The electoral battle between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi was virtually won by the former the day the perception took root that the crucial fight in the 2019 general elections was between these two. It was an unequal battle between a political giant and a greenhorn who was the product of sycophancy and had little to recommend him but his lineage.
Among the many indiscretions that Rahul indulged in was his repeated challenge to Modi to come face to face with him in a debate on the Rafale fighter aircraft deal, boasting that at the end of it Modi would not have feet to stand on. That despite the fact that Rahul is a pygmy before Modi in oratory, statecraft, and wit.
Normally, in a democracy partymen would be absolutely unsparing with a leader who, under his leadership brought a second successive disaster on it (the first was 2014) but in the Congress of today, the leader is like the proverbial emperor who dared not be told that he was wearing no clothes.
The fate of a powerful leader like Sharad Pawar who was forced out of the party to have to form his own relatively-small party because he questioned Mrs Sonia Gandhi’s aspiration to be the prime minister cannot, but be still fresh in many minds. Likewise, there was the wily senior minister Arjun Singh who quit the Congress, found himself isolated and returned to its fold abjectly.
If, as a result of this or because of the Congress’ proclivity for building up the Nehru-Gandhi family as a demi-god the party is composed of utterly spineless leaders it reflects their desperation to claw back to power even at the cost of their self-respect and honour.
It was bad enough for Rahul Gandhi to allow himself to be catapulted to the party chief’s chair at such a crucial juncture but shocking in the extreme to admonish other leaders who felt encouraged to foist their sons to appropriate the slots of Lok Sabha candidates at the cost of more deserving and grassroot nominees.
Rahul, in particular, took on Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram for having put self before the party by putting up their sons in the race, devoting considerable time to help them to win while caring little for the others.
Not for a moment did he think of how his mother had foisted him as party president in succession to her, or his sister Priyanka who was pronounced general secretary of the party in the middle of the electoral campaign overlooking the silent claim of others. If by dint of being born into the Nehru-Gandhi family, they have a natural right to rule over a country of India’s size and population, there is something wrong somewhere.
Rahul Gandhi certainly has a right to question his party’s senior leaders for promoting dynastic politics but should he not do some soul-searching to see where he stands as a beneficiary of dynastic politics. The three states which voted BJP governments out a few months ago have elected their BJP nominees in the Lok Sabha elections in a reversal of the earlier vote pattern.
Rahul has conveniently offered his resignation from the leadership of the party, taking responsibility for its catastrophic defeat, knowing full well that it would be turned down by a sycophantic Congress Working Committee. The CWC on its part must for once hold him accountable for flawed leadership.
This time’s resignation may be no different from five years ago when Sonia and Rahul had both quit, only to be ‘persuaded’ to continue while scapegoats were found for the Congress’ crushing defeat. If this is the way the Congress party will continue to run, it could only fall further in people’s esteem.
Rahul is surrounded by a coterie that has itself faced humiliating defeat. Be it Jyotiraditya Scindia or Salman Khursheed, Milind Deora or Randeep Surjewala (in an earlier byelection) or RPN Singh, Rahul’s coterie has been demolished. Rahul himself has lost the pocket borough seat of Amethi which his family held for decades.
The electoral campaign that Rahul piloted was rotten to the core. His hugging a bewildered Prime Minister Modi after an acrimonious debate in Parliament and then returning to his seat only to wink to his Lok Sabha partymen betrayed how insincere the hug was.
The manner in which he went on and on with the atrocious slogan ‘Modi chor hai’ day in and day out at a crucial time of the campaign alienated him and his party from the people further and further. That this was despite a Supreme Court clean chit to the government on the Rafale aircraft deal and in the face of the absence of anything to prove wrongdoing added a macabre touch to the allegations of corruption.
Rahul has consistently shown a shocking lack of depth and understanding of complex Indian and international issues and the contrast with Modi has been all too obvious and stark.All said and done, whether Rahul rules by proxy while formally stepping down or he sticks to the saddle, the Congress apparently has no future.
As it stands, it has been wiped out completely from as many as 18 states in many of which it held sway not long ago. In some, it has a token presence. It will totter along getting increasingly irrelevant unless and new, dynamic leadership emerges that draws it away from its pathetic presence.
Kamlendra Kanwar is a political commentator and columnist. He has authored four books.
