HUG AND WINK TRIGGER THE BIG DEBATE

The no- confidence motion led to a trust vote may have, predictably, been won by the government of the day. It was the optics of the event that kept the eyeballs glued for hours together for a day. The surprising hug, better known as ‘ Pappu ki

Jhappi’, the handshake offered by Narendra Modi and then the Rahul wink made the event so theatrical it is still being talked about.

What emerged out of the no- trust exercise was the ultimate projection of Rahul Gandhi as the clear challenger to the Prime Minister’s gaddi. Several netas are known to nurse the ambition and they reside outside New Delhi, in UP, Bengal and elsewhere. The Gandhi scion is, however, the one being celebrated now as ‘ The Alternative’.

The TINA ( there is no alternative) idea may appeal to the ruling party but the Twitterati are not buying it after four years of the Modi rule. There is no question that the gauntlet was thrown that day in parliament. Tweeple would have it that there are plenty of alternatives and the 2019 polls are by no means a one horse race as the ruling party would like to believe. The depth of feeling about the present day scene is reflected in how the two sides are rating the prospects of the incumbent and the challenger. There is a clear divide on who should be king even as new nicknames are being invented for both. If the temperature is already hot, imagine what 2019 is going to be like.