A few months ago, Vir Das set the internet on fire with his ‘two Indias’ standup show in Washington DC. Now, Rahul Gandhi has done the same — except his audience and stage was Parliament. And his tryst with ‘two Indias’ was about billionaires vs unemployed and a Delhi shehanshah vs state pride.
Though Rahul Gandhi, the Congress scion, is very rarely a newsmaker in Indian politics, this week, he managed to get politicians across the spectrum — from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) — to sit up and take note. For the sheer tone and content of his speech, it is quite possible he was heard even outside India— in the US, and maybe even in China and Pakistan. That is why Rahul Gandhi is ThePrint’s Newsmaker of the Week.
From Kalavati to a Modi hug that became a subject of countless memes, to now ‘two Indias’, Gandhi has come a long way. But a slew of exits from the Congress, including in the current election season, tell an entirely different story about the leader and his ability to translate his words into political success.
Calling him irrelevant has served the BJP’s purpose for the better part of the last eight years of the Narendra Modi government, but Wednesday was different.
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One speech and many responses
Rahul’s speech managed to force a response from the BJP leadership. If social media buzz is any indication, the Congress leader’s speech was watched over 1.6 million times in just five hours, pointed out a user on Twitter.
1.6 M people watched Rahul Gandhi’s speech in 5 Hrs.
Rahul is the Hero 🙂 pic.twitter.com/4b7sazevnk
— Aaron Mathew (@AaronMathewINC) February 2, 2022
As always, the internet was divided. While some saw his speech as ‘coming of age’, calling him an honest speaker who didn’t shy away from taking names — Ambani and Adani — in Parliament, others dismissed it as just another gimmick. In many ways, Rahul Gandhi spoke not much like a politician, and yet he did, treading a fine line juxtaposing the old version of nationalism that his party stands for against the one that has a proponent in the BJP. The message was not lost on anyone listening.
Solid speech by @RahulGandhi in LS yesterday..Raised plight of Unorganised sector, Unemployment, students protests, need to respect India’s diversity, Farmers protests,
totalitarian attitude of govt. , the erosion of institutions of the state, Pegasus & National security..
👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽— Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) February 2, 2022
Rahul Gandhi’s speech completely overshadowed the budget speech, single-handedly.
— Deeksha Nitin Raut (@DeekshaNRaut) February 3, 2022
Rahul Gandhi’s speech to parliament yesterday is eminently worth listening to. It defends the only idea of India that can work: respectful of states, sympathetic to the poor & deprived, one based on conversation & negotiation. If Delhi imposes itself on India, we will lose India.
— Ashutosh Varshney (@ProfVarshney) February 3, 2022
Yesterday, Rahul Gandhi taught BJP that its possible to deliver a speech without crying or using a teleprompter.
— Deeksha Nitin Raut (@DeekshaNRaut) February 3, 2022
That a battery of ministers in the government had to come out and respond underlines the BJP’s understanding that its messaging had been challenged with some seriousness in a long time in a Lok Sabha speech that lasted for nearly 25 minutes.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar responded to Rahul Gandhi’s allegations against the Modi government’s foreign policy. He took to Twitter to give the Gandhi scion some history lessons from the Congress’ previous regimes and asked whether China and Pakistan were distant back then. Jaishankar also responded to Rahul’s allegations of India not being able to find a head of State to attend the Republic Day ceremony, as guest. The minister asked if Rahul had missed that five Central Asian Presidents had held a virtual summit on 27 January.
Rahul Gandhi alleged in Lok Sabha that it is this Government which brought Pakistan and China together.Perhaps, some history lessons are in order:
-In 1963,Pakistan illegally handed over the Shaksgam valley to China.
-China built the Karakoram highway through PoK in the 1970s.
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) February 2, 2022
Targeting the Modi government on its foreign policy, Rahul Gandhi had said: “The single biggest strategic goal of India’s foreign policy is to keep Pakistan and China separate and you brought them closer”.
Union law minister Kiren Rijiju demanded an immediate apology from Rahul Gandhi for his remarks on the judiciary and the Election Commission. The Congress leader had called them instruments of “destroying the voice of the Union of states”.
“Earlier he used to behave like India’s Yuvraj and now he thinks he is the ‘King’ of India”, Rijiju tweeted.
Rahul’s speech also invoked response from his old party colleague and Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma who said “high command mindset is INC’s be all and end all and the people of India know it well”.
BJP leaders and workers also targetted Rahul, accusing him of seeing India not ‘as a nation’ but as a ‘union of states’. The Congress leader had said the BJP cannot treat India as its ‘kingdom’ as India is a Union of states.
Amit Malviya, in-charge of BJP’s National Information & Technology Department, said that Rahul should read the Constitution again. “His claim that India is not a nation but a union of state is deeply problematic and dangerous,” Malviya added.
It appears that the BJP brainstormed on Rahul’s speech, dissected it and then came the replies from different sections of the party. Not the usual dismissive approach of the past.
Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin thanked Rahul on Twitter for “voicing the long-standing arguments of Tamils in the Parliament.”
Rahul had said: “There is a vision that India can be ruled by a stick from the Centre. Every time that has happened, the stick has been broken”. “You will never ever in your entire life, rule over the people of Tamil Nadu. It is a partnership, it is not a kingdom. You think you can suppress them, we smash that idea of a king. Now that idea of a king has come back,” added.
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Reminding old habits
There were also those who reminded that the Congress leader has a habit of delivering fiery speeches in Parliament and then going on vacations.
Rahul Gandhi speaks sense. Then goes for holiday. https://t.co/uUAXPyI45z
— No if, no but, only Jatt چوہدری جٹ 🇮🇳 He/His/Him (@LeChaudhrySahab) February 2, 2022
Rahul Gandhi’s speech had carefully chosen themes and unemployment was the biggest one. Whether politics of jobs can counter communal politics, only time will tell. In the last few years, Gandhi has become more direct with his attacks on the government. During the winter session of Parliament, the Congress leader had demanded that correct Covid-19 death figures be revealed and a compensation of Rs four lakh provided to those who lost their loved ones to the virus.
Views are personal.
(Edited by Anurag Chaubey)