The Congress Conundrum

Rajya Sabha MP and senior Congress leader, Digvijaya Singh stirred a hornet’s nest once again by seeking proof of the surgical strikes conducted by the Narendra Modi-led government on a major terrorist camp in Balakot deep inside Pakistan in 2019. It may be recalled that on February 26, 2019, the Indian Air Force conducted surgical strikes on a terrorist camp run by the ISI-backed, radical Jihadist group, Jaish-e-Mohammed. This is not the first time that Congress has questioned the veracity or sought evidence of the surgical strikes carried out earlier on a terrorist camp at Uri and later in Balakot. Ironically, defense analysts across the world had confirmed that the surgical strikes had in fact, killed several terrorists being trained at the Balakot camp. However, the Congress’s stand of doubt and questioning, backfired in 2019, because the nation stood firmly behind the armed forces and the Modi government’s decision to hit Pakistan, where it hurt the most. If anything, the strike against the terrorist camp at Balakot bolstered the image of the Modi government as a strong one that was capable of inflicting damage on a neighboring rogue state, when needed. The general elections held in May 2019 effectively drove this point home. The Congress party seems to have shot itself in the foot once again through its motor mouth, Digvijay Singh, who not only stood by his statement but further questioned where the RDX for the terrorists who staged the attack on CRPF jawans at Pulwama in J & K, had come from. He said that no proof had been produced in the parliament, by way of any document and that the Modi government was spreading lies. Digvijay Singh’s statement saw Congress scrambling for damage control. His colleague in the Rajya Sabha, Jairam Ramesh, who has also been accompanying Rahul Gandhi on his Bharat Jodo Yatra, tweeted to say that Singh’s view was his own and did not reflect the party’s stand. The damage, however, seems to have been done, because this has been the pattern with Congress’s stance on such matters, notably, surgical strikes. While one leader raises questions, another claims the views are his own. The BJP was quick to hit back at the Congress, saying that it had insulted the armed forces and brave soldiers, as it had done in the past. It said that Congress is not only raising questions on the valor of our defense forces but that it does not trust the people who protect us. The BJP also said that Digvijay Singh had no patriotism left in him and that he is echoing Pakistan’s narrative. It would be worth pointing out that while Pakistan smarted privately under the humiliation and devastating impact of the surgical strikes carried out on the terrorist camp at Balakot in February 2019, it had never publicly acknowledged them. Pakistan denied that any such strike had taken place. Isn’t Digvijay Singh echoing similar thoughts? The Congress is not short of loose cannons like Digvijay Singh who harm the party’s interests more than anything else through their thoughtless statements. What we see repeatedly through their words and actions beginning with Rahul Gandhi is an expression of frustration at the loss of power not only at the Centre but in states across India. Its tragedy is that it is saddled with one too many albatrosses around its frail neck. With lieutenants like Digvijay Singh, Rahul Gandhi has a mountain to climb in 2024, since he is being projected as the party’s answer to Narendra Modi. Hatred for Modi and everything he does, cannot be a template to win an election, and by now they should have learned this lesson.