
16:28in my column yesterday
16:29I said that if they have such little faith
16:31in the election commission
16:32they should boycott the elections
16:34but you see what I'm very worried about
16:38as somebody who really cares about democracy
16:40is that I don't want the whole world to think
16:44that the institutions of democracy in India
16:46are so defective
16:48and what the campaign of the past few months has done
16:53between the cockroaches and the congress party
16:56and you know just the people
16:59that they've managed to get onto the streets
17:00is create the impression
17:02that the institutions are not working
17:04that there's a sort of semi-dictatorship
17:07and that and there isn't
17:09look at us we're sitting here
17:10I mean you know and expressing our opinion
17:14I express my opinion every week
17:15and so far I haven't really found that we
17:18we have become a dictatorship yet
17:20but I think that all of these guys in the opposition
17:25must actually sit down and think about
17:28whether it's not their fault
17:29that parliament isn't functioning
17:31that the election commission is in trouble
17:35and you know the election commissioners
17:37themselves need to worry about
17:39how they have managed to create
17:41so much disrespect
17:44Okay fair point
17:45Ashutosh I have 20 seconds
17:47I know you want to interject
17:48I'll give 20 seconds to Rajat after that
17:50Go ahead Ashutosh
17:51No no I'm saying if tomorrow
17:53if opposition decides to boycott election
17:56that's their democratic right to exercise their protest
17:59and it is their right to delegitimize the government
18:03why they should be giving legitimacy to the government
18:05But they're not on the same page Ashutosh
18:07and it is a point that Rajat raised
18:08the Samajwadi party will never boycott elections
18:11Prithi let me put my argument
18:13I'm not a spokesperson of the Samajwadi party
18:16or the congress party
18:17what they are going to do is something else
18:18see the issue is very very simple
18:22if you have a serious doubts about electoral process
18:24how can you participate in that process
18:27issue number one
18:28it's very very clear in my mind
18:30second issue is
18:31that even if the opposition decides to boycott election
18:34it is their democratic right
18:36it's not disrespecting
18:37it's
18:38they are trying to bring back the respect and legitimacy
18:41Oh I didn't say that
18:42you misunderstood me
18:44I'm saying that the institutions
18:46are being disrespected
18:48they can both
18:49I think they
18:50if I was them I would boycott
18:52All right 20 seconds Rajat
18:54and I need to go into a break then
18:55Well I think this entire election thing has now come to a logical end
19:00I don't think momentum can be built up from here
19:03we are back to UP elections
19:04we are back to the other four state elections
19:06which are again very important
19:07and I believe the T equal to zero for initiating the campaigns
19:11has officially started
19:13and I believe from here onwards
19:14it's all going to be a heavy intense political season
19:17Thank you
19:18All right we will know in due time
19:20but I thank all three panelists for taking the time out
19:22and joining us this evening
19:23thank you so much