Rahul Gandhi is trying to reinvent himself. Yet again. And he is making the same mistakes. Yet again. The big problem with the Congress leader’s nth ‘comeback’ is that he refuses to leave his big problems behind.
Rahul Gandhi’s slew of ‘interviews’ — with economists Raghuram Rajan and Abhijit Banerjee as well as industrialist Rajiv Bajaj — underscore everything that is wrong with him. His entitlement, amazing ability to live in his own comfortable bubble instead of connecting with the masses, and desire to listen and talk to only those who agree with him have been among his biggest failings. Unfortunately, Rahul n.0 is coming across as no different.
Rahul Gandhi attempting to make a comeback itself is amusing, considering he stepped down as Congress president, despite several in his party pleading him not to, and sulked for a long time after that. Essentially, his exits and entries are entirely based on his whims and fancies, a message that gets reinforced repeatedly.
This latest remodelling shows he is obviously gearing up to sit on the throne again, and for that, he has decided to make his mark by taking on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.
However, while Rahul Gandhi’s intent isn’t wrong, his method is. His idea of trying to corner the Narendra Modi-led government on uncomfortable issues such as the slowing economy and the jobless workers’ crisis is the obvious political move any serious opposition would and should make, but his manner of doing it is silly and ill-advised.
Also read: Lockdown flattened the wrong curve — GDP instead of Covid: Rajiv Bajaj tells Rahul Gandhi
Problematic image, flawed method
What Rahul Gandhi has always suffered from is the burden of his image — of being an entitled dynast, disconnected from ground reality, unable to understand realpolitik, lack of consistency, and refusing to get out of his cocoon. Not many voters have taken him seriously as a politician. I have travelled across several parts of India to cover elections, and found many echoing that sentiment.
Modi’s soaring popularity didn’t help Gandhi’s cause even as he has pitted himself directly against the BJP’s trump card.
What Rahul Gandhi needs, if at all he insists on continuing in politics and leading the Congress, is a complete facelift. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like things are headed that way.
Consider this. Rahul Gandhi is engaging with all like-minded people — his ilk of elite and uncomfortable-with-Modi personalities. Raghuram Rajan resigned as RBI governor in 2016 and has since been criticising the Modi government. Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee’s Left-leaning approach to economy suits Rahul Gandhi and he played a crucial role in conceptualising Congress’ NYAY scheme ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Rajiv Bajaj and Rahul’s families go back a long way and the bonhomie they shared during their interaction was clearly visible.
The Congress scion also held an interaction with public healthcare experts Dr Ashish Jha and Johan Giesecke.
In all these interactions, Rahul Gandhi is operating well within his comfort zone, and not really doing anything to reach out to the masses. Twitter hashtags such as #RahulShowsTheWay weren’t very effective either.
These attempts are nearly as bad as BJP spokespersons interviewing BJP ministers. And Modi gets away with a lot of ludicrous stuff simply because of his popularity and a well-oiled social media machine working round the clock to keep his ‘development man’ image intact. Rahul Gandhi doesn’t have that advantage.
Therefore, what the Congress leader needs to do is connect with his voters, hold virtual rallies, and find a coherent theme to corner the Modi government. Gandhi must also allow dissenting intellectuals and journalists to interview him, and hold free-wheeling media interactions (digitally). Moreover, instead of making it all about his grandstanding, he should focus more on selling the Congress, the good work done by his party’s chief ministers in handling the coronavirus crisis and letting them take the centre stage.
It’s hardly an argument that Prime Minister Modi is the most undemocratic leader and refuses to take questions from the media or get rid of his monologues. But this is all the more reason for Rahul Gandhi to stand out and make an effort to distinguish himself from Modi.
Also read: BJP questions, BJP answers — party’s new social media experiment as Modi govt completes a year
Why Rahul Gandhi?
At some point, the Congress must explain why Rahul Gandhi is investing so much in making a comeback, and if he is, why he is not officially heading the party at an unprecedented time like this.
