Rahul Gandhi: Hero Or An Item Song

Salman Khurshid said the following in an interview: As far as the criticism goes -- that he did not address crucial issues -- remember, Gandhi is the Congress vice-president, and not the prime minister. Within the party, he gives us his views... But for public statements, he chooses what to speak and the platform where to speak from. He is addressing important issues on specific public occasions.

This is a loaded statement. He is trying to defend Gandhi’s limp performance as it is being compared with that of Narendra Modi. He is also trying to tell people that Rahul is not Congress’ PM candidate so he cannot be compared with Modi as the media has been doing.

In a typical Indian political party which Congress is, the most powerful person is the MP candidate. Look at Modi. He is the most qualified man for the job but since he does not have the power to influence the core of the party or RSS, he is going through an agnipareeksha on a daily basis. On the other hand, power of Rahul Gandhi in Congress in undeniable. The family was brought back from a self imposed hiatus at the end of 1990s to save Congress. The really did rally Congress and took credit for bringing Congress back to power. Ever since then, Rahul Gandhi has been the crown prince which was obvious to all but the blind and the ignorant. He was their star campaigner, vote-getter (or so they thought) and the magnet that drew the media and voters alike. I don’t remember Congress mandarins like Khurshid and others making statements of this kind when the media was lapping ever word this guy was uttering and capturing every gesture and gushing over his enthusiasm and youth. Congress was only too happy to see their rajkumar be given the treatment fit for rajmata’s son.

Successive defeats at state levels and various gaffes later, the sheen started to wear off. Rahul began to look positively human and a plebian one at that. Still, he was the crown prince. Sonia Gandhi’s big dream is to see him the PM’s chair. Why else would a decade long campaign was undertaken to put him in that position? If we are wrong then why wasn’t any other young leader (Pilot or Scindia) groomed for this job? Congress spokespersons (Jayanti “landscam” Natrajan, Abhishek “sex for judgeship” Singhvi or Manish “we don’t know yet” Tiwari) have gone hoarse defending this guy. Defending incompetence is a thankless job. The Congress wants to benefit from Gandhi’s so called charisma and win an election riding his coattails and when he bungles up, they want to hide him, making excuses.

The media has done the right thing for wrong reasons. IT IS A MODI VERSUS GANDHI RACE. There are no doubts about it. Media has started the comparison not because they are fans of Modi or his performances but because it makes for good TV thus TRP ratings. This maybe the first presidential style election for us (where the race is between two people rather than two parties) and thus direct comparisons between Modi and Gandhi should be made. Congress cannot have it both ways. They cannot hide him when he falters but hope to benefit from the false image they have created for him.

The BJP seems to have decided that Narendra Modi is the leading man of their movie. Now it is up to Congress to decide whether Rahul Gandhi is their hero or an item song.

The Salman Khurshid interview can be read at: http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-rahuls-critics-must-know-hes-cong-vp-not-indias-pm-khurshid/20130414.htm