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Gandhi’s Descendant Bearing Cross-fire?

Gandhi’s Descendant Bearing Cross-fire?

Rahul Gandhi may want to be an ideologue and motivator but needs a convincing agenda to be one

Rahul Gandhi is a victim of the Gandhi legacy in the Congress and will continue to be its cross-bearing descendant. So no matter how honest, earnest and valiant he is or intends to be, his very public resignation letter only raised doubts about whether it was a proxy drama. And whether it was not akin to Sonia Gandhi bowing out of governance but conveniently holding its reins in her hand all those years ago. Some even wondered whether the resignation owning moral responsibility for the Lok Sabha defeat was about claiming the high ground and creating a vacuum that would see the gradual ascension of his sister and make an honourable charioteer of a failed brother. The continuity and fortunes of existing family loyalists in the old guard and talk that the next party president would be from among them have not helped either. Neither has Rahul’s gauntlet sufficiently jolted the party to step out of formulaic expectations and attempt the unthinkable, like putting talented people at the top of the organisation. Nor has it done anything to elevate him from his insipid epistolary skills. But it is not important what others think and Rahul himself knows that. This is his message to the Congress old guard in particular. Unhappy with them for staying on despite the party’s debacle and privately assigning the blame to him and his young brigade for taking charge, the Gandhi scion has clearly mentioned in his letter that he would not have any say in appointment of party officials. The hidden frustration about nobody heeding his suggestion that the Congress needed an organic overhaul bottom-up and had to cut off the deadwood came out in the lines, “Rebuilding the party requires hard decisions and numerous people will have to be made accountable for the failure of 2019.”

Of course, he wants to be a motivator, team player and an “ideological fighter” by engaging with the BJP and RSS and standing by the poor, farmers and labourers. Perhaps, he should have made these issues his campaign plank rather than the Rafale scandal, which, weak as the charges made, never got public traction. His insistence on schemes like Nyay and opposition to the Land Acquisition Act frittered away along the wayside. And he may be harping about institutional neutrality and the one-party dominance which may compromise the character of democracy but the reality is that the mammoth verdict has paled all criticisms that had held good so far. Rahul must realise that if he wants to be a responsible opposition to the BJP-RSS than a pinprick, then mouthing old campaign favourites won’t work. He has to spell out concrete and actionable plans, socially, culturally and economically, and convince people about his alternative performing ability, something which is still under question and something which the Modi 2.0 regime will make good on with a highly performance-oriented second term. All is not lost as, despite its Lok Sabha rout, the Congress in Rajasthan bagged a majority of the seats in the panchayat samiti and zila parishad bypolls. Another of Rahul’s young Turks, Sachin Pilot, can claim credit as he launched a door-to-door campaign. Rahul needs to do the same and inject the same grassroot enthusiasm among all young leaders, elevate the talented, turn scions into commoners, deconstruct dynasty for all time to come. While he is desperately seeking change, he first needs to free his mind from his encoded aura of a healer and get down and dirty. Ideology has no expiry date but its relevance does.

Writer & Courtesy: Editorial – The Pioneer

Gandhi’s Descendant Bearing Cross-fire?

Gandhi’s Descendant Bearing Cross-fire?

Rahul Gandhi may want to be an ideologue and motivator but needs a convincing agenda to be one

Rahul Gandhi is a victim of the Gandhi legacy in the Congress and will continue to be its cross-bearing descendant. So no matter how honest, earnest and valiant he is or intends to be, his very public resignation letter only raised doubts about whether it was a proxy drama. And whether it was not akin to Sonia Gandhi bowing out of governance but conveniently holding its reins in her hand all those years ago. Some even wondered whether the resignation owning moral responsibility for the Lok Sabha defeat was about claiming the high ground and creating a vacuum that would see the gradual ascension of his sister and make an honourable charioteer of a failed brother. The continuity and fortunes of existing family loyalists in the old guard and talk that the next party president would be from among them have not helped either. Neither has Rahul’s gauntlet sufficiently jolted the party to step out of formulaic expectations and attempt the unthinkable, like putting talented people at the top of the organisation. Nor has it done anything to elevate him from his insipid epistolary skills. But it is not important what others think and Rahul himself knows that. This is his message to the Congress old guard in particular. Unhappy with them for staying on despite the party’s debacle and privately assigning the blame to him and his young brigade for taking charge, the Gandhi scion has clearly mentioned in his letter that he would not have any say in appointment of party officials. The hidden frustration about nobody heeding his suggestion that the Congress needed an organic overhaul bottom-up and had to cut off the deadwood came out in the lines, “Rebuilding the party requires hard decisions and numerous people will have to be made accountable for the failure of 2019.”

Of course, he wants to be a motivator, team player and an “ideological fighter” by engaging with the BJP and RSS and standing by the poor, farmers and labourers. Perhaps, he should have made these issues his campaign plank rather than the Rafale scandal, which, weak as the charges made, never got public traction. His insistence on schemes like Nyay and opposition to the Land Acquisition Act frittered away along the wayside. And he may be harping about institutional neutrality and the one-party dominance which may compromise the character of democracy but the reality is that the mammoth verdict has paled all criticisms that had held good so far. Rahul must realise that if he wants to be a responsible opposition to the BJP-RSS than a pinprick, then mouthing old campaign favourites won’t work. He has to spell out concrete and actionable plans, socially, culturally and economically, and convince people about his alternative performing ability, something which is still under question and something which the Modi 2.0 regime will make good on with a highly performance-oriented second term. All is not lost as, despite its Lok Sabha rout, the Congress in Rajasthan bagged a majority of the seats in the panchayat samiti and zila parishad bypolls. Another of Rahul’s young Turks, Sachin Pilot, can claim credit as he launched a door-to-door campaign. Rahul needs to do the same and inject the same grassroot enthusiasm among all young leaders, elevate the talented, turn scions into commoners, deconstruct dynasty for all time to come. While he is desperately seeking change, he first needs to free his mind from his encoded aura of a healer and get down and dirty. Ideology has no expiry date but its relevance does.

Writer & Courtesy: Editorial – The Pioneer

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