Rahul Gandhi gave up the post of Congress president a long time ago. Right now, he is just another parliamentarian. This raises a question: Why is ‘just another’ Congress MP taking on the mantle and trying to emerge as the torchbearer of his party during a pandemic, when so many of Congress’ chief ministers are actually fighting the crisis in their respective states?
This again points to the same problem — entitlement. Rahul Gandhi, by virtue of being Rahul Gandhi, will act as per his fancy, choosing to walk out when he is upset and deciding to waltz back in when he wishes to.
Not that him leading the Congress is anything short of a disaster, but the right thing to do when you want to hog all the limelight is to first at least take on the responsibility and accountability of a crucial position.
The Congress leader needs to think hard, entirely re-imagine his approach to politics, and stop being so self-indulgent, if at all he wants to remain a politician. Because this way, he harms the Congress by repeatedly reminding the voter how ineffective its leader is.
Views are personal.
I mean who are you ‘Mr. Columnist’ to judge Rahul Gandhi? He is a person who is always in front of people. Good or bad he is there. Let people of the country decide whether he is worthy or not. We never see the other angle in which he takes the blames and trolls and unlike the fascist Modi govt, he never blames back or jails anyone.
Why is that one perspective formed about a person can never be changed? All the “critics” in the comments who trolled RG in different ways, I have a question for them. Are they all perfect in their profession? Don’t they make mistakes? Isn’t there a process of learning for them?
Its very easy to sit back on the couch and troll people ( irrespective of their profession and status) and equally hard to step into the real world and do the task.
By the way, even Modi isn’t doing a great job. And worst of all, he doesn’t even have time to learn anymore?
Why are you trying to prop up an immature person who isn’t a leader material. Columnists like you are nostalgic about the perks that used to be thrown at darbaris to write columns and create a positive opinion about the Royalty.
Time have changed and darbar is a history now so please get used to the present reality.
If I were Rahul, 2 main issues concerning our nation our society would be the priority. Tax base increasing from present pathetic 6^ therabout and next stop freebies and instead up skill and re skill. Corruption and dyanst next. He should lead austere life. No family and be a monk. Yes for public service to society The leader has to keep his family away. U will see him re emerging.
Rahul is very glad to continue as the “de facto” Congress President but is scared to take over as its “de jure” President. Its the same old bimari. “Power without responsibility.”
The author is spot on. The lockdowns and especially the migrant crisis was a very good opportunity for the Congress to win over the people of India. With their vast network across the country they could have organised food distribution programmes to the migrants. Instead, we never saw or heard of Rahul Gandhi during the initial lockdown period.
From his video conferences and other public interactions, I think Rahul Gandhi is of a below-mediocre intelligence. He has lost credibility and he only helps BJP in getting votes. Whenever he opens his mouth, those who voted BJP are glad that they voted BJP.
How long khangress can whip a dead horse. Lot of people who had supported khangress earlier are now asking, why the joker is still there. I told them, the moron is still there because of his illiterate Italian barmaid mummy ji. There is no other reason. And the leadership will be shared only by the ghandy phamily.??
Learn to spell dude
Please send him to sabbatical tour for at least five years
I beg to differ on the author about Rahul Gandhi’s disconnect and his problems continuing the same way. First of all, the media is not giving him true credibility and allowing him to present the facts for obvious reasons. That is the reason why the chap has to resort to social media and not approach journalists. The same case was reported during Rafale deal alleged scam when politicians claimed that no media was allowing it to be exposed and hence they had to undertake physical visits to different parts of the states. Also, it is RG who has visited the migrants, spoken to them to know their woes. But of course the media never projected it the way it should have. About the leadership aspect, RG is trying to take charge not because he gave up and is desperate, but someone has to. If such was the case with the Congress about leadership, it would have never given opportunities to Manmohan Singh and other previous leaders and projected themselves.
“Also, it is RG who has visited the migrants, spoken to them to know their woes. But of course the media never projected it the way it should have. “- Did you see the photos of the migrants that Pappu visited on the streets of Delhi arriving in a SUV? Did not know Pappu had sold his Aaloo-se-Sona banane waala machine to his followers that these poor migrants could come to meet him for the photo-shoot on Delhi’s streets, in a airconditioned 70 lakh SUV! No wonder people like you are so devoted fans of Pappu.
