Page 23 - English Tehelka Issue 7 - April 15, 2018

CoverStory presidential polls

Rahul has apparently come Yashwant Sinha, Shatrughan
out of his mother Sonia Sinha and Arun Shourie
Gandhi’s shadows recently met Mamata

rahul Gandhi may not Rahul matuRing like wine many as 34 election rallies in his home state. His unusual the BJP for its divisive ideology and its failings on the gov-
decision to visit a number of temples sent the message
ernance front. He has contrasted the BJP’s commitment
be the best of speakers; The plenary session highlighted Rahul Gandhi’s across that he is a “devotee of Lord Shiva”. This strategy to an organisation with the Congress’s voice for the entire
nation. If the economic resolution took the middle path,
went a long way in influencing the traditional Hindu
coming of age and maturing like wine. His top mo-
he is neither fiery nor ments in 2017-18 began with a speech at Univer - voters of Gujarat. As a strategic move, he consciously the political resolution was open-ended with a call for a
“pragmatic approach of working with like-minded parties
sity of Berkeley. His candid admission that a “certain
avoided mentioning Muslims specifically during his
election campaigns fully well knowing that they would
amount of arrogance” had crept into the Congress
and evolving a common workable programme”.
dramatic but is simple midway through UPA II and that the vision of the UPA any way support the Congress party. However, the deft neither fiery nor dramatic but is simple and to the point.
Rahul Gandhi may not be the best of speakers, he is
government formed in 2004 had a ‘sell-by date’ of
move helped in dispelling the popular notion that the
and to the point. only 10 years, were trending topics. Rahul also real- Congress works for the “appeasement of Muslims”. He There is lack of articulation in Rahul Gandhi and Modi has
to watch out for this. Though hitting out, he loves to play as
ised the importance of social media and his social
has already shown glimpses of how he will run the party
However, there is a lack media team has made it sure that social posts from @ when veteran leader Mani Shankar Aiyar was removed a nice humble person who is being targeted by bullies. He
TheOfficeofRG are noticed. His sarcasm was at its best
knows that the Congress had failed to connect with the
from primary membership after he called PM Modi a
of articulation when he introduced his followers to his dog, tweet- “neech kisam ka aadmi”. people when BJP took over the entire social media while
When needed, Rahul Gandhi takes on a more aggres-
Congress was caught in a slumber. Congress under Rahul
ing: “Ppl have been asking who tweets for this guy..It’s
me..Pidi. I am way (cooler) than him. Look what I can do sive note and his tone becomes vitriolic when attacking has become aggressive on social media, countering the
with a tweet..oops..treat!” BJP forcefully.
After “suit-boot ki sarkar” that showed he could Rahul Gandhi himself is no more the “Pappu” who
bite with reference to the PM’s monogrammed suit, Modi and BJP made fun of and made the country believe
lead the party. Naik sent his resignation to the All the new jingle for “Gabbar Singh Tax” referring to the old doubts about he was a clown. Now, he is a totally transformed per -
India Congress Committee, ending his stint as Goa Centre’s ‘flawed and hasty implementation’ of the tax son, confident, witty and friendly. The old doubts about
Pradesh Congress Committee president since July 8, regime, coined just before the Gujarat elections, made rahul’s leadership his leadership qualities that had been exploited by his
2017, when he had replaced senior party leader Luiz- the government bring down the GST rates of 200 opponents are slowly fading in the background. Ironi-
inho Faleiro. Naik was elected to the Lok Sabha in items and pruning the top tax slab of 28 per cent to qualities that had been cally, the BJP had tried to hijack the Congress legacy of the
1984 from North Goa constituency and twice to Rajya just 50 items. He also slammed demonetisation deci- freedom struggle but Rahul Gandhi has shown the zeal
Sabha later. All this comes days after Rahul Gandhi sion at a time of agrarian distress. His single-handed exploited by his opponents to fight back. He is reinventing himself and making the
was authorised to nominate the Congress Work- election campaign and strategy of involving local Congress party as a party of the future that can take on
ing Committee (CWC). It is learnt that the All India leaders of other outfits forced the BJP to bring out its are slowly fading in the the might of the BJP in the epic battle called next general
Congress Committee (AICC) delegates had raised big guns, finding that the ground had started slipping election né Mahabharata 2019!
their hands to unanimously authorise Gandhi to in its fortress of 22 years. Modi, who was the state’s
reconstitute the CWC. chief minister for 12 years, was forced to address as background letters@tehelka.com
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