Political Rot

In politics, especially in India, an axiomatic truth is that there is no permanent enemy or permanent friend.

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Hence, it is only natural to expect strange bedfellows when it comes to forming political alliances and more so when stakes are high where spoils of offices are to be shared by hook or by crook. In such situations so-called political ideologies are thrown to the wind and sworn enemies embrace one another as friends for benefit. India has experienced the phenomenon at such nauseating regularity that it has ceased to cause any surprise. But what happened recently in two municipal areas of Ambernath and Arkot in Maharashtra can be termed as political opportunism of the worst variety as sworn enemies — BJP, Congress and AIMIM — buried the hatchet, threw away all scruples and joined hands to form the two municipalities and share power.

It was the height of opportunism when BJP units tied up with the Congress at Ambernath in Thane and the AIMIM at Akot in Akola to gain majority control in the two local bodies following the municipal elections last month. One may view the development as a small aberration in some faraway local bodies and may even discard the event as too insignificant, but the die has been cast. The claim of an “ideological battle” as Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has been saying or “Congress Mukt Bharat” as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been personally repeating for over a decade now, not only ring hollow but represent a naked alliance of opportunism that is obviously accepted and blessed by both these top leaders.