It appears the author is nudging congress to change its leader and fight Modi…..perhaps the author’s worry?
it seems that print started judging personality of leaders like other media which become either mouthpiece of bjp or pm
Rahul Gandhi lacks vision and leadership qualities. As a leader he is should be capable of using his own judgement to decide what is wrong and what is right. During last parliament elections calling prime minister a thief was a disaster. No body is going to believe that Mr. Modi is a corrupt man. The strategy was ill advised and ill conceived. Similarly Rahul Gandhi should know that by abandoning Amethi he is neglecting the sentiments of whole hindi belt. When root becomes weak a tree can not survive. This is the tragedy with the Congress today. A rootless person cannot be the leader of this country.
I highly appreciate authors and other biased media channels who are working day and night for money and fame. Kudos to you guys.
There is more than Modi and Gandhi in this country and mass ought to understand this.
Yes, Modi is good business man and he knows how to market the products. BJP has become symbol of Hinduism and creating unnecessary confusion in India which is above all the religions and Gandhi is being targeted because of the emergency imposed by his predecessors and bjp, nda and Rajat sharma (India tv reporter) etc were the victim. So, Modi Vs Gandhi is the only thing which is discussed and getting politicized every nook and corner of India and abroad. This is revenge politics which has already disturbed India a lot, whether it’s a Godhra Massacre or something else.
We have serious health infrastructure issues at ground level accross the tier 2 cities, towns, villages etc. I don’t understand how engineers like shah, rajnath singh are unable to comprehend this fact. I cannot expect these from Modi as he hails from some different background where he had to prove himself as a person. But, time has come to think and act as Human not as a religious person. We cannot describe India as religious nation. India believes in Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam which Mr. Vajpayee , Rajiv Gandhi etc. used to say. Economic issues are there along with jobs insecurity in all the sectors. There is no focused advance Research and Development wing in India. We are not talking about jobs based on higher R&D based education. We are talking about how we can open a chai shop and become self-reliant. Higher Education is not a business and money-minded people should understand. We need to create highly qualified and educated scholars not merely the shopkeepers.
We have to relinquish the revenge based politics. People have given mandate to serve the people like a servant not as an autocrat. Hitler tried to do the same thing but he became the curse for the humanity.
The same Rahul Gandhi who was stopped at Boston airport with his Colombian girlfriend with a suitcase full of Dollar notes. As long as Rahul heads Congress, no one can unseat Modi.
“It’s hardly an argument that Prime Minister Modi is the most undemocratic leader and refuses to take questions from the media or get rid of his monologues.”
Even after getting 300+ seats twice, author feels Narendra Modi is undemocratic.
He has biassed viewsnd cannot be changed. Perhaps he wants to show his loyalty to the dynasty.
I agree that Rahul Gandhi has failed to prop up his image and that of the party merely because he is targeting Modi all the time without any tangible solution from his side. His angry stance belies the hallowness in his communication and he fumbles when cornered by press. He should rather hold public debates inviting people from all sections and put up strongly his party’s views which should be commented by his pro as well as anti participants. That will enhance his image as an all inclusive person and his views will be taken more seriously.
Rahul Gandhi in a new avatar as a journalist now! He will be launched a few times more… unfortunately with the same result. There may be many shortcomings of Mr Modi government but I am not ready to vote for gandhi controlled Congress. I will choose ineffective but well intentioned rather than a buffoon
Poohi is a genuine well wisher of mama’s boy . Sadly wasting her talent by playing a role of an unbiased journalist.
Lies have no leg,we INDIAN never thrive up because of octopus like corruption, lack of trust OBNOXIOUS AND PESTIPEROUS SPOOKY GREEDY LYING SCUM BAGS (99 percent of the population)A TO Z Politicians & employees & coman people.main business BETRAYAL.this people’s greediness not for need.by Hook are CROOK they need sudden money to enjoy? public money squander like anything? who cares?lie factory? for latest example Maharashtra CM with out contesting the election he became a CM what experience he have.he should be a MLA,and more over who hold & served as a home minister & finance minister Full term they only able to hold the CM post.we need one nation one rule.must punish the culprit who ever it may be? wealthy &influencial people let off the nook.lot to wright ?no power?
