The BJP has always been accused of performing operation lotus, or Kamala, to reduce the Congress’ strength in an Assembly. Engineering a split is much more difficult, given the two-thirds defection required by the anti-defection law. So, the second best was operation lotus—contrive large-scale resignations from the Congress so that the truncated Congress is close to a minority government. The rest is simple.

The Congress’ plan in the Lok Sabha seems to have been more brazen, not to gain a majority, for which it is placed hopelessly in terms of numbers, but to catch the eyeballs of the TV audience of the Lok Sabha proceedings.

Shikhandi in the Mahabharata analogy

Shikhandi was a significant figure in the Hindu epic, Mahabharata. Born as a daughter (Shikhandini) to King Drupada but raised as a male and later transitioning to a man, Shikhandi was the reincarnation of Amba, seeking revenge against Bhishma. Shikhandi was pivotal in the Kurukshetra war, acting as the cause of Bhishma's downfall because Bhishma refused to fight someone he considered a woman.

Lord Krishna, the war strategist for the Pandavas, placed Shikhandi in front of Arjun as a protective shield. Bhishma couldn’t pierce through the shield, and Arjun rained arrows on the helpless and vulnerable Bhishma. Was the Congress counting on PM Modi being similarly disarmed in the face of some ten women MPs laying siege to him when he was about to reply to the presidential address? To be sure, no physical attack would have been planned, but the spectacle of PM Modi warding off his women interlocutors would have embarrassed him and the BJP, much to the amusement of the........

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