Completely disconnected from the electoral performance of his party, which recently suffered a near rout in the three Northeast Assembly polls, the Congress party’s de facto chief Rahul Gandhi continues to make headlines. Not about the state of the party which effectively is controlled by his family, but about the state of the nation under the Narendra Modi dispensation. Of course, whether he is an ordinary citizen or a political leader, everyone is free to air his views. Therefore, no one should cavil at the Gandhi scion offering his take on the state of affairs in the country. Not even when such criticism is made from a foreign pulpit.
In these days of instant flow of news and views across the globe it is hypocritical to expect that foreign audiences will remain uninformed about what goes on in the country. We think Rahul did no wrong speaking freely in London at various engagements organised by Congress-friendly elements in the British civil society circles. Instead, the focus should be on what, and not where, he spoke. And it is what he spoke, in our view, that is problematic. Over the years the intellectual development of Rahul Gandhi has stayed in the hands of elements who pretend to be well-read and well-travelled. They in turn have tried to graft on his innocent mind high-falutin thought processes which essentially remain beyond his ken. Thus, he can be heard regurgitating half-baked ideas and opinions without sounding coherent on any of them. Authentic and fully authorised social media videos offer ample evidence of an unreconstructed dynast whose valiant effort to imbibe high intellectual/philosophical credentials fall flat to reveal the base matter beneath.
This is not the first time he has likened the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to the Muslim Brotherhood, calling it a secret society out to subvert democracy upon capturing power. At different engagements in London he spoke of the capture of institutions of governance, and lamented the attack on free speech and the media under the Modi dispensation. A sharp counter from the BJP was expected. It accused him of being influenced by “anarchist elements and a Maoist thought process through his minions”.
But what the political pundits may have failed to notice is the sheer shrillness of Rahul’s attack on the RSS. Regardless of his failure to develop further on his odd comparison of the RSS with the Muslim Brotherhood, it may well reveal an attempt by the Congress party to try and rediscover the old electoral glory by attracting the substantial Muslim vote-bank. Post-Babri Masjid demolition, Muslims had veered away from the Congress. But after flirting with a host of non-Congress parties, Muslims are once again feeling bereft of a political anchor. They have tried the Samajwadi Party, BSP, JD(U) and a couple of others but feel let down because, facing Hindutva pressure, none is ready to openly espouse their cause, address their socio-economic conditions, and fast-track their move out of the stultifying ghettos. While in power, the Congress failed to do it, using the community only as a vote-bank. Now that the party is down in the dumps, calling the RSS names from all available platforms might be part of an electoral strategy to revive itself. Remember how Rahul and a couple of other Congress leaders a few years ago had spoken of “Hindu terrorism”, an equivalence made with Islamic terrorism to appease the self-same Muslim vote-bank. Unfortunately, the strategy of tarring the RSS with the same terror brush seems doomed to failure, mainly because the Muslims have since moved on, weighing their options with Muslim-centric parties such as Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul-Muslimeen and Badruddin Ajmal’s All India United Democratic Front.
The Muslim shift away from the centrist political parties to community-centric outfits can be potentially fraught with trouble for Indian nationhood. The community must be weaned away from these religion-specific groups to join the mainstream of Indian political life. But the way the Gandhi scion tries to abuse the RSS, putting itself on par with Muslim Brotherhood, he stands in danger of further alienating the majority community while failing to impress the largest minority in the country. Maybe it is time he stopped pretending to be a great intellectual/philosopher and tasked those matured in the hard grind of competitive politics to mentor him, rather than those flaunting Oxbridge degrees but with little experience of the grassroots organisation.
