Congress has always played the game that the British played in their colonies, that of divide and rule.
We have mentioned earlier (
here,
here,
here and
here) that the idea of a Super-Wise Lokpal is somewhat dubious. It smacks of the same Mohandasism that has brought us into this mess.
However, the Congress does not want an effective Lokpal for a different reason. The Congress does not want an end to Corruption! How could it? For that matter, why would any Corrupt group want an end to a Corrupt System, especially when it itself is the biggest beneficiary? Recall the old adage: Never ask a barber whether you need a haircut.
Notwithstanding the differences between team Anna and team Baba, and further ignoring the immensely dangerous, Mohandasian tendencies in both of these; we can still concede that these individuals, both separately and jointly have inspired the imagination of the masses of an India free from Corruption.
However, instead of listening to this essential message, the Congress, like a clerk who is clever by half, indulges in vain and futile attempts to discredit these two teams. What the Congress fails to see is that the people do not look upon team Anna or team Baba as ideal, to be more precise, not everyone who is attached to the movement necessarily holds either or both of these two individuals as ideal. But people, by and large, do find these two as convenient and effective rallying points.
Look at the developments:
1. Anna declared fast for the Lokpal Bill, Ramdev supported the fast, the government bowed to pressure, conceded forming a joint committee.
2. Baba expressed some reservation about the father-son duo being in the committee, the Congress jumped onto the opportunity, and started wooing Baba.
3. Baba demanded retrieval of Black money stashed in foreign havens, and the Congress found itself into a soup. Then the secondary game of Congress began:
3.1 One rabid dog, started calling Baba names.
3.2 One loyal dog, expressed desire to negotiate with Baba.
3.3 Various loyal dogs, kept giving diverse views, creating confusion.
Please note, that the Congress always creates confusion by creating multiple mouthpieces expressing diverse opinions, so that no one knows the official view of the Congress. The official spokes persons of the Congress, will keep reiterating null-comments like the actors in a serial directed by Ekta Kapoor. Typical statements being, we are deliberating, we have left it to the high-command, we have requested the high command and it is looking after deciding the next move and usually the next move is to appoint an individual who will look after forming a committee which will look after ..., and so on. In short, they buy time.
a. In the mean time the crisis either blows over, or the crisis happens.
b. Somebody is usually bribed to become a scape goat.
c. If the crisis gets resolved successfully, of course the high-command is credited with the success.
d. If there is failure, the whole congress (often including the scape goat) cries in unison that the blame does not belong to the high-command.
Coming back to the present crisis:
3.4 Some scape goat will be found. (Never mind the initial denials! Also recall that a word was being spread that there are differences between the Congress Party and the UPA government)
3.5 Some non-committal remarks have been made (in this case they are outrageous, but how can a Congress-person like Manmohan do better?) viz., it is unfortunate but it was inevitable.
3.6 Finally Soniya, will make some heads roll, go and meet Mrs. Rajbala (the woman who is lying paralyzed), and play the giant statesman!
3.7 The dogs will stop barking claiming that they are of extremely disciplined breed and never defy the high-command.
4. In the meantime, since team Baba episode seems over, the Congress is concentrating on badmouthing team Anna, so the rabid and loyal dogs have started barking. Some similar sequence will pan out.
4.1 For example, one dog will say that Anna must be arrested while another will go to garland Anna before he is arrested. Further, this dog (and/or many other dogs) might even touch Anna's feet, claiming that they are respecting and old man who is striving to follows the ideals of Mohandas (phew Mohandas!), while another dog calls Anna fascist!
4.2 In the mean time if page three crowd joins team Anna in large numbers, Manmohan or Soniya will intervene and make some concession (of zero significance) to Anna. For example, Anna may be invited for a cup of tea in the Prime Minister's residence and so on.
The Congress has played this game time and again so many times that we wonder why it is not obvious to many. For example, we are appalled when activists (like teams Anna and Baba), other political parties (like the Communists and the BJP) and most importantly the news anchors fail to corner them! The incompetence is so incomprehensible that we surmise that most of these are sold out to the Congress.
However as we have said elsewhere: The Congress does not deserve negotiation, rather the Congress deserves decimation and extermination.
Our sincere request to the voters is that during elections they should feel free to accept bribes (cash or kind) from the candidates, however the voters must vote against the one who bribes them. So the motto is: Take money and vote against the one who gave money. If more than one persons offer money, vote for the one who offered the least!
Of course, those who have the necessary resolve to fight and expose such candidates so that their candidature is cancelled must surely do exactly that. However, those who are vulnerable (physically vulnerable to violence in view of our corrupt system) could exercise the strategy mentioned in the previous paragraph.
Dialog is the first option, but it is never the last resort. Violence is never the first option, but it surely one of the last resorts. So any government when it pushes people towards the last resort, it gets what it wanted!