Rahul Gandhi's 'quake' to attack Modi on corruption could be a political hurricane

Last week, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi had promised an earthquake in Parliament when he was given a chance to have his say in the House. His statement on Wednesday accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of corruption may not have sent Richter scale soaring, but it is clearly the most audacious political gamble by him.

Having hit out at the PM, it is now incumbent that the Congress VP provide credible evidence to support his allegations - else he will suffer an irreversible loss of credibility.

With his frontal attack on the prime minister, Rahul has not only raised the stakes, but also forced the government and the BJP to re-evaluate their parliamentary strategy. If the treasury benches continue to thwart the Congress leader's attempt to say his piece in Parliament, they will lend credence to his claims that he is being prevented from speaking in the House because the government and the PM have something to fear.

If they decide to allow the Lok Sabha to function and Rahul Gandhi to speak, they fear it will give the Congress vice president an opportunity to make his charges a part of the parliamentary records.

By insisting on revealing the details of his allegations in Parliament and not outside, Rahul Gandhi's political managers want to take advantage of the parliamentary immunity that MPs enjoy - it ensures they are not sued for defamation for whatever they say on the floor of the House. It is perhaps one of the reasons why Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has used the floor of the Assembly to make allegations against the prime minister.

However, Rahul Gandhi's strategy has a downside to it. The prime minister enjoys a clean image when it comes to corruption and even those who oppose Mr Modi's brand of politics concede that his credibility is high when it comes to matters of financial probity. The failure to substantiate his charges against the PM will leave the Congress president open to ridicule.

However, if he does follow up on his threat and emerges with proof to support his claims, Rahul Gandhi will have made a huge dent in the prime minister's seemingly incorruptible image.

Watch - Rahul Gandhi: 'Modi personally involved in corruption, terrified with information I have'