Five things Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi should stop doing in 2019

Illustration by Soham Sen/ThePrint

Ring out the old, dear leaders.

As we enter the big election year, we’re going to see, hear and think a lot about two people: Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi. No matter how much anyone tries otherwise, these two faces are going to personify the 2019 campaign.

Here’s a humble request to the two leaders to stop doing these things in 2019.

Narendra Modi

1. Stop blaming Nehru: Really? You’re going to blame Nehru for all your failures? Nobody’s buying it, not even your core Congress-hating Hindutvawaadivoters. Nehru didn’t eat your homework and Rahul Gandhi is not even capable of eating it. Leadership is about taking responsibility, not blaming dead predecessors. The more Modi blames Nehru, the more he reminds people about those who established the Indian democracy. Negative campaigning doesn’t work in India. Remember your own 2014 campaign?

2. Stop hiding and manipulating data: Those not getting jobs won’t feel better about it just because you’ve stopped publishing unemployment data. By not counting farmer suicides, has Narendra Modi solved agrarian distress? And it’s a matter of global shame that our GDP data is being questioned because the Modi government keeps revising it to make it look better than the UPA years. Fake numbers don’t hide reality. Everyone knows we’re going through a slowdown. In 2019, let’s come clean on economic data, ok?

3. Stop using government agencies as a political tool: Tax raids and court cases against opponents have become a joke, especially since they seem to target key opposition leaders just when their state is about to have an election. Yes, the Congress has done enough of this. But if you’re such a political wizard Modi ji, why not play on a level playing field? Not just CBI, but myriad agencies have been let loose on the opposition and critics. As the 2019 election nears, harassment of opposition leaders could backfire, making them look like martyrs.

4. Stop destroying institutional autonomy: Democracy is not just about elections. It’s also about autonomous institutions that help run a country smoothly. Be it the Reserve Bank of India or the Central Bureau of Investigation, be it the Central Information Commission or the non-existent Lokpal, the Modi government has done its best to destroy institutional autonomy. The concentration of power in the PMO does not augur well for democracy. Let’s stop being so power hungry in 2019, please?

5. Stop looking at the camera: You are the Prime Minister. The camera follows you. You don’t have to follow the camera. Stop being so obsessed with producing beautiful pictures. Don’t change your designer kurtas three times a day. Do great work and all eyes will follow you anyway.

Rahul Gandhi

1. Stop making gaffes: The single biggest reason why Rahul Gandhi still doesn’t have wide acceptability as a leader is his gaffes. When he says Kumbhakaran instead of Kumbha Ram, he sounds like he knows neither about Kumbhkaran nor Kumbha Ram and that he doesn’t even know why the gaffe is funny. The gaffes remind people that Rahul Gandhi isn’t smart enough to lead the country. (Here’s why Modi’s gaffes don’t cost him as much.)

2. Stop taking so many foreign holidays: You can’t position yourself as the leader of the poor, the underprivileged, the marginalised and the downtrodden when you take frequent foreign holidays. As it is Rahul Gandhi is seen as a deracinated leader who doesn’t understand what it really is like to be an ordinary Indian. It’s not a rare thing. Rahul Gandhi jets off to Another World several times a year, often with or without excuse. Why does he have to, have to, have to go abroad on his birthday and New Year’s Eve?

3. Stop doing Rafale, Rafale: The Rafale controversy had its moment. It helped Rahul Gandhi put the BJP on the back foot– but only at the level of the national media. That was good enough. The issue did not resonate much with the people. Now that the Supreme Court has ended the controversy, Rahul Gandhi needs to retire it. Whether or not there was a Rafale scam, the story is over. Let’s move on.

4. Stop thinking you’re a mass leader: Rahul Gandhi gets the credit for winning Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh because they were won under his leadership – just as he gets the blame for the elections the Congress has lost under his watch. Yet Rahul can at best take credit for the strategies. Voters voted against the BJP, and at best for the farm loan waivers –but not for Rahul Gandhi. It will help Rahul Gandhi do well in 2019 if he stops thinking he’s a mass leader. Fewer rallies would mean fewer gaffes. Enabling his people and alliance partners to win from behind the scenes would suit him better.

5. Stop saying Bhaiyya and rolling your sleeves:  Short sleeves or full, decide what suits you. Rolling up one’s sleeves can be a sign of preparing for combat. But if they keep falling back and you keep rolling them up, you’re the opposite of combat-ready. You’re a man who’s not in control of things. Also, let’s please stop saying ‘Dekho Bhaiyya’. It doesn’t sound authentic. You grew up in Lutyens’ Delhi, not Lakhimpur Kheri, and everyone knows that.