The Congress needs a new slogan and India needs a new opposition
Bihar as well if he remained with Lalu Yadav. But whatever were the arithmetical calculations of the Chief Minister, what deftness or quick thinking did the Congress or Lalu Yadav display? For instance, Rahul Gandhi could have made a public statement demanding the sacking of Tejashwi Yadav or his father could have asked him to step down. That would have at least forced Nitish Kumar to construct an alternative reason for his exit, instead of allowing him to claim the higher moral ground and handing over the state – and the general election of 2019 — on a platter to Narendra Modi. Then they could have more effectively taken on Nitish’s glaring flip-flops and U-turns on the BJP.
The Congress needs to wake up from its slumber: falling back on the jaded tropes of secularism and betrayal is no longer going to work as a political idea.
Taking shield on corruption allegations behind the cloak of inauthentic secularism is cynical politics and its time is up. Especially because that secularism is bent at will and abandoned when necessary. The Congress needs a new slogan and India needs a new opposition. over. Gather the young and train them into tiger protectors.
All this requires strong political will. Tigers need chief ministers at their side. Their instructions are vital to innovative initiatives and this is where strong partnerships between the government and non-governmental sector can trigger the necessary political will. Frequent meetings of the state board of wildlife that chief ministers chair are vital to resolving the tigers’ problems.
The Prime Minister of the country must play his role for the sake of our national animal. The Prime Minister chairs the national board for wildlife and frequent meetings are a must. The full board has not met for four years. This is the moment to meet and the best experts must apprise the Prime Minister of the tigers’ needs.
These are the five points on the wish list of India’s wild tigers. And who says it is not possible? Rajasthan has shown the way. Under the supervision of the chief minister, the Ranthambhore tiger reserve has shown the highest amount of tigers ever now touching 65 with the highest tourist revenue now touching 4 million dollars just on entry ticket revenue.
It has some of the best local community monitoring and protection and a genuine partnership with field forest staff. It has the best tourism practices and regular monthly meetings of an empowered committee that reports back to the chief minister. For the first time ever, extra tourism revenue is going to new tiger habitats that suffered tremendously due to limited funds.
Where there is a will there is a way. It is up to all of us to make it the day of the tiger.