Why cannot the party reinvent itself and look beyond family. Is it difficult or impossible ?
Lol!! It’s like how the Congress mouthpieces like The Print, India Today, The Wire, The Scroll previously claimed that Rahul Gandhi is growing up even at the age of 49 … Good luck next time… He is no more favourable face to Indian citizens . Big thumbs down!!!
There are no flag bearers for Congress. A virtual meeting if planned like Amitbhai Shshji will be a total failure. There will be no Audience. Rahul Gandhi’s Popularity is 0.85% average in India. Who will he address. He does not deserve for that matter none of the Gsndhis/Wadra suit to lead the Indians of 2020. Their Secular Slogan Gone , they are their own liability.
Absolute trash
Rahul bajaj is an example of an evil capitalism. he can afford to sit at home and escape corona. but he wants his employees to work for him at risks to themselves and their family. he did not do anything for them. but he wants them to slog for him. shame on him.
The author states…. “Gandhi must also allow dissenting intellectuals and journalists to interview him…”.
Have you forgotten Rahul Gandhi’s interview with
Arnab Goswami (2014 approximately). Watch that video on UTube – becomes very clear how shallow Rahul Gandhi is.
Problem with Congress party is it’s run by torika Sonia, Priyanka and Rahul more often than not working at crossroads. Without taking the responsibility of running the party, trying to shoot from behind. It doesn’t matter to him why young capable leaders are leaving the party. Rajan, Abhijit Bajaj not going to help him to get votes.
What exactly is the point of your article ? That RG is not entitled to have and express opinion because he could not lead his party to victory ? Why do you not critique the ideas rather than the personality. Your article is full of generalisations/ sweeping remarks like left-leaning, dynast, entitled etc. but totally lacks in substance. Even the ‘Right Wing’ experts like Arvind Subramaniam and Uday Kotak are talking about giving money to the marginalised directly. You are so blinded by your dislike of his persona that you fail to notice that RG was the only politician to flag off Covid crisis while our PM was busy organising ‘Namaste Trump’. In the past three months I have watched umpteen webinars, facebook lives, TV debates and I found ‘The interactions’ to be the only discourses of substance worth watching where real experts were being engaged . RG may have been a bad interviewer but ‘The interactions’ were about the only alternate views in a cacophony of Tablighi, Centre vs State, Hindu-Muslim, Petal showers, Thali Banging noises.
Sorry Ms Tiwari, only interesting thing about your article is the title
Absolutely right. Rahu Gandhi is educated much more intelligent and with legacy of 3 generation top political atmosphere around him. With due experience to govern the Indian public he is perfect choice to lead India
Best of luck to our country.
Ai sanam wasl ki tadbeeron se kya hota hai,
wahi hota hai, jo manzoore Khuda hota hai.
Chal saath ke hasrat , dil e marhoom se nikle,
Aashiq ka zanaza hai, badi dhoom se nikle.
Undemocratic leader: well if 50 percent of population is voting for modi then in what world this is called undemocratic.
His election to bjp pm candidate was also democratic.
Author and their ilk in their slavish mindset are both insulting Bharatiya democracy and intelligence of everyday Bharatiya.
Keep peddling mediocrity as reflected in the column eventually you will reach at top of mediocrity and slavery.
It is only 31% of the electorate who voted not 50% of the population.
Correction.Shri.Narendra.Modi was the NDA’s PM candidate for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections,NDA received 45 % of the total votes and BJP alone received 37.36 % of the total votes.It is time for you to dispose your self hating,anti Hindu,sickular – sick secular views.
See at this moment of time when india is in wrong hands you should potra something good about it dnt make people confuse congress is the only party who can run this country and put back on the road of progress…
Equating Rahul Gandhi with Prime Minister Modi is propagating a falsehood.
It is like equating a shallow insignificant stream with the mighty river Ganga.
