oppn parties Congress: Silence Is Not Golden

News Snippets

  • India will fast-track deployment of 52 defence surveillance satellites
  • In a first, Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai helps patients draw up living will
  • Calcutta HC says that an arrest warrant cannot be issued against an accused who is on anticipatory bail, and if that person is arrested, he or she must be released as per the conditions of the anticipatory bail
  • Monsoon covers entire India 9 days ahead of schedule
  • Maharashtra government scraps order making Hindi the 3rd language in state schools after protests by civil society and opposition
  • A government report says that 64.3% of the population is now under the social security net, up from only 22% in 2016
  • The finance ministry has asked PSB to look at ways to monetise their investment in subsidiaries, by listing them on the stock exchanges
  • After auditor flags overlimit expenses, Karnataka Bank MD & CEO S Hari Hara Sarma and ED Sekhar Rao resign
  • Rosneft likely to sell its stake in Nayara Energy to RIL
  • Ola junks commission-based income model, opts for a daily flat fee from drivers with the hope of attracting more drivers to its platform
  • Torrent Pharma will acquire a controlling stake in JB Chem for Rs 18000cr by buying 46.4% from US fund KKR and another 26% from the public by making an open offer
  • Speculation persists over Jasprit Bumrah making the playing 11 in the second Test against England starting July 2
  • FIH Pro hockey: Indian women slump to their 8th successive loss as they lose to China 2-3
  • US Open BWF Super 300 badminaton: Ayush Shetty wins his first BWF world title by beating Canadian Brian Young 21-18,21-13 but Tanvi Sharma lost in the finals to Beiwwwan Zhang 11-21, 21-16, 10-21
  • R Praggananda wins Tashkent meet, become number 1 chess player in India with FIDE rating of 2799
The SIT formed to probe law college gang-rape in Kolkata has collected the hockey stick used to hit the victim and other rape evidence from the coolege campus /////// Rath Yatra stampede in Puri kills 3
oppn parties
Congress: Silence Is Not Golden

By Linus Garg
First publised on 2019-06-01 22:29:27

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
The Congress party is to undertake a self-imposed “maun vrat” for one month. It has decided not to send representatives to TV channels to participate in debates. But since it does not have faith in its leaders who are likely to jump at the free publicity afforded by an appearance on TV, it has written to the TV channels not to invite anyone from the Congress for their shows.

What should one make out of this decision? Is it because the Congress thinks it will have to face questions to which it does not have answers – at least for now – that it has decided to avoid the channels? Or is it that the party is thinking of changing its spokespersons as it thinks that those representing it now have not performed well? Or is it because the party is in the doldrums as Rahul Gandhi has resigned and is in no mood to relent and a new president or a presidium is not in place? Or is it because the party realizes that after the massive BJP win, the channels are likely to give it very little space?

Whatever the reason, playing dumb is never a good option for a political party in a democracy. Since the Congress thinks it represents the views of a large cross-section of Indians, it is imperative that it participates in debates and put forward its views. Otherwise, the BJP is likely to use the vacuum to spread its message without any opposition. The Congress must formulate a strategy for this and resume debating on issues of public and national importance as soon as possible. It has a huge fight ahead and staying mum is not going to help.