Indian ruling party put all its bets on more pro-market measures

India’s Congress party yesterday put all its bets on more pro-market measures, wooing Wal-Mart as a pivot for the farmers’ welfare and seeking the opposition’s support for its unalloyed capitalist trajectory on the grounds that it had stood by the opposition during the Kargil war with Pakistan.

The party stance was made clear at a massive rally in Delhi yesterday, evidently organised to signal Rahul Gandhi’s anointment as captain of a battered ship.

Inevitably, the Kargil comment by Rahul Gandhi turned into a sparring match with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which had used the heavily televised battle to extract a wafer-thin electoral victory in 1999.

“We were also in the Opposition. Then the Kargil war happened. We were all together. Congress stands together in the interest of the country whether we are in government or not. They (the BJP) oppose without any thought. They are engaged only in opposing without giving a thought to anything,” the Congress scion told a milling crowd of supporters at the historic Ramlila Grounds.

Gandhi was unhappy that the opposition had slammed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s policy to woo foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail. The prime minister and Congress president Sonia Gandhi defended the government’s pro-market policies, usually seen as a politically costly venture.

General elections are due in April 2014 but several state polls will show the trend before that.

The opposition-ruled Himachal Pradesh went to polls on Sunday with a record voter turnout of 74.62 per cent. Gujarat state elections are due next month.

Responding to Gandhi’s comment on Kargil, the BJP hit back saying the Congress had not obliged anyone as it was the duty of every patriotic Indian to support the armed forces at that crucial juncture.

“Did they (Congress) oblige the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) by supporting us in Kargil war. That is the duty of every patriotic citizen to support the country’s armed forces and the government at the time of a war,” BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi told reporters when asked about Gandhi’s comments.

The rightwing Shiv Sena too slammed Gandhi for his comments. “If Rahul does not understand the difference between Kargil and FDI in retail, he has no right to be in politics,” said Shiv Sena spokesman Sanjay Raut.

“Rahul is not only bachcha (novice) in politics but also kachcha (immature),” he said.

“Kargil was a war inflicted on the country by Pakistan. It was the duty of all to sink political differences and be united against enemy aggression. Congress did not do a favour by supporting the then government. Had Congress been in power during that time the NDA would have also supported the government,” Raut said.

Rahul’s “friends” like Wal-Mart were eager to enter Indian markets for their benefit, Raut alleged.

“(We) will not allow this to happen and opposition to FDI in retail will continue,” he added.