Rahul lost a golden chance

Leader of India’s Congress party Rahul Gandhi launched his election campaign last week with a disaster. He gave a formal interview to an English language news channel, a first since he entered active politics ten years ago. The interview was shown on the nation’s most popular Times Now channel prime time on January 27, two days after it was recorded at the office of a trust named after his late father Rajiv.

Formal sit-down TV interviews of the top layer of political parties are not routine in India where senior leaders rarely subject themselves to this kind of intense media scrutiny. Rahul’s decision to break his TV silence with Times Now surprised many as the channel, part of India’s largest selling English language newspaper the Times of India, is known for hawkish, editorialised coverage. Moreover, the channel’s popular anchor Arnab Goswami, dubbed Assamese Adder by Delhi-based foreign journalists, is known for aggressive grilling of politicians. Before the interview was shown, a joke went viral on twitter: Rahul should be the wildcard entry for Republic Day bravery award for agreeing to be interviewed by Goswami.

During the 90-minute interview, 43-year-old Rahul faced a volley of rapid-fire 100 pointed questions, most of which he ducked by avoiding direct answers or by resorting to jargonised rhetoric he often repeats in his speeches. The scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that governed most years of independent India floundered in the first ten minutes and it was abundantly clear that he came ill-prepared, exposing his poor grasp over issues that dominate the national narrative.

Minutes after the broadcast, Gandhi faced a barrage of a no-holds barred criticism on social networking sites and twitterattis heaped insults on him for what many described as school boyish performance. Some even suggested Rahul’s mother and Congress president Sonia buy a PlayStation to cheer him up after the interview. Others mocked at his bookish understanding of national issues and repetition of lofty ideas in response to specific questions on corruption, communalism and economy. For the record, Rahul used the word “empowerment” 22 times and “system” 70 times.

Rahul’s body language also betrayed a lack of confidence and his inability to tackle issues head on. Close-up camera shots showed beads of sweat on his face while he avoided a direct eye contact with Goswami whose pointed barbs pulverised the young politician’s confidence on many occasions. More embarrassing was involuntary twitching of his eyes, a sign of weakness, some psychologists would say.

Neutral commentators, however, dissected the script of his interview and found him dignified in his responses, a sharp contrast from some aggressive politicians in India. He was at ease when talking about sacrifices by his father Rajiv and grandmother Indira — both former prime ministers — but was unable to respond to questions on corruption charges against his party. He was short on specifics when he spoke about empowering women and youth without explaining how he would work on these lofty ideas.

Gandhi also avoided a confrontation with his principal opponent and prime ministerial hopeful Narendra Modi, perhaps aware that his boyish charms are no match for Modi’s razor-sharp tongue and street-smart debating skills. Modi often derides Rahul by calling him a shehzada or princeling in his speeches peppered with contempt and ridicule for the Nehru-Gandhi family. In his interview, Rahul made a clumsy attempt at hitting back at his detractor by accusing Modi of abetting Gujarat riots when asked by Goswami to explain why his party blames the Gujarat leader for anti-Muslim violence. Rahul failed to point out that Modi’s cabinet minister was convicted for leading marauding Hindu mobs — a clear evidence of culpability of his government. Goswami tried to corner Gandhi on anti-Sikh violence in 1984 and he fell into the trap. He admitted some Congressmen may have a role in violence triggered by the assassination of his grandmother Indira. Gandhi failed to mention that his mother Sonia and prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh apologised for the violence ten years ago. It was clear he had trouble gathering his thoughts on this and several other issues raised by Goswami. An immediate fallout of Gandhi’s 1984 remark is a demand from Sikh groups to investigate role of his father Rajiv and other Congress leaders.

Many commentators, however, lauded Rahul for his decision to subject himself to scrutiny on national television and pointed out at Modi’s earlier interviews when he walked out of the studios after being cornered by TV journalists. However, Rahul must understand that public scrutiny is a double-edged sword. Handle it well and you are a hero, but be ready for universal sledgehammering of your reputation if you flounder on national television.

Clearly, this monumental embarrassment will not be easily forgotten by people, especially at a time when India is gearing up for the keenly-awaited general elections due in April. For Congress and its supporters, their mascot lost a golden chance to project himself as a strong, decisive young leader who can take on his rivals and someone who has political acumen and wisdom, apart from a charming personality.

A telling tweet aptly described the dilemma of Indian voters who are desperately seeking a stable, strong government capable of delivering on economic, social fronts and is able to rescue the nation from years of poor growth and rising unemployment. The tweet — ‘Stuck between a moron and a murderer ... what now India!’ — by a Bollywood music director went viral after Rahul’s interview and triggered a controversy after it was retweeted by former tax inspector Arvind Kejriwal who led his one-year-old Aam Aadmi Party to a stunning victory in the Delhi polls. It was clear that the diatribes ‘moron’ and ‘murderer’ were aimed at Rahul and Modi who has been accused of orchestrating anti-Muslim violence in his Gujarat state in 2002.

While the Congress spokespersons boldly defended their leader’s TV appearance, it is not clear if Rahul himself will agree to more such interviews. But in active politics, leaders cannot afford to keep mum and hide behind the glorious past of their family or party. In electoral politics, leaders are expected to lead from the front and Rahul has no choice but continue to allow this kind of public scrutiny, ignoring the consequences. He must sharpen his message though and understand that today’s impatient voters have no respect for long-term lofty ideas. They want immediate action, good governance, economic growth, jobs and healthcare.

The grand old party of India is not looking great at the moment and appears to be heading for an electoral rout. The least it can do is to give a respectable fight to Modi and his right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party. On his part, Rahul can challenge his political detractors by asking them to go through similar media grilling, a point underscored by Goswami. Rahul could have gone to some other journalist if he wanted a soft interview, Goswami told a newspaper after his scoop.

Bobby Naqvi is the Editor of XPRESS, a sister publication of Gulf News.