Green shoots appear for Congress

KV Prasad

OVER the past fortnight, there is a renewed sense of hope among everyday Congresspersons for two reasons — faultlines developing in the otherwise invincible Narendra Modi government in its pursuit of building a "New India" and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi indicating his readiness to be at the helm amid fresh efforts for an image makeover.

The turn of events over the past few weeks suggests that the Modi government's grip on the narrative that it has assiduously built over three years is slackening. The enthusiasm that rode the Modi government into office is on the wane and the BJP under the dual leadership of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah is losing its mojo.

By all accounts, the Indian economy is facing headwind and this is not good news for anyone. The downturn has got almost every section of society feeling cheated by the grandiose promise of achhe din at the start of the May 2014 innings by PM Modi.

In this context, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's assessment, in his US speech, that the inability of UPA government to create jobs that brought the Modi government in, remains unaddressed, is fair.

After interacting with a cross-section of the people, Congress managers believe that Rahul Gandhi's frank discussions under public gaze will alter the perception about the potential of the young Gandhi to assume a more serious role as the head of India's oldest political party.

Rahul Gandhi's sojourn in the United States was crafted to repackage the leader and, in the process, shatter the image of him being a 'Pappu', an uncharitable portrayal of this young leader across cyber space.

But then, a large portion of the blame in allowing such a narrative to be constructed flows from the frittering away of the strong political capital that Rahul Gandhi debuted with — in the 2004 parliamentary politics.

Barring a few occasions, Rahul Gandhi has at best remained a reluctant politician, shying from taking a proactive role under his mother Sonia Gandhi in the Congress party.

For the Congress, the imminence of Rahul Gandhi taking over the reins of the party has been around for four years — to be precise, since the Jaipur convention in January, 2014. The latest buzz at 10, Akbar Road — the Congress party headquarters — is that the change of guard is now round the corner.

Congress media managers were swift with their spiel that Gandhi's American tour, interactions with a cross-section of society, including influential think-tanks, prominent US politicians and resourceful Indian-Americans, was a part of a well thought-out strategy before Rahul assumed the onerous responsibility of Congress presidentship.

This sounds good as an exercise to bring about a gradual change of mindset among this section of articulate non-resident Indians who retain deep interests in affairs back home. During election time, many of them volunteer  to work for political parties of their choice, hoping to make a difference. The move to grant voting rights to NRIs will only add strength to these voices from distant lands.

However, PM Modi remains a great hit with the diaspora and during the last three years, his outreach to the community coinciding with his foreign travels has proved to be a high point of connect. The consummate politician that he is, with an ear to the ground and feel of the pulse, Modi has brought the authority of office at these meetings by making policy announcements on easing restrictions or removing irritants faced by the NRIs.

The foray by Rahul to the United States is at best a smart but limited venture, which can be a building block. The real task is at home where the Congress faces immense challenges.

With the past three years in the Opposition in Delhi and increasingly acquiring a similar role in many states, the Congress by now must have had a good assessment of the BJP under Modi and Shah who operate in tandem with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Time and again, the Modi-Shah leadership has demonstrated that the BJP is capable of unleashing a great campaign and the party workforce translating it into electoral successes, demonstrating greater organisational cohesiveness and decimating the opposition. The Uttar Pradesh elections stupefied even the most electoral battle hardened pundits.

Since the BJP’s UP landslide, a debate has been raging, comparing the Modi-Shah dexterity in political management with the feeble counter posed to it by the Congress under vice-president Rahul Gandhi. The party and Rahul Gandhi will need to do much more to convince the people that the Congress under the young leader is the future. Rahul’s US trip is at best a green shoot for the Congress that is still scrambling for a leader. For the GOP, hanooz Dilli door ast. 

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