However The Print will never stop trying; after all its existence depends on continuation of Congress, “the family” and ofcourse its “foreign fund” sources.
Rahul Gandhi should become a chief minister of a state where congress is ruling. This will provide hi good work experience and he should be able to speak based on that experience.
To me at the least, writer is also part of Modi (Godi) media like Arnab goswami type, who is interested in writing Negative only about RG and congress.
There is a quid pro quo between AmiSh and SoGa. The latter keeps the Congress in specific and opposition in general, in a state of disarray and lacklustre and the former keeps Vadra etc on the back burner.
(1) Rahul Gandhi has a lot print and media backup. Else he would have lost all footage till now. He goes, sits on a footpath and gets a video for it and projects big-time how much he is concerned about the people.
(2) He has no clear agenda in place beyond making some populist political statements. After Modi set the development ball rolling, the congress had to finally toe the line. By the time they did that, the election was over. Sadly, RaGa only wants to toe the line without any proper plan in mind. Atleast the plan never reaches common readers.
(3) Just criticizing the Modi government 24×7 x365 is illogical. They just increase the public distrust by doing so. People are pretty aware these days. The Congress needs to build trust and better relations with the BJP so as to work more proactively with them. Corner them over the right opportunities. However work positively and proactively with them to serve the nation better. This was Vajpayees strategy.
(4) BJP has toiled hard since 1970s. First as Jansangh and then as BJP. The outcome is what we see today. They may project Modi, but the party works down to the level of their party worker. The Congress is exactly the opposite. They have lost their initial stronghold that was built by the huge and sincere hardworking of their pre-independence forefathers, by making it a one family control. This has cost them hard.
What good work this hard working Narendradas has done so far to this electorate . In fact RG has more interviews with so called JURNOS. But How many such interviews have been given by Narendra das so far in his 6 years of so called parliament majaority
So, giving “interviews” to journos and hand-picked ‘economists’ is “hard work”, according to you? Hmmmmm…………may be you are right, considering Pappu is not exactly a bright spark, a good deal of effort goes in editing, re-recording these interviews and presenting a burnished version of it to his friends in the media, who owe favours to the Congress for services rendered in the past. Yes, certainly Pappu is a hard-working chap, while Narendrabhai is just a lazy person who does not render such favours to journalists.
wrong analysis. RG is a great leader with good listening skills. He has the ability to lead the entire world.
You forgot to add his IQ is much more than that of a chimp. Please present all his leader-like abilities, when you are praising him.
Ruhi Tewari says that Rahul Gandhi needs a complete facelift. How come she is not aware that Congress had been uplisting the face of Rahul Gandhi for a long time now. However, more the Congress tries to uplift Rahul Gandhi’s face through lies, fake news and fabricated conspiracies, Rahul Gandhi looks more stupid and incompetent for leadership roles. Recently Rahul Gandhi is trying to become the journalist. Each time people hear him interviewing a fake expert, his stupidity is exposed more and more.
One wouldn’t want to see Rahul Gandhi to lead India unless the motive is to weaken and destroy India.
Can you teach an old dog new tricks ? By May 2019 it should have had been abundantly clear to the vast Congy /Left media that they are only exasperating themselves by criticising RG. Please let ‘As Is’ Rahul ‘Ghandy’ remain the congress president. Ultimately, it’s good for the country. One has to give RG that. Thank you Sir for being who you are.
What is cool is that trolls troll Rahul criticisms as much as Rahul praises. But then when could trolls read and assimilate a coherent text?
That the author has indeed written utter bilge is another matter.
Rahul is our only possible hope against Modi. Even Arundhati Ray, after decades of (rightly) criticising successive congress governments, has (rightly) pointed out that Rahul Gandhi is the only politician of note today who has the guts to directly target Modi. Rahul has the guts, the brains and a team with experience in governance. Modi has a psychopath using him like a puppet and a Hitler-worshiping organization dogging his steps. What is to choose?
I question the sanity and intelligence of someone who writes “Rahul has the guts, the brains and a team with experience in governance.” Are you Mr Surjewala, writing under a pseudonym, by any chance?
