SWEEPING UP THE REMAINS

The Opposition does not inspire too much faith at the moment, with a majority of MOTN respondents unconvinced about their intent

- KAUSHIK DEKA

On August 5, when top Congress leaders thronged the streets of the national capital wearing black to protest unemployment and the skyrocketing prices of goods, it should have logically had the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre worried. After all, the principal opposition party was raising twin issues that everyone agrees are the two biggest failures of the Modi government, according to India Today's Mood of the Nation (MOTN) 2022 survey. Official recognition of the fact came the same day as the Reserve Bank of India admitted that inflation "persisted above the upper tolerance band".

Like most other nations, India too has been bearing the brunt of global political and economic developments the Russia-Ukraine war and rising crude oil prices. The country's foreign reserves are depleting, and the rupee has hit record lows against the dollar. Under the circumstances, the ruling BJP should have been running for cover, desperately defending their performance as the country's top Opposition leaders squatted on the streets of Delhi and demanded answers.

Instead, by evening, the Congress leaders were busy justifying the agitation against price rise and unemployment. The ruling BJP alleged it was a party ploy to divert attention from the ongoing investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her Lok Sabha MP son Rahul Gandhi on charges of money laundering for transactions involving the Congress party, the Associated Journals Ltd, a public company set up by India's first prime minister, the late Jawaharlal Nehru, and Young Indian, a private unlisted company where the mother-son duo are directors.