Is Rahul less of a ‘Pappu’ now

INCONSISTENCY, inattentiveness, the penchant to be a ball hog and an inability to carry senior party colleagues along were cited as the major failings of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Every electoral setback amplified these purported flaws, although an objective assessment claimed that far from being distracted, Rahul is a learner and listens to domain experts of his choice from outside the political perimeter, such as Sudha Pai (former JNU professor of political science), P Sainath (journalist specialising in rural India and caste discrimination), Madan Gopal (lyricist and Sufi singer) and earlier Nandan Nilekani (Infosys co-founder).The poll setbacks bestowed upon Rahul the uncharitable "Pappu" moniker. The label of being inexperienced or incompetent has dogged him right into his fifties.The "Bharat Jodo Yatra" of 2022-23 was largely a walkathon to meet and listen to the masses because in Amethi, his former Lok Sabha constituency, he was supposedly inaccessible to voters.The exercise helped Rahul begin shedding the "Pappu" tag to an extent. However, every attempt at refurbishing his image was offset by an electoral reversal. Interestingly, an electoral victory has become the gold standard of success in the Modi era.The Congress improved on its 2019 Lok Sabha tally in 2024, earning for Rahul the position of the Leader of the Opposition. But the BJP made good the losses it suffered by winning most of the Assembly polls thereafter. It seemed as though Rahul and his sibling Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who made her debut in the Lok Sabha from Wayanad, were no match for the charismatic Modi, the resourceful and politically savvy Amit Shah and the cumulative weight of their unbridled appetite for realpolitik, which at times bordered on cynicism and unscrupulousness, if victory was assured.Lately, there are signs of a shift, that the ever-alert BJP has also noticed, because Rahul can no longer be accused of inconsistency. Indeed, if there is one attribute to disprove the imputation, it is Rahul's steadfast campaign against the RSS and what Rahul describes as the Sangh's contradictions on religious issues. Other Opposition parties are chary of taking on the Sangh; Rahul is less defensive.However, he has now acquired a taste for street-level politics that is out of character for someone whose words and actions smack of entitlement arising from being born to a political pedigree.The rubber did not hit the road overnight. Rahul did not chance upon street power in a jiffy. The impetus came when the rot in the education system was exposed after a question paper was leaked in NEET allegedly by insiders, forcing the exam's cancellation jeopardising aspirants’ future, with many students dying by suicide.Rahul was quoted as saying in an interaction with Dehradun students, "Every year, crores of houses in India having young people like you leave behind their normal lives to prepare for exams." He spoke of the huge costs of coaching classes.The nascent Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) — which calls itself a pressure group and not a political party — burst on the scene to awaken people, young and old, to an ailing academic sector beyond the government's ken to repair.Helmed by a handful of activists — from IIT-Kanpur, Boston University and Amity University — two of them had forayed into public life with stints in the Aam Aadmi Party — their passion to clean up the system was perceptible. The CJP lost no time in mobilising lakhs of young people and organising protests against the government. The challenge to the Modi dispensation from the GenZ CJP followers — educated, irreverent and outspoken — was daunting.The Congress was initially indifferent to the gathering storm at Jantar Mantar and chose to register its dissent inside Parliament, which met for the monsoon session.Even when CJP protesters marched towards Parliament and were thrashed by the Delhi police, the Congress's reaction was an anodyne statement from Priyanka. By then, other Opposition parties, including Congress's allies Samajwadi Party, NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT), had associated themselves with the CJP. That's when the Congress was forced out of its political slumber.A day after the police repression, Rahul and Priyanka, along with KC Venugopal, the party's general secretary, discreetly mobilised their MPs for a sit-in outside PM Modi's residence. The MPs were clueless about what was coming as they were told to congregate at Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's house to celebrate his birthday.For the second time in days, the government's intelligence apparatus had failed. First, it was caught unawares by the massive siege the protesters planned to lay to Parliament. Now, it had no idea of the Gandhis' "dharna". Does the government rue its decision to remove the elite SPG cover given to the Gandhis, which has unshackled them from its stringent procedural requirements?Rahul embarked on his "Chhatron ki Goonj" in Kota, Dehradun, Prayagraj and Pune. The latest in Pune — home to many universities —conflated education with gender issues. Only girls were invited. Rahul's slogan "Smash the patriarchy" was ostensibly an answer to Modi's question on how the protesting women raised audacious slogans.Valid as the slogan is, Congress men, who have thrived from the patriarchal structures in the party for decades, wondered if it would tilt the power balance in women's favour. Food for thought or cause for anxiety?Rahul's last act in the street series was staging a "dharna" at a Delhi police station, demanding an FIR be filed against "unknown persons" for pellet injuries inflicted on a 19-year old protester who lost his right eye. Rahul did not budge until the FIR was registered.As the optics and messages emanating from his presence outside a rarefied ambience became the talking points, the gains to be made in the impending elections depend on other factors: organisational preparedness, alliances, continued connectivity with the youths and combating the CJP if it morphs into a political party.In Maharashtra, the state Congress sprung to life before the Pune event. Whether the enthusiasm continues is in question. In Punjab, whether Rahul's envisaged "unity" yatra serves its goal is indeterminable. Among the election-bound states in 2027, the Uttar Pradesh Congress will, willy-nilly, remain a junior partner to the SP. In Uttarakhand, the Congress is bogged down by issues of conflicting leadership and an enfeebled organisation. Rahul's real test is awaited in the year to come.

Is Rahul less of a ‘Pappu’ now

Rahul Gandhi seems to have acquired a taste for street-level politics that is out of character for someone of his political pedigree

Radhika Ramaseshan

Is Rahul less of a ‘Pappu’ now

Rahul Gandhi seems to have acquired a taste for street-level politics that is out of character for someone of his political pedigree

Radhika Ramaseshan

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