Congress is back to doing what it does best, that is, embarrassing itself. Another Congressman has come out with a shockingly ridiculous statement. The Congress had been accusing the BJP of horse trading after the Karnataka election results were announced. Now, the Congress has made a frivolous and political demand of a probe into allegations of horse trading. However, there is no substance to such allegations as it is a figment of their imagination propagated by the Congress and its entire ecosystem.
Congress politician Jaiveer Shergill has persuaded the Prime Minister to launch an inquiry into the allegations of bribes offered to Congress and JD(S) MLAs. However, he took the airy allegations made by Congress to just another level of senselessness when he sought to create a nexus between rising fuel prices and allegations of horse trading in Karnataka. Out of thin air, Shergill claimed that the government has “looted” Rs. 10 lakh crore by raising excise duty on diesel and petrol. This must be for the first time that rising fuel prices have been called a scam by the opposition. Rising fuel prices are a result of a rise in international oil prices, and excise duties levied on any product goes directly to the government treasury. How this amounts to a scam is beyond comprehension, while it is even more shocking that a Congress politician out of all political parties is not able to understand what a scam is and how it is committed.
Shergill thereafter committed a blunder which the Congress will find tough to defend. He manufactured a conspiracy theory and suggested that the revenue created out of increased petrol and diesel prices is being used for poaching MLAs. Only he can justify how the revenue which goes directly into government treasury can be used for political purposes by the BJP. Maybe it is a secret only known to the Congress leaders and only they can enlighten the public about how to embezzle state funds for political and personal purposes. Shergill suggested that there is a “bottomless pit” created by the BJP and funded by petrol taxes which are being ultimately employed for toppling and crushing democracy through practices like horse trading. However, while explaining this outrageous and over the top conspiracy, he failed to give an iota of evidence to back these claims.
There is a reason why the people of India call Rahul Gandhi pappu. Now, if the other Congress leaders start showing similar characteristics then we can safely assume that intellectual bankruptcy is not limited to the Congress leadership, but in fact runs across the party structure as the glue holding it together. The media sympathetic to the Congress, and the Congress in itself to some extent had started admitting that Rahul Gandhi and Congress had been making foolish statements but asserted that they have evolved into a mature party.
However, this statement by Shergill shows that Congress and senselessness go hand in hand, and that absurdity is central to the Congress’ character. Shergill has in a single statement demolished the entire rebranding exercise that the Congress had been carrying out. A pertinent question that arises here is how can one trust a party which consists of clueless leaders who don’t hesitate in making baseless and misleading claims. Congress and Rahul loyalists in general don’t have an idea about the basics of governance and economics. There is no way excise revenues can be used as party funds. However, if the Congress is ready to make such bold claims, there is a chance that they actually possess the skill and knowledge required for carrying out such embezzlement.