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Congress circles are agog with hope of the party’s rejuvenation under Rahul. Will he pull it off?

The real Rahul is revealed

IN his very candid interview at the University of California, Berkeley, on September 13, 2017, the "real Rahul" has spoken about his own self, and about the reality of his own Congress party, as also made insightful comments on the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The real Rahul is revealed

Rahul Gandhi addressing NRIs at Times Square in New York City. PTI



CP Bhambhri

IN his very candid interview at the University of California, Berkeley, on September 13, 2017, the "real Rahul" has spoken about his own self, and about the reality of his own Congress party, as also made insightful comments on the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Rahul was on to some thing: the tallest BJP leadership led by Amit Shah decided to vehemently and forcefully criticise his statements and observations of September 13 at Berkeley.

It is for the first time since 2014 that Rahul frankly admitted that the party failed in 2014 because "a certain arrogance crept into the Congress party and they stopped having that conversation." This was a very forthright criticism of the party leadership that had lost contact with its own second rank leaders and the rank and file of the party. Rahul also observed that the Congress vision document had lost its relevance in 2012 and it was not renewed. Rahul blamed his own "people" for the electoral defeat of 2014. He did not hide behind any excuses by blaming the others who had succeeded in snatching the victory in elections of 2014. It is for the first time in the history of India that a leader of the party has taken the blame for electoral defeat because of the serious lapses on the part of its own leaders. 

2 Second, Rahul squarely faced the criticism which is generally levelled against the Congress that it practices "undemocratic dynastic politics" where the top leadership post is "reserved" for the family members of Nehru-Indira Gandhi. 

Incidentally, the Jan Sangh/BJP has always targeted the Congress for practising dynastic politics, though normally, it should be left to every party to decide about its internal affairs and the system of nomination of its supreme leader. Parties in Western democracies have evolved different mechanisms to elect their own leaders. The best example is that of British parties which follow a practice different from the two American parties. 

However, dynastic politics has become an issue in India. It is convenient for the BJP to attack the Congress on this. Rahul appropriately responded, saying that "most parties in India have that problem." He identified many regional parties the practising dynasty rule. Incidentally, the BJP should be the last party to attack the Congress on the political culture of the "nomination" of a top leader because Narendra Modi himself was picked up by Mohan Bhagwat, the RSS Supremo to act the Chief Election Campaigner for the Lok Sabha elections of 2014. Later, Bhagwat announced that Narendra Modi would be the BJP's prime-ministerial candidate for the Lok Sabha elections of 2014. Modi was the choice of the RSS Supremo in spite of the fact that LK Advani and some other BJP leaders were annoyed with RSS' procedure of nominating Modi as the prime-ministerial candidate. 

Politics should be focused on party programmes and the qualities and weaknesses of the leaders of competing parties; not on how a leader is selected or nominated. 

3 Third, it is for the first time in post-Independence India that any Opposition leader, has shown the courage of publicly admitting the leadership qualities of his opponent. Rahul showed this courage in his speech of September 13. While, comparing himself with Narendra Modi, Rahul said, "He (Modi) has certain skills. He is a very good commentator and understands how to deliver a message to three or four groups in a crowd." It requires great courage for a leader of party to praise his opponents' communication qualities which really matter in the Indian democracy where mass meetings of hundreds and thousands of people have to be addressed, especially during the elections. 

On the other hand, Rahul also observed that Modi was controlling "a 'BJP machine' of 1,000 people to abuse him online in the social media." 

This comment should be seen in the context of media'a portrayal of Rahul Gandhi. Rahul has been a whipping boy of the media owned and controlled by big corporate houses, especially television, and a section of the print media. The big industrial houses turned against Sonia Gandhi's Congress in 2012 and this opposition of the corporate houses and their media has been directed against Rahul. His capacities as a leader have been questioned as he is presented as a weak and immature person in comparison to Narendra Modi. This hostility of media has impacted the image of Rahul and this is the context in which Rahul's interview should be seen and analysed. 

4 Finally, Rahul attacked the policies followed by the Modi government in the last about four years which have divided and completely polarised society on the basis of religious and caste, where violence takes place every day, either in the name of "protection of the holy cow" or Dalits whose profession of skinning of a dead cow is attacked. 

Modi has not only been practising 'divisive polices', but his government's economic policies have also created a crisis leading to the a slowing down in economic growth. While the Modi government may dismiss Rahul's criticism, his statement on mismanagement of the economy is collaborated by UNCTAD's Trade and Development 2017 Report. Referring to India and China, the report observes that India's "output growth is likely to slow down to 6.7 per cent in 2017 from seven per cent in the previous year". It further states that "in addition, the informal sector which still accounts for at least one-third of the GDP, was badly affected by the government's ‘demonetization’ move in November 2016 and it may be further affected by the rollout of the GST from July 2017".  

Rahul's speech is quite revealing as it clearly shows that the "real Rahul" is not as the one painted by the biased and prejudiced media and the army of RSS workers and BJP organisations. The "real Rahul" is transparent and can be trusted to lead the country not only because he has a clear understanding of the political economy, but also because he is clear on ideological issues on which he is fighting against the RSS-controlled and -guided Sangh Parivar and BJP. Rahul represents a pole of Indian politics which is based on the ideology of pluralism, secularism, social inclusion and economic growth, with programmes of welfare state that were pursued by the Manmohan Singh government from 2004 to 2014. The other 'pole' of politics is represented by the RSS-controlled Sangh Parivar and BJP which is opposed to the foundational principles of a secular, democratic, accommodative Republic of India. Indian politics is engaged in a fundamental 'clash of ideologies' and the battle lines have been drawn.

The writer is Professor Emeritus, Centre for Political Studies, JNU

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