Rahul Gandhi is an Indian politician who currently serves as Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Amethi, Uttar Pradesh and is also the President of the Indian National Congress.
As we all know that the Mother, Sonia Gandhi handed over the crown to son Rahul Gandhi in presence of party courtiers. He is no more that Amul baby. Literally, once he was the prince of Congress now we can say that he becomes the King.
He had already proved his strength by giving a great challenge and good fight against BJP in Gujarat. It is a sign that the party may emerge into its success level by his leading power.
Congress has been in a crisis to hold on its power. Rahul becomes the one man in command and the time is now to meet his destiny in 2019.
Vajpayee’s BJP was accommodative, Narendra Modi’s BJP is domineering and ascendant. The children of an open economy are now adults, and the opening of India’s boundaries has put ambition into their veins which cannot be satiated with old-style politics. Social media has changed forever the public discourse.
Once Sonia also faces this type challenges but it is true that those were not as big as the ones Rahul faces today.
We all know about his weakness even though he has his own strength lets check onto it…
It is difficult to see Narendra Modi and Amit Shah remain at the helm if BJP is ousted in 2019. Rahul, though, has a license to fail. One suspects even Robert Bruce would have ignored the spider and given up had he suffered so many reverses. The dynasty has been handsomely rewarded for each of his miserable failures.
In his first avatar as Congress’s shiny new hope, Rahul was the star campaigner in Uttar Pradesh and held extensive rallies in 2007 during the Assembly polls. The media couldn’t get enough of him. We were told that the fourth-generation Congress dynast has finally arrived. Mayawati’s BSP won 202 of the 403 seats as Congress suffered a crushing defeat. Rahul was appointed as the general secretary soon after.
It was UP again in 2012 when Rahul again jumped into the fray. The Congress general secretary, to quote from Saba Naqvi’s piece in Outlook, “addressed 211 rallies, more than one for every two Assembly seats, 18 roadshows in 48 days of campaigning and covered a total distance of 200 km in the bus.”
The Congress had bagged 22 seats in 2007, it won just six more that year. Akhilesh Yadav was the new star. The Congress went into a Chintan shivir and after much Chintan elevated Rahul to vice-president’s post in January. Failures are indeed pillars of success, though in Rahul’s case in a quirky sort of a way.
Rahul has something which even Modi doesn’t — unlimited power without responsibility. While university student union election wins are a result of his charisma, repeated failures in Assembly and Lok Sabha elections are not his faults.
Even a modest showing in Gujarat will be interpreted as his resounding success. Congress manages to win a few more seats than in 2012 even in defeat, that will lead to drumbeats of “momentum” that may flatten the BJP in 2019. The media will certainly create that impression.
A section of the media that is an essential part of the Congress ecosystem might see in Rahul’s success its only hope of staying relevant but it is unfair to paint the entire establishment with the same brush. The trouble, however, is that Modi’s steady popularity, even after more than three years as the prime minister, has created such a big gap between him and his rivals that building up elections as a grand spectacle has become difficult.
With Mayawati rendered to the fringes of obscurity, Akhilesh the following suit, Nitish Kumar walking over to the rival camp, Lalu Prasad remaining mired in a web of corruption and Arvind Kejriwal losing his voice, Rahul Gandhi has virtually an open field to pit himself as the challenger to Modi. Naveen Patnaik is battling to save his fort and Mamata Banerjee has found it difficult in the past to transcend the borders of West Bengal. Congress may be hobbling, but it still fancies itself as the chief Opposition. Little wonder that Congress was unimpressed with Prashant Kishor’s idea of Rahul pitching himself as the chief minister of UP.
It’s easier to oppose than defend. The complexity and vastness of India create space for disgruntlement, and Rahul has been vehemently trying to cash in on the collateral damage caused by disruptive reforms. He still doesn’t have much to show except clever quips on social media and criticism of Modi, but if he manages to tap into the winter of discontent, that might still be enough.
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