It is rather odd that the Prime Minister and his ministerial colleagues should be sitting on a day-long fast to expose the hypocrisy of the Opposition in blaming the ruling party for the washout of the post-recess session of Parliament. All parties were responsible for the wasted session, including the ruling BJP. Having said that, we fail to understand what, if any, purpose will be served by Modi and members of his Cabinet observing a day-long fast. Such tokenism serves no purpose.
If there is concrete evidence against the Opposition’s willful misconduct in parliament, it should be presented to the country. Fasting by a sitting prime minister sets a wrong precedent. After all, if the Government failed to reach an understanding with the Opposition to run Parliament, it too cannot plead innocence. Collision and confrontation was a course mutually chosen by both the ruling party and the Opposition. Fasting as a tool of political messaging, too, has lost its value. The other day, the Congress leaders, led by Rahul Gandhi, sat on a fast at the Raj Ghat but attracted a lot of adverse publicity when the entire Delhi leadership of the party was seen gorging on chhole bhature at a popular eatery nearby. People are not gullible.
