In a 2019 post-Lok Sabha results postmortem, many party insiders acknowledged that the Congress had fared poorly because it could not counter the nationalism high and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “superman” image projected by the BJP after the Pulwama attack and Balakot airstrikes.
Since then, the Congress has tried to follow a conscious policy, which is not to be seen on the wrong side of the nationalism debate. While the party feels the government must be questioned on the Chinese intrusions and Pakistan meddling, it has to be done in a nuanced way where the armed forces are fiercely supported and only the government is questioned. In fact, Rahul Gandhi and many others in his party have said the “government’s weak foreign policy was hurting the armed forces”. The idea was also to ensure that nowhere during polls should the narrative backfire.
But the party seems to have not learnt its lessons. While initially it kept mum after the controversy broke over actor Richa Chadha’s Galwan tweet that seemingly mocked the armed forces, all restraint was forgotten once actor Akshay Kumar criticised the Gangs of Wasseypur star. Led by social media head Supriya Shrinate, most of the Congress pounced on Akshay Kumar online, mocking him and his association with the PM. This gave enough ammunition to the Bharatiya Janata Party to once again attack Congress for being anti-armed forces.
What makes it worse is that all this is in the midst of the polls in Gujarat, which is also a border state and has many people from the armed forces. In fact, now there is evidence being brought out by the BJP that Richa Chadha was supporting the Bharat Jodo Yatra, and hence her views were in sync with the views of the party. To make it worse, vice president of the Maharashtra unit of Congress Nagma Morarji supported Richa Chadha. But she had to apologise when it was clear to the party that this would boomerang. Nagma incidentally is one of the campaigners for the party in the Gujarat polls.
Though the number of Gujaratis in the armed forces is not too high, it’s a state that almost like Punjab is vulnerable as it shares a border with Pakistan. Hence, Congress’s tacit support to Richa Chadha could hit the perception of the party once again. It’s not just Gujarat, the bigger impact could be on the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as the BJP will be quick to corner the Congress and Rahul Gandhi over this. Richa may have apologised but the Congress silence will only end up hurting the party once again.
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