Race to the bottom

Opposition has matched BJP in spewing venom

Each national election leaves its own legacy. The last one in 2014, for instance, was marked by a vigorous debate about how to bring about “vikas” or development in the country. However, the election campaigning that is underway has offered nothing but venom and vitriol, pushing the country several steps down on the ladder of civil discourse in a democracy. Amid the barrage of irresponsible utterances, very little attention is being given to the core economic and social issues that afflict India. The Election Commission has hauled up a few politicians, but that has hardly discouraged others from making malicious personal attacks, often unfounded and intended to mislead the electorate. All political parties seem to be united in this: While several key leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party have been justly criticised for this, Opposition leaders have hardly distinguished themselves. 

For instance, in January, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee refused to allow BJP President Amit Shah’s helicopter to land for a key election rally in Malda. Surely this was preventing a fair election, and she should have been censured by the Election Commission. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is frequently accused of being autocratic, but Ms Banerjee’s conduct puts her in a league of her own. Another recent example of this is the case of a girl being sent to two weeks’ judicial custody after she displayed a morphed  picture of Ms Banerjee on her Facebook wall. She has been given bail but the Supreme Court asked her to apologise. But Ms Banerjee is not the only Opposition leader guilty of such excesses. The BSP’s Mayawati’s reference to Mr Modi and the BJP women being nervous about their husbands meeting Mr Modi are full of innuendo, and completely out of order. Similarly, Trinamool Congress Spokesperson Derek O’Brien calling Mr Shah a “low life” is yet another example of arrogance, and suggests that Opposition politicians think that they can say anything about Mr Modi (and Mr Shah), who has already listed more than 50 terms of abuse that have been hurled at him over the years — including Congress President Rahul Gandhi continuing to call him a thief on the basis of no evidence.

Indeed, the Congress has likened the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the BJP’s ideological parent, to the Islamic State — another statement that is clearly over the top. Senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has added his two bits: He has justified his 2017 “neech aadmi” remark against Mr Modi and called him the most “foul-mouthed” prime minister India has ever seen. Even political newbies such as Kamal Haasan have given a poor account of themselves by saying Nathuram Godse, who shot and killed Mahatma Gandhi, was a “terrorist”. Surely he should know the difference between an assassin and a terrorist. This has been a sorry election in terms of how low the level of debate, if it can be called such, has sunk. Mr Modi has made his own contribution to this — while also providing for levity with his dreamy comments about cloud cover for the Balakot strike, taking digital photos in the 1980s, and so on. But the Opposition should know that it is as responsible as the BJP.