The Rahul Gandhi paradox: Political legacy without a political pulse

Rahul Gandhi turned 55 on June 19, and over the years, India has seen many iterations of his political persona — from “youth leader” to self-professed “love guru” who would counter hate with love, to the “Yatri” (the walker), and now to the caste warrior. Yet, to this day, India doesn’t have a very clear idea of what Gandhi stands for — or who he really is.

That’s bad news for the opposition and for Indian democracy. Because Gandhi, still running the country’s oldest political party — the Congress — by remote control, is leading what remains the only opposition party with a pan-India footprint. This is a party that should ideally be the fulcrum around which the broader opposition coalesces.

Before his birthday, Gandhi disappeared on one of his periodic mystery trips abroad — a fact the BJP’s online warriors made much of, leaving the Congress red-faced. Gandhi really is the gift that keeps on giving to Modi’s BJP.

All my beloved readers of SWAT ANALYSIS understand the burden of familial and parental expectations — the pressure to do well and to excel. Gandhi, a fifth-generation dynast, carries this weight in a very different gauge. His father (Rajiv Gandhi), grandmother (Indira Gandhi), and great-grandfather (Jawaharlal Nehru) were all Prime Ministers. His mother, Sonia Gandhi, remains the longest-serving Congress President. Gandhi’s job, from the moment he joined politics, was presumed to be Prime Minister. Anyone would wilt under that kind of pressure.

Yet Gandhi, with his lack of charisma and his inarticulate speaking style — which he hasn’t bothered to improve with preparation or even the use of a teleprompter — simply cannot connect with voters.

Worse, and this cannot be gainsaid, Gandhi has led his party to three consecutive general election defeats. In any other democracy, a leader with that record would promptly pack his bags for retirement, take up a paid lecture circuit, or perhaps start gardening. Gandhi, on the other hand, has been rewarded for defeat — while talented leaders have steadily bled from the Congress (Himanta Biswa Sarma, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jitin Prasada, and many more).

Gandhi first ran the Congress with little distinction during his presidency, paying scant attention to organisational matters or party funding. Then, after he quit, the party was again run via his mother, with a bunch of rootless palace courtiers — chief among them his favourite lieutenant, K.C. Venugopal.

Gandhi, his sister Priyanka Gandhi, and their close aides practically forced out former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh — losing the state in the process — all for the sake of Navjot Singh Sidhu, the cricketer-turned-comedian, who later abandoned the grind of Punjab politics and returned to the lucrative world of television comedy.

A similar process is underway with Shashi Tharoor as the Kerala elections approach (and my beloved readers are already up to speed on that planned ouster). Gandhi recently went to Gujarat and ruffled feathers by likening leaders to “shaadi horses” (wedding horses) and “lame horses,” instead of what they should be — “race horses.” He said similar things in Haryana and Madhya Pradesh. The result? Older leaders in MP now sarcastically sign off messages to each other with “langda ghoda,” (lame horse) mocking Gandhi. One senior MP leader told Gulf News savagely: “Is 55 considered young these days? Perhaps when you have no responsibilities — only authority.”

Even though Mallikarjun Kharge is the official Congress President, make no mistake: Gandhi’s writ still runs — whether it’s in ticket selection or the issues the party takes up.

And, somehow Gandhi still cannot feel the public pulse. The issues he champions — and then quickly discards — lack public resonance.

The BJP, meanwhile, has no trouble painting the party that fought for India’s independence as “anti-national” or even “anti-Hindu.” You simply can’t be electable if the country’s 85% Hindu majority feels you’re pandering solely to a particular vote bank. The Congress needs to understand the corner the BJP is painting it into.

As one senior Rajasthan Congress leader told me with exasperation: “Modi, in his third term, is out of ideas and out of touch. Voters can sense the lack of jobs, the massive price rise — the real bread-and-butter issues. We need to be proactive, showcase positive ideas and solutions to address these concerns. Instead, we are relentlessly negative and indulge in silly personal attacks — which may work in college debates, but won’t work at the national level.”

Other opposition leaders — such as Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav, and Sharad Pawar — don’t have a high opinion of Gandhi’s political acumen. That makes coordination and seat-sharing difficult. It’s the same in Parliament, where the Congress often finds itself isolated, giving the BJP an easy ride.

The one time I saw political promise in Gandhi was during his Bharat Jodo Yatra. Instead of vanishing abroad again, he needs to hit the road here in India — ask people what they want, and more importantly, listen to them.