Ruhi Tewari is advising Rahul Gandhi to change but she herself can’t change a bit. I can’t even call her hypocrite because she worst than that.
Wrong analysis. We have a leader who at least listens to intellectuals. People like you have problem with what ever he does.
Mummy Sonia trying hard to make him Pm somehow of 130 crores indians by hook or crook , aligning with communist or tmc or dmk or shiv sena in national level even though fighting in state level fooling own Congress workers . Immaturity cannot go off whatever discussion Rahul has with reghuram or Bajaj or any one . Time and again he proves to be below average person ,not fit to be a politician. Uttering lies to fool villagers but backfires on him. Congress will survive only if it comes out of family rule . Narasimha roa, manmohan singh were good leaders outside the family . This family only thinks of itself in power , only it’s members to become Pm all others work like servants ..this won’t help especially Sonia being a foreigner born and Rahul ,Priyanka too immatured , only politics is fooling people holding indira Gandhi or Rajiv or Mahatma Gandhi’s photo in hand . People know there is absolutely no connection with Gandhi , and that they are related to farook Abdullah . Nehru fmly Were fooling indians
Position of Congress is alike BJP/Jansangh during golden era of Congress. Since Modi ji is a well tested and trustworthy world level tallest leader, public at large would not take any unwise step despite best efforts of Congress.
Only way Raoul Khan Ghady can be compared with Modi is: If he gets his arsehole surgically sawn-up. Because as long as he has an arsehole, he will NEVER be compared to Modi
In India the entire media be it television, print and online, with the exception of Republic and Zee are Congress mouthpieces. BJP never gets any positive coverage for their work. Even channels like Republic talk about BJP only because of they run a Pro Nation and Pro Defense forces campaign, not because they like the work BJP is doing or anything. Also not to forget Arnab Goswami’s personal hatred against Sonia Gandhi for how she managed to get him fired from Times Now. So keeping these anomalies aside, BJP has nothing favouring them. Even on social media, they are censored and their reach is ristricted by banning the conservative opinion makers. I really don’t get what this author is trying to say. Rahul Gandhi has everything. He has a century old established party with all the financial clout. He has an entire ecosystem crafted and supported by leftist loyalists. Social media giants like Twitter, Google and Facebook are biased towards the left. The media keeps projecting him and elevating him barring two channels like I mentioned before. So him not having support is factually incorrect. The reality is Rahul Gandhi with everything served to him isn’t capable of utilising it. And Congress as a hole is viewed as an Anti National party. All the policies, talks, actions are for the most part against the sovereignty of India. Nobody with a functioning brain would vote Congress party that is built apon Socialism, Communism, Minority Appeasement and Hate for the Majority. Yes, BJP has flaws but I don’t want to engage myself with a party that does identity politics and engages in anti India activities. I’ll keep supporting BJP because I recognise their work and see the bias against them.
Rajiv Gandhi is a very good human being but not very experienced or well versed in politics . Congress should appoint a middle aged, politically experienced and more able person as its leader than there is a possibility to come back to power .
Do good human beings continuously and deliberately lie even after being told by others that they are lying?
Do good human beings fake performances ?
Do good human beings believe that acting is real life on the ground?
Do good human beings not allow others to overtake them?
……?
He is also middle age bro
‘The Print’ belongs to the relative of Rahul Gandhi. It’s high time Rahul.Gandhi go out of politics,, than comeup with his own stupid ideas everyday and that will be his biggest service to the nation.
The Author of the Article says Ra Ga has no well oiled social media ,TV Channels,Press which is a sheer nonsense statement. Social Medias like The Print,National Herald,The Quint,The Wire,Huffpost India,Firstpost support Ra Ga. Tv Channels like ND TV,India Today,News 24 etc & Press like Deccan Herald,Caravan,The Hindu,Indian Express etc also support him. Policy of Congress appeasing Minority for votes & after election, leaving them high & dry from last 5 decades, neglecting Hindu sentiments & taking Hindu Votes for granted has labelled Congress as anti-Hindu Party. It requires one more decade till 2030 for Congress to remove tag “anti-Hindu Party”
It is better he engages himself with Chidambaram, karti, azad, Kharge. Then he can understand the ground realities.
