As Congress flounders under his invisible leadership, allies leave and BJP gains ground
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.
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