Indian media is no short of ideas. The leading television channels attach a moment to everything that happens in the country and around the globe, which are then blindly followed by others in the trade. Such terminologies, irrespective of whether they make any real sense, are so contagious that they spread from the conversation on the streets to intellectual discourses.
The latest in the long list of momentary terminologies is the ‘Rahul Moment’. The latest phase of polls in a number of states was branded as the mini general election, not because polls were being held in a good number of important states but because, the ‘Prime Minister in waiting’ Rahul Gandhi single handedly took up the cudgels of making the Indian National Congress, the grand old party of Indian politics, relevant in the country’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, which sends the largest number (85) of representatives to the lower house of the Indian parliament.
Like the Indian media, Indian politics is also no short of contrasting colours, and it would interest any political thinker. One such interesting shade is provided by Uttar Pradesh, which so far has returned the largest number (eight) of Indian Prime Ministers and yet the two major national parties, the Congress and the BJP, are nowhere near the political power in the state.
Before the concept of the Indian nation state emerged, the vast piece of land stretching from Afghanistan to Burma have been ruled by kings and emperors and Indians fancy such celebrated company even after the country emerged, and takes pride, as a successful republic and also as the world’s largest democracy. The fascination of the Indian electorate and the media with the Nehru-Gandhi family can be seen as a function of such attitude.
Despite, the nationwide interest, Rahul Gandhi has miserably failed, as the Uttar Pradesh election result demonstrates. If the electoral verdict is any indicator, the Congress party continues to be trailing as fourth in a list of influential political parties in the state, which has backed Rahul Gandhi’s great grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru, grandmother Indira Gandhi and father Rajiv Gandhi to the position of Indian premiership. This is not a new phenomenon in India, the only difference this time is the fact that Rahul Gandhi has doctored a situation depicting an expectation of his party’s revival in the state and accordingly led the campaign during the assembly polls.
Many saw the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh as a test for Rahul Gandhi before he assumes the most coveted position in Indian politics from Manmohan Singh, who was made the Prime Minister in 2004 to keep the seat warm for the Nehru-Gandhi scion. Even from a distance, one would infer that Rahul Gandhi has failed the test, not least because he was unable to bring the Congress to power in the state, but because of his demonstration of lack of political understanding.
Rather than trying to project the age old party as a platform, reflective of the mass aspiration of the Indian population, Rahul Gandhi belied mass expactation by resorting to the arrogance that the Congress is used to. If Rahul Gandhi can blame the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party for the lack development and progress in the state, then his party needs to answer similar charges on as to why India is lacking behind in so many areas, despite the Congress being in power for most of the time since 1947. He also failed to offer a credible explanation as to why the Congress-led UPA government was so sipped in corruption, lacked the political authority to govern and was insensitive to the issues affecting the ordinary man following a policy paralysis.
As indications became clear that the Congress was not doing well enough, sycophants within the party, like Digvijay Singh and Rita Bahuguna Joshi rushed to stick their necks out to become the sacrificial lamb. People used to the Congress culture are well aware that sacrificial lambs get looked after well in the long run. May be the likes of Bahuguna-Joshi and Singh will be accommodated as governors in the future.
Rahul Gandhi needs to acknowledge a few things following the Uttar Pradesh outcome. He should only try to preach what he, his party and the government led by the Congress are practising. Although Uttar Pradesh has been a Congress bastion for many years after Indian independence, yet the party leaders should now come to terms with the fact that such a phenomenon is only a matter of the past. Old hats like Salman Khurshid, Sriprakash Jaiswal and Beni Prasad Verma should now make way for fresh blood. Merely promoting the youth at the top is not enough to rejuvenate the new generation at the grassroots. The outcome in Amethi and Rae Bareli is also a stark reminder that the people in Uttar Pradesh want to look ahead, like the rest of the world, rather than delving in the past.
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Tirthankar.Bandyopadhyay.Blog@gmail.com
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