Thread by @pratimbose

There is a saying in Bengali which means the house owner starts taking precautions once the robbery is over. For last three weeks @RahulGandhi became a poster boy of #Pakistan by his immature acts on #Kashmir issue. The realization now dawns that he must change track. 1/n

https://twitter.com/RahulGandhi/status/1166556113715810304

It is not known what prompted #RahulGandhi 2 try visiting #Kashmir last week, knowing fully well that the #Modi government got moral/legal sanction from the Supreme Court 2 take all preventive measures 2 stop blood spill and, that Gandhi would be returned like other leaders. 2/n

One may see the shadow of #Wayanad in #RahulGandhi's desperation but, to me his acts only helped the politically irrelevant #Left to stay in news. Left has a history of opposing Congress in States while joining hands hands in d Centre. #Congress's gains were short term. 3/n

The politics of the past 3 decades reduced #Congress from a trend setter to a follower, where it grabbed power at the mercy of smaller and chaotic forces. Congress was happy with power but its base kept on shrinking. And, one @narendramodi showed them d place. #Modi 4/n

The division in the Opposition camp including in the #Congress indicate that many started coming to terms with the reality that #Modi changed #India's political narrative. #Politics of India will not remain the same for years to come, even after Modi. 5/n

#Indian electorate is no longer interested in weak central governments. Given a choice they prefer a strong government that delivers. The new narrative is about creating a strong powerful but #democratic #India that can throw competition to single-party ruled #China. 6/n

Like it or not #China exposed the weaknesses of electoral #democracies across the world. It is no secrete that #Indian intellectuals found virtues in single-party ruled China's initiatives to change the status-quo, including that in #Tibet or #Xinjiang. 7/n

The #Indian intellectuals were merely following a global trend . Over the last two decades #Western #media went too soft on #China or the lack of #democracy. The arrival of @realDonaldTrump somewhat changed the tone. Yet too little is spoken about #HongKong over last 5 years. 8/n

Compare this with the alertness of the same #Western #media on #democracy or the lack of it in #India. Compare the coverage on #Kashmir and #Xinjiang & you know the truth: No one dares to pinprick #China because its powerful and #India has to pay for the #democracy. 9/n

It is known that #Modi is changing this narrative. He is converting #India into a #bully power like #America or #China. #Indian voters loved it. They were tired of d status quo. Whosoever comes 2 power in #Delhi in the immediate future has to follow this trend. 10/n

The question therefore is who will replace #Modi and #BJP? The regional, caste-based politics is decimated. From 3 States, Left is now in one. #AAP shunned politics of conflict post #Article370 in #Kashmir. That's clever. But they have no place in national #politics. 11/n

#Congress was the sole potential beneficiary of #Modi's politics. But they are still guided by the temptations of quick access to power riding on some sort Khichdi coalition. #JairamRamesh et all questioning d narrative but none has the courage to take the steering. 12/n

To put things in perspective, the #Gandhi dynasty is now the biggest liability of #Congress. #Rahul, #Priyanka are no politicians, to put it most politely. #Sonia is misfit in prevailing political narrative. They have 2 go beyond family and royalty, both are now liabilities. 13/n

#Gandhi family and #Congress is wholly responsible for this situation as they blocked the way of commoners like #NarasimhaRao or #pranabmukherjee to take the baton. Now they have no choice but dismantling the proprietorship. The choice is now restricted to reform or perish 14n/n