Modi effect: How Parliament became a dhobi ghat

Today should be a moment of pride for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. History will remember this as the day when he actually “Modi”fied Indian political vocabulary. What Parliament witnessed on August 12, 2015 was the culmination of a “practice” the former Gujarat CM introduced to political warfare since the day he was declared as BJP’s prime ministerial candidate. He sensed that “corruption” is the word which can attract or distract every Indian voter. So he presented himself as a crusader against corruption, and throughout his prime ministerial campaign left no opportunity to paint the Congress party and Gandhi family as the epitome of corruption. In this process, he was never shy of hitting below the belt, often referring to the controversial son-in-law of the family.

Of course, the game was perhaps started by Sonia Gandhi who had once called the then Gujarat CM a “maut ka saudagar” but she was quick to learn from her mistake and, thereafter, mostly played by the rule book. Modi continued with his weapon of selective destruction and won the battle for Delhi, by a wide margin.

But his victory earned him the most unlikely disciple—the general from the team he decimated. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, after his 56-day-long hibernation returned with a new-found wisdom — if you have to be heard in India, speak the language Modi invented. So he wiped out “bee hive” from his dictionary and replaced it with “suit boot”. The returns were overwhelming as he earned his first political victory by forcing giant Modi to concede defeat on the land bill.

The taste of success is addictive. Rahul perhaps did not expect that external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj will hit back after his query on her bank accounts. Sushma’s counter attack opened the floodgates as another BJP MP wondered about the wealth of Rahul’s “mausi”. The consequence was something the Congress vice-president had not bargained for — his mother had to run to the well of the House to protest against such direct attack against the “Family” for the first time in Parliament. Rahul must have known he has not yet finished internship in a game where his opponents are masters.

Yet he is not ready to give up and these sentences will perhaps change the course of Indian politics forever: “Yesterday, Sushmaji held my hand and asked why I was angry with her. I told her I respect her. I looked her in the eyes and said I am speaking the truth. She did not say anything and only lowered her eyes.”

Personal conversations between rival leaders were never used as political tool in Indian politics. This is a first and if it doesn’t stop here, Parliament will become a dhobi ghat soon, if it has not turned into one yet.

But one thing is sure. Modi has changed politics forever.