In cricket there is a term called ‘sitter’. According to Cricinfo, it is “the easiest, most innocuous and undroppable catch that a fielder can ever receive.” The website further says: “To drop one of these is to invite a whole world of pain from the crowd and constant embarrassment from the giant replay screen.”
Consider the BJP currently at the batting crease, and the Congress fielding in the opposition. The entrenched BJP recently had a series of weak political moments. An opposition with its eyes and ears open could have taken these easy catches, dismissing some of the government’s political capital. Sadly, the Congress wasted an entire over of sitters.
Here are the six easy catches Congress dropped, mainly due to not having its act together. Sure, some Congress spokespersons did comment. However, responses from their leader Rahul Gandhi (already suffering from low credibility) were delayed, muted, or not pointed enough.
One, Gorakhpur. In a ghastly tragedy, more than 50 little children died in a Gorakhpur hospital in 48 hours due to lack of oxygen. Essentially, it was a case of pure mismanagement in the constituency of one of BJP’s most high-profile CMs. The Congress narrative should have been this: while policy change is happening at the top, the government is unable to govern at the ground level to the point of killing our kids. Instead, there was utter confusion in the Congress on who said what. Catch one dropped.
Two, demonetisation. The data from RBI came late, which itself raised eyebrows. Of course, the data was shocking. It said 99% of the old cash was deposited in the banks. Whatever other benefits DeMo may have brought, this one data item had the ability to make the government go as purple-faced as the new 2,000-rupee note. The Congress narrative needed to be how the “black-moneyed rich got away under the government’s watch”. Instead, we had references to a polite, old Manmohan Singh article opposing demonetisation. Really guys? Catch two dropped.
Three, GST. Yes, GST is supposed to be amazing and one day it will make India rise further. However, the current GST is not a true GST yet. There are at least half a dozen different tax rates. These are all arbitrarily assigned by the government, going against the very grain of GST, which aims to reduce government interference in such rates. The current GST is also too high with the most common rate of 18% (didn’t we have service tax at 10% just five years ago?). Many businesses have suffered. Many end-consumers are paying more in the post-GST era, with no immediate tangible benefits. The Congress could have jumped on this. They could have called the high GST a burden on the common man. Perhaps it’s too busy filing its own GST returns. Catch three lost as well!
Four, economic slowdown. Perhaps as a result of DeMo, GST or cyclical reasons, the economy has slowed down since last year. While the common man may not understand this, creating a media narrative of the BJP unable to deliver on economic growth could have hurt the government’s image. Of course, communicating this well requires a finesse that’s lacking in the Congress. Alas, catch four also spilled.
Five, the Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh riots. A criminal godman patronised by government? Check. Mayhem on streets? Check. National visibility? Check. What did the Congress do? It reacted late, and at junior levels. A chance to show BJP’s reluctance to deal with all things God-related even if it meant lawlessness was lost.
Six, Gauri Lankesh’s deplorable murder. We still don’t know the people and the motive behind it. However, it does seem to be connected to her work as a journalist, which included anti-rightwing writings. One can’t accuse the government of the murder. However, one can paint a picture of an environment of fear where nobody is safe, especially if they speak against the government. Instead, the Congress state government in Karnataka played 21-gun salute politics. This backfired, and the easy catch became a six.
In fact, at the time of writing this, the BJP seems to have lobbed another bonus sitter. Quite bizarrely, it has sued historian Ramachandra Guha for defaming the RSS and BJP. The act of suing has become bigger news than the article in question. It’s an easy one — scream hard that the BJP is intimidating its critics. Given the Congress’ fielding record, chances are even this sitter will be dropped.
Meanwhile, BJP opponents in the stands (read social media) are frustrated. They vent hard, even though it doesn’t change anything on the pitch. Hope they realise this. Until something changes in the fielding, nobody is going to catch those sitters.
Consider the BJP currently at the batting crease, and the Congress fielding in the opposition. The entrenched BJP recently had a series of weak political moments. An opposition with its eyes and ears open could have taken these easy catches, dismissing some of the government’s political capital. Sadly, the Congress wasted an entire over of sitters.
Here are the six easy catches Congress dropped, mainly due to not having its act together. Sure, some Congress spokespersons did comment. However, responses from their leader Rahul Gandhi (already suffering from low credibility) were delayed, muted, or not pointed enough.
One, Gorakhpur. In a ghastly tragedy, more than 50 little children died in a Gorakhpur hospital in 48 hours due to lack of oxygen. Essentially, it was a case of pure mismanagement in the constituency of one of BJP’s most high-profile CMs. The Congress narrative should have been this: while policy change is happening at the top, the government is unable to govern at the ground level to the point of killing our kids. Instead, there was utter confusion in the Congress on who said what. Catch one dropped.
Two, demonetisation. The data from RBI came late, which itself raised eyebrows. Of course, the data was shocking. It said 99% of the old cash was deposited in the banks. Whatever other benefits DeMo may have brought, this one data item had the ability to make the government go as purple-faced as the new 2,000-rupee note. The Congress narrative needed to be how the “black-moneyed rich got away under the government’s watch”. Instead, we had references to a polite, old Manmohan Singh article opposing demonetisation. Really guys? Catch two dropped.
Three, GST. Yes, GST is supposed to be amazing and one day it will make India rise further. However, the current GST is not a true GST yet. There are at least half a dozen different tax rates. These are all arbitrarily assigned by the government, going against the very grain of GST, which aims to reduce government interference in such rates. The current GST is also too high with the most common rate of 18% (didn’t we have service tax at 10% just five years ago?). Many businesses have suffered. Many end-consumers are paying more in the post-GST era, with no immediate tangible benefits. The Congress could have jumped on this. They could have called the high GST a burden on the common man. Perhaps it’s too busy filing its own GST returns. Catch three lost as well!
Four, economic slowdown. Perhaps as a result of DeMo, GST or cyclical reasons, the economy has slowed down since last year. While the common man may not understand this, creating a media narrative of the BJP unable to deliver on economic growth could have hurt the government’s image. Of course, communicating this well requires a finesse that’s lacking in the Congress. Alas, catch four also spilled.
Five, the Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh riots. A criminal godman patronised by government? Check. Mayhem on streets? Check. National visibility? Check. What did the Congress do? It reacted late, and at junior levels. A chance to show BJP’s reluctance to deal with all things God-related even if it meant lawlessness was lost.
Six, Gauri Lankesh’s deplorable murder. We still don’t know the people and the motive behind it. However, it does seem to be connected to her work as a journalist, which included anti-rightwing writings. One can’t accuse the government of the murder. However, one can paint a picture of an environment of fear where nobody is safe, especially if they speak against the government. Instead, the Congress state government in Karnataka played 21-gun salute politics. This backfired, and the easy catch became a six.
In fact, at the time of writing this, the BJP seems to have lobbed another bonus sitter. Quite bizarrely, it has sued historian Ramachandra Guha for defaming the RSS and BJP. The act of suing has become bigger news than the article in question. It’s an easy one — scream hard that the BJP is intimidating its critics. Given the Congress’ fielding record, chances are even this sitter will be dropped.
Meanwhile, BJP opponents in the stands (read social media) are frustrated. They vent hard, even though it doesn’t change anything on the pitch. Hope they realise this. Until something changes in the fielding, nobody is going to catch those sitters.