The Congress party really has a Rahul problem on its hands. Apart from the fact that his moves to ‘reform’ the grand old party are ruffling quite a few feathers among both leaders and rank and file, his stint as the public face of its election campaign is not working out too well either. Because here is the plain truth: Rahul as public speaker just can’t draw the crowds. And now it looks like he can’t keep those who come from leaving either.
The Congress vice President addressed a ‘mega rally’ in Delhi to campaign for incumbent Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Sunday. However the rally, which was held in the Dakshinpuri constituency, a traditional Congress stronghold, did not draw as big a crowd as the party would have liked. And to add insult to injury, people began leaving once he started speaking.
Rahul highlighted the Dikshit government’s development record and attacked the BJP but the crowd didn’t look engaged and sections of it got up to leave. Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit appealed to the crowd to stay put and listen to Rahul but that didn’t stem the thinning.
Although this could have been ascribed to the fact that Gandhi arrived three hours late for the rally, the fact that this is not an isolated incident is clearly causing concern in the party. Earlier this month, AICC general secretary in-charge for the state, Madhusudan Mistry called a review meeting of all the zones in Lucknow to address the problem of thin crowds for Gandhi’s rallies. In Rajasthan, INN Live correspondent Sandipan Sharma said, “Enthused by results of the Congress VP’s rallies in Churu and Alwar, BJP leaders are convinced that the more Rahul speaks, the greater damage he will inflict on the Congress.
Thus, the silent ‘ye dil maange more Rahul’ prayer within the BJP.” Two UP rallies to be addressed by Rahul were cancelled in view of the low turn-outs. The most number of people who have turned up for Rahul’s rallies has been pegged at a maximum of 50,000 by some reports. Given that rally numbers are flaunted by parties as an indicator of a leader’s mass connect, this is not an encouraging number. This situation is not going to help matters for the Congress Vice President.
The feeling that he is effectively ‘sinking’ the Congress ship seems to be the pervasive mood within the party, and the low turnout and engagement at his political rallies will do nothing to assuage this feeling. The situation in the Congress party: But more than the processes, it is his working style that is irking some oldtimers. Gandhi has his own set of advisors, mostly from non-political background, who use technology extensively. Moreover, Gandhi largely depends on his own team and not the old-timers his mother relied upon.
Though members of the old guard hold fort as general secretary in charge of states but those who have his ear are not the typical politicians but who party insiders consider “jholawallahs” (those with NGO background). The report also quotes senior party leaders as saying that Sonia Gandhi seems to be a much better leader who ‘hears everyone out’. “This is by far the main reason why she has been able to hold a coalition together. But this is not the case with Rahul”.
The fact is that these ‘changes’ may have been more palatable for the Congress if Rahul was at least bringing in the crowds. But the fact that he is not even able to do that will win him no backers. The obvious example in this situation is Narendra Modi and the BJP. Modi overcame strong opposition from no less a persona than LK Advani to become the party’s Prime Ministerial candidate, solely because of his popular appeal.
Like Rahul, Modi’s manner of working has been questioned. We have all heard the criticisms. He is a micro manager. He doesn’t trust people. He throws out the old guard and replaces them with ‘his’ people. He is not democratic. The list goes on. But unlike Rahul, Modi has the rank and file behind him. He has the attention of the audiences at his rallies. He has mass appeal. And therefore the BJP could not afford to keep him on the back bench for much longer.
In Rahul’s defence, he may have more long term plans on his mind. But as a senior leader told the Times of India, “Rahul ji says he wants Congress to go back to its old glory of single-party rule. But we are obviously worried about the immediate — 2014 elections”.
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