With the Congress facing humiliating defeats in elections, the question being debated is when the party’s top leader Rahul Gandhi will get the real pulse of India and its changing politics. It is already over two decades since the Gandhi scion joined active politics. The party has to suffer huge losses due to Rahul Gandhi’s controversial statements or conduct. Why did he stand with the opposition on the issue of mimicking Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar? He should have focused on the issue of security breach in Parliament. But Rahul rather preferred to focus on what an MP of a regional party TMC, Kalyan Banerjee, was doing. The incident will not harm TMC. But the Congress will suffer politically, because BJP has got an opportunity to target it over this issue.
A single mistake could be damaging for the party in this age of hyperactive social media. Congress has suffered a lot due to political mistakes it committed in the past two decades. Congress leaders’ statements have led to the defeat of the party in the elections. The examples are Gujarat assembly polls of 2017, and Lok Sabha elections of 2014 and 2019. Use of “Maut Ka Saudagar” and “Neech” remarks caused a material damage to Congress in Gujarat. Similarly, remarks like “Chaiwalla” in 2014 and “Chowkidar Chor Hai” in 2019 proved costly for Congress in the Lok Sabha elections. But Rahul did not learn his lessons. He used the word “panauti” to take a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the recently held Assembly polls.
Now Rahul was seen making a video of Kalyan Banerjee mimicking Dhankhar. While TMC has nothing to do with the politics of the Hindi belt, Congress will face a tough time in Jat dominated Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi and Western UP. Jat politics is already heating up in these states as Dhankhar belongs to Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan. Dhankhar’s Jat accent that is used in rural pockets of the district makes him popular among the community. The BJP has started targeting Congress over this issue. Rahul did all this at a time when the Congress is passing through the worst phase since its foundation, and the Lok Sabha polls are also round the corner. What is more surprising is that Congress President Mallikarjuna Kharge, who has a vast political experience spanning over five decades, is behaving like a novice. He linked the issue to Dalit politics. Kharge also supported Rahul’s caste census politics during the Assembly elections. If he is doing so to save his chair, he is doing a great disservice to the party.
If the Congress loses the Lok Sabha polls in 2024, the blame will be shifted to Kharge. Rahul and his advisors will not be affected. The advisors will find excuses to misguide Rahul. This is the right time when Rahul should connect with the leaders who have a greater understanding of the ground reality. Priyanka Gandhi, Ambika Soni, K.C. Venugopal, Jitendra Singh, Randeep Singh Surjewala, Jairam Ramesh and Ajay Maken are the advisors of Rahul Gandhi. These advisors are fond of communicating in English and do not understand Hindi belt politics. Though they do not have much political knowledge, they keep sharing their inputs with Rahul on one issue or the other. Another advisor is Sam Pitroda who arranged Rahul’s meetings abroad. On the advice of Pitroda, Rahul made certain remarks against the Modi government on foreign soil leading to controversy and embarrassment for the Congress. After the three state defeats, Rahul is not focusing on his foreign campaign.
Some other advisors include K. Raju, K.V. Veju, who has been once in Rahul’s security, Alankar and Kaushal Vidyarthi who accompany him, Sachin Rao, and Kanishk Singh who is said to be the custodian of the property that belongs to Congress. Another name is Sandeep Singh, who was brought by Rahul. Sandeep Singh is working as Priyanka’s personal assistant. It is said that the Chowkidar Chor Hai slogan was coined by these advisors. Rahul ignored the veterans’ advice not to use this slogan. As a result, the Congress faced a massive defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. After a brief spell of silence, Rahul started raking up the Adani issue again. Noticeably, Rahul was not that vocal about the Adani issue during the Bharat Jodo Yatra till it reached Delhi. He focused on common man issues like farmers, women issues, price rise, unemployment, etc. He looked like a changed leader. But he again raised the Adani pitch when the Yatra was nearing the end.
He started speaking about what could have overtones of Muslim appeasement politics. He started getting closer to Mehbooba Mufti, Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abullah in Jammu and Kashmir during the Yatra. This gave another weapon to BJP for its politics of polarisation. Congress got power in Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka. Rahul was under the impression that Congress is now on a comeback trail. He again started targeting Modi. He used “panauti” in Rajasthan in a veiled attack on Modi. It harmed Congress in Rajasthan. It was Priyanka who discovered “panauti” after India lost in the final match of cricket world cup. In fact, Rahul was misguided by his advisors who told him that Congress will now regain power at the Centre. He was apparently told that the grand old party will bag the maximum Lok Sabha seats in Hindi belt states like Rajasthan, MP and Haryana. They presented a rosy picture of Congress poised to get 200 seats. The same figure was in Rahul’s mind in 2017.
So he was confident that Congress was now on a comeback trail. As a result, Rahul started targeting Modi. Congress is now back to square one after its losses. It is standing where it was in 2019. Taking no lessons from this, Rahul again sided with the leaders in Parliament who have no hold in the Hindi belt, like those from the TMC. The mimicry and video-making incident has harmed Congress. Already, the Congress has no significant issues at hand after the recent defeats. It is a fact that Jats had voted for Congress in Rajasthan as they were upset with the BJP. The saffron party had removed Satish Poonia from the post of the state unit president which antagonised the Jats. The same Jat community is now angry with the Congress. In the CWC meeting, Mallikarjuna Kharge has urged Rahul to take out a second Bharat Jodo Yatra. But there is doubt whether the Yatra would make any impact. The BJP’s Yatra from Ayodhya at the same time will be dominating the public discourse. Moreover, I.N.D.I alliance constituents may not approve Rahul’s second Yatra. As of now, Congress looks to be clueless ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.