Sometimes a star son is promoted in Bollywood. Then the box office sizes him up. One dud after another, longevity depending on the father’s influence and clout. Finally everyone figures it is time to put the stud out of his misery.
At the end of the day Congress has to ask itself why is it that we have a situation where we have to justify anyone’s leadership. A good party should have some competing leaders so that when party presidency or pm post is decided we know the person came from a pool of competency. Instead of us having to search for competancy in chosen one. The inability for us to get an alternative to Gandhi family is the biggest roadblock to Indian democracy. We can keep cribbing about modi but it is strong opposition that defines democracy.
And actually there are possibilities. Amarinder Singh is the strongest candidate. Even tharoor is decent. They lost scindia because of same sycophancy issues.
In my fantasy world people like phunsuk wangdu will join our politics. People who have immediate acceptance as we saw recently. He would be amazingly popular.
Yet another member from RaGa’s grooming team, disappointment by his performance. Alas.
Good for nothing article. Just trying to be in good terms by making a gentle criticism of the dynast, and ..who is of no good for the Nation.
The problem for Rahul is he need to start ground up. Today’s India generation admires people who had made it on their own. Rahul has Congress legacy and dynasty tag. It would have been good for him to try as CM of some state and show his ideas and administrative skills. Aiming for top post without much achievement does not make sense. A typical middle class Indian will not get chance in his/her professional life to become CEO without working hard from group up. Why would we want someone at top post in Dehli without slogging it out in life? He should seriously try at the state level first. It is no harm doing it. Old days are gone. Re-invent yourself.
During UPA-I and UPA-II Rahul Gandhi had the opportunity to take responsible position in government but he didn’t. Why? Because he has been raised only to order other and not do any himself. He himself is not capable of managing even a small event. Let Rahul Gandhi take my challenge and show to India that he can manage an event or a campaign and achieve the stated goals.
When has not giving press conferences become the barometer of being undemocratic? The media which keeps cribbing about his lack of media interactions itself isn’t a paragon of domocratic values.
I am yet to see any journalist actually give any sensible suggestions as to what would they like the opposition leader to do. As per various journalists, opposition leader needs to give practical suggestions to the government, these suggestions have to meet the approval of everyone in the country, they must not appear to seem as if it is some sort of “Nyay” like scheme, he has to be humble but he must be strong leader, he has to be democratic but he must ruthlessly put down all intellectuals, he has to be a master-strategist but allow space for the opposition, he has to care for the poor but he also has to pander to the businessmen, he must do mass politics and arrange for rallies but follow all laws and stay indoors, he should be able to match the ruling party’s election war-chest but he must be transparent in his fund-raising, he should be a non-dynast (never mind in India if most political parties, business houses and film-studios follow dynastic succession) he should care for minorities but also side with the majority, he should be a genius, he should only consult people behind locked doors, he should increase exports but also he should be swadeshi and rescue ailing PSU, he should save the environment but not take help of foreign technology, he should be able to fill the pockets of migrants, middle-class, industrialists, he should be in the good books of USA, China, Nepal, Japan, Russia, Saudi. In short, he has to be Super-man.
Meanwhile his opponents can lie, play politics with people’s sentiments, disregard constitutional norms, subvert all democratic institutions, amass wealth for their party without telling the public from where the funds are coming, get fawning media coverage and be asked no questions or expect any explanation for their actions, be a party full of dynasts but get to call other parties dynastic. No wonder Kejriwal, Mamata, Mayawati, Jagan Mohan, Sharad Pawar, Navin Patnaik no one else wants to carry on the mantle of being opposition leader. If the writer’s genius suggestions are capable of catapulting any of these worthies to the position of being able to take on Modi, then why don’t they do it. We Indians are willing to look for alternatives but simply find no one even willing to try except RG. If you don’t want RG then better be prepared to endure another 20 years of Modi, Yogi and poor economic growth and religious polarisation in your country.
