What explains BJP’s Priyanka Gandhi gambit?

The letter to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, asking her to move out of her Lodhi Estate bungalow, could be seen as a diversion from the difficulties the government is facing on the China and Covid-19 fronts

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was asked to vacate her large 35, Lodhi Estate bungalow by the Central government on Wednesday. The move was not completely unexpected, but given her status, it was bound to generate political heat. And it has.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) faithful will, no doubt, be expected to marvel at the audacity of it. They are supposed to note how once again the BJP has exposed and acted against the family that has allegedly milked the country dry with their entitled ways. Do we hear cheering in the background?

Now, mind you, this is no defence of Priyanka Gandhi. For the younger Gandhi scion cannot easily be counted among ‘victims’ given the stories of her husband Robert Vadra's lavish lifestyle and their rumoured wealth. She could have saved herself the embarrassment had she shifted out of the government accommodation after the Special Protection Group (SPG) cover to the Gandhi family was withdrawn late last year.

Now buzz has it that she is almost packed to move to Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow where she will occupy her great-grandaunt Sheila Kaul’s old house. It seems like the BJP was one step ahead of her, trying to make her entry into UP look disgraceful rather than giving her the chance to milk the homecoming.

All this might look like political jousting and perhaps we could have let it go at that, but the timing of the current incident deserves closer examination. Here’s why: The BJP’s top leadership is by now close to perfecting a politics of baiting voters with an ‘enemy’ who must be vanquished by Narendra Modi. And as the border confrontation with China heats up and the Covid-19 situation shows little sign of improving in the short run, what better diversion can there be than pulling out an old phantom and giving it a good thrashing? After all, Priyanka Gandhi is not going to get any public sympathy for being thrown out of a sprawling Lutyens' bungalow, practically being paid for with taxpayer money.

For the BJP leadership, a domestic enemy — in this case, the Gandhis, — is much easier to handle than an unpredictable external one like China. And there are very real and damaging consequences to allowing the public to demand a pound of the ‘real enemy’s’ flesh. It is easier to throw a punch at Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and be praised for it. The public’s appetite for muscular action is at once satiated. Notice also that Priyanka’s eviction notice comes just a day after the banning of 59 Chinese apps, a move that was also aimed at sending out the signal that this is a tough government.

Returning to the Gandhis, the letter to Priyanka Gandhi also serves another function, namely, that of sending a strong signal to all the three members of the Gandhi family that they cannot hope to shape the narrative on China. Both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi have been rather vocal about the government’s mismanagement of the border situation with China over the past few weeks.

Over the years Modi and Shah have created a constituency of supporters by conjuring up enemies whom they alone can fight and dismantle. Their anti-Muslim rhetoric is rooted in this mode. This is also the template they used to great effect in the 2014 and 2019 elections when the Gandhis were targeted time and again. It’s been the Congress’ singular failure that it has not been able to counter this narrative. This is, in part — a big part — because it is primarily a dynastic operation and has nothing to offer as defence against this charge.

Also Read: Will it help Congress if Priyanka Gandhi moves to Uttar Pradesh?

By now the BJP has created many such fronts on which the enemy can be fought: There are battles to be waged against ‘urban naxals’ , the ‘tukde-tukde gang’ and more recently ‘anti-CAA activists’, many of whom have been arrested under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act that is intended for use against terrorists.

The cult of personality around Modi makes it much harder than usual to examine the BJP leadership’s actions closely. But it must be done if we have to rescue ourselves from the fable of victimisation that has been sold to us over and over again.