Relaunching Rahul Gandhi

Neither the Congress party, nor Sonia Gandhi seem to be tired of launching and relaunching Rahul Gandhi’s political career. We see the Congress attempting to present him up as the principal adversary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again. History is witness to two such grand attempts in 2014 and 2019 before the general elections. Puffing up Rahul Gandhi and pitting him against Narendra Modi on both occasions proved to be a disaster to the Congress and its allies. The Congress party reminds one of the Bourbons of France— it was said of them that “they learnt nothing and forgot nothing.” Rahul Gandhi has demonstrated his political naïveté on multiple occasions earning the sobriquet, Pappu. More often than not, he has lived up to this reputation. The problem with the Congress party has been its mindset of servitude. Congressmen at all levels speak as though it is blasphemous to think about a candidate other than Rahul Gandhi who can be presented as a challenger to Narendra Modi. What this says of the current Congress President, Mallikarjun Kharge is a story for another day. Why can’t Kharge, the veteran Congressman, ever loyal to the dynasty, be primed as the main challenger to Naarendra Modi? The Congress feels confident that with the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi coming to a close as it moves up from Punjab to the northernmost state of Jammu and Kashmir, he has emerged as a leader capable of taking on PM Modi in the 2024 elections. Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and Congress leader, Kamal Nath announced that Rahul Gandhi would be the Opposition’s prime ministerial candidate in 2024. Expectedly, Rahul Gandhi was quite smug about this issue and did not deny it. Sharad Pawar, the veteran NCP leader, seems to have endorsed the idea of Rahul Gandhi’s leadership, when he threw his weight behind the Congress saying that there cannot be opposition unity without the Grand Old Party’s inclusion and involvement. Nitish Kumar has ruled himself out as a claimant for the prime ministerial position. Both Sharad Pawar and Nitish Kumar were being pragmatic in their statements and commitments. The JDU leader for example, knows that with a handful of Lok Sabha MPs backing him, he cannot push his claim with any measure of success. Sharad Pawar, apart from having the same problem is also weighed down by his age and health. While the Bharat Jodo Yatra has managed to bring Rahul Gandhi into the spotlight, as far as media coverage goes, the question is whether his burnished image will suffice to pull in enough votes for his party across the country. There is no doubt that there are pockets where the Congress is quite strong, as for instance, the mountain state of Himachal Pradesh, where it was elected to power recently, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. However, there are large swathes of the country where the Congress has virtually been wiped out and where Rahul Gandhi will find it a challenge to work his magic. Gujarat, UP, Punjab, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Kerala are a few such states. Then, there is the obvious question of acceptance and endorsement of Rahul Gandhi’s aspirations to be the Opposition’s prime ministerial candidate by other regional leaders like TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal and BRS supremo and Telangana Chief Minister, K. Chandrashekhar Rao. In the coming weeks and months, as we move closer to 2024, we will see further twists and turns in national politics. That is for certain.