It is high time Rahul Gandhi should keep a low profile. He should thank his stars that the Home Ministry is not picking up on his dual citizenship. As per the law, holding another country citizenship, he is not entitled to contest for the election, cast his vote and of course cannot hold agricultural property.
God knows how badly the nation needs a strong opposition to take on the BJP. And they need to make it count despite the massive skew in favor of the ruling party of electoral bonds, very well funded and oiled social media machinery, bought news media, and other pillars of our democracy which have been almost demolished by now.
But this is also very clear by now – that Rahul is not the man to do this. He is well intentioned, but for India’s sake, he needs to get away from Congress as soon as possible and help the party elect a more grassroots level dynamic leader.
I disagree with the author that Rahul Gandhi does not a have a well oiled social media & media machine. Author herself, this Print website, NDTV, India Today, News 24 and many other such mainstream channels are constantly spreading negativity and canards against the PM and BJP. Its just that people do not believe these lies like Rafale. Hence, its just the difference between two leaders (if you can call Rahul Gandhi a leader).
Shri Rahul “Zoom” Gandhi and Smt Priyanka “twitter” Vadra have almost the entire print media, most of the news portals and TV channels rooting for them So it is incorrect to say that the dynasty does not have a well oiled social or regular media presence. What it does lack is support of the voters who are intelligent enough to decide what is good for them and are able to differentiate between genuine journalism and ideology driven journalism. Understandably, The Print does not get it.
Exactly! In India the entire media be it television, print and online, with the exception of Republic and Zee are Congress mouthpieces. BJP never gets any positive coverage for their work. Even channels like Republic talk about BJP only because of they run a Pro Nation and Pro Defense forces campaign, not because they like the work BJP is doing or anything. Also not to forget Arnab Goswami’s personal hatred against Sonia Gandhi for how she managed to get him fired from Times Now. So keeping these anomalies aside, BJP has nothing favouring them. Even on social media, they are censored and their reach is ristricted by banning the conservative opinion makers. I really don’t get what this author is trying to say. Rahul Gandhi has everything. He has a century old established party with all the financial clout. He has an entire ecosystem crafted and supported by leftist loyalists. Social media giants like Twitter, Google and Facebook are biased towards the left. The media keeps projecting him and elevating him barring two channels like I mentioned before. So him not having support is factually incorrect. The reality is Rahul Gandhi with everything served to him isn’t capable of utilising it. And Congress as a hole is viewed as an Anti National party. All the policies, talks, actions are for the most part against the sovereignty of India. Nobody with a functioning brain would vote Congress party that is built apon Socialism, Communism, Minority Appeasement and Hate for the Majority. Yes, BJP has flaws but I don’t want to engage myself with a party that does identity politics and engages in anti India activities. I’ll keep supporting BJP because I recognise their work and see the bias against them and also how pathetic the other side is.
Please don’t be blind.Pappu has no education nor any experience like his Father Rajiv and people around him are leaving like flies.Congress party is dyeing and no need to give it kiss of life.It is a DYNASTY’ that you are supporting. JAI HIND.
RAHUL IS A FOOL & IMMATURE POLITICIAN WHO WANT TO GRAB PM POST ON DYNASTY BASIS. BUT THAT DAY HAS ELAPSED AND HE IS NOW PLAYING DESTRUCTIVE POLITICS TO ACHIEVE POWER WHICH IS NOT FEASIBLE NOW BECAUSE CONGRESS IS TOTALLY EXPOSED PARTY WHICH INDULGED IN MASSIVE LOOTING OF THIS COUNTRY IN SONIA HAD PLAYED MAIN ROLE.
The Jealous Print should be the name. So much analysis & support for great Pappu Oh I forgot, this is sponsored by Congressman and close association with NDTV, India Today, so called intellectual liberals and leftists. And they say pappu doesn’t have oiled media.
Rahul’s IQ level is very low, he is there in Congress party merely because he belongs to a particular family. Otherwise he would not have been in politics at all.
Very good write up. Hope someone bring this article to the attention of RG. Just look at RS nominations from karnataka , sumps of their mindset. Good luck to indian polity
Thank you. Seems as if thePrint is rahul gandhi’s nanny.
Lol