With their claims and counterclaims, the BJP and the Congress have turned the Rafale issue into a perception battle.
THE RAFALE ISSUE has been kept on the boil with a string of allegations about the 059,000-crore deal. Over the past few days, the Narendra Modi government has been furiously firefighting to debunk each allegation.
The jury is still out on whether the charges will stick, legally or politically. But what is striking is the ferocity with which Congress president Rahul Gandhi is building up the issue ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
In politics, it is perception that matters. The Narendra Modi government claims that it is fighting the perception battle. Both sides—the BJP and the Congress—have been trying to outdo each other in hurling corruption allegations. This means the Lok Sabha elections will be bitterly fought, with the Congress building a narrative around its mantra chowkidar chor hai (the guard is a thief), and the BJP painting the Gandhi family as the country’s bane.
The Congress’s strategy is to step up the pressure till Rafale becomes a Bofors moment for the Modi government. The government, in turn, has been trying to strengthen the cases against the Gandhi family. Investigating agencies recently summoned Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi’s husband, Robert Vadra, and his mother for questioning. Also, the purported revelations by Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the scrapped AgustaWestland chopper deal, are likely to be made public as part of the charge-sheet, which may again be used to show the Gandhis in a bad light.
Denne historien er fra February 24, 2019-utgaven av THE WEEK.
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Denne historien er fra February 24, 2019-utgaven av THE WEEK.
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William Dalrymple goes further back
Indian readers have long known William Dalrymple as the chronicler nonpareil of India in the early years of the British raj. His latest book, The Golden Road, is a striking departure, since it takes him to a period from about the third century BC to the 12th-13th centuries CE.
The bleat from the street
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Courage and conviction
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EPIC ENTERPRISE
Gowri Ramnarayan's translation of Ponniyin Selvan brings a fresh perspective to her grandfather's magnum opus
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RECRUITERS SPEAK
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MORAL COMPASS
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COURSE CORRECTION
India's best b-schools are navigating tumultuous times. Hurdles include lower salaries offered to their graduates and students misusing AI
