BJP needs Rahul Gandhi as Congress president as much as his own party

The liberal intelligentsia has come together to form a Rahul Gandhi Defence League | PTI

Rahul Gandhi is one ‘Pappu-Shehzada-Aurangzeb’ story that the BJP actually sees benefit in keeping alive.

Rahul Gandhi arguably is the most important political figure in India. Surprised? Well, think about it – he is central to the fortunes of both the BJP and the Congress, which makes him almost indispensable despite his repeated failures.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Aurangzeb raj’ barb on Rahul Gandhi’s impending “coronation” as Congress president is a great example of how the BJP loves a ‘RG story’. It’s the surest way, BJP strategists believe, to win an election.

In BJP’s poll playbook, once the campaign establishes Rahul Gandhi as the main opposition face, the fence sitters come running back to the BJP fold. It also sets the ground for the Modi campaign to take over, projecting himself as the best alternative.

This script, the BJP believes, has worked in every election 2014 onwards, except a couple where someone else, not Rahul, was the opposition centerpiece – Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi, Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad in Bihar.

Even in Gujarat, the BJP’s effort to ‘Rahulify’ the campaign has been relentless. First pappu jokes and videos, which went off after the Election Commission’s disapproval; then the play on Rahul Gandhi’s temple visits, particularly the one to Somnath; and the negative narrative on the Amethi model, reaching its high when the BJP won the civil polls in Amethi city last week.

So, in a converse way, Rahul Gandhi is one ‘Pappu-Shehzada-Aurangzeb’ story that the BJP actually sees benefit in keeping alive.

But in doing so, it has also managed to keep the spotlight on Rahul. No other Congress leader gets so much attention from the BJP and the government than Rahul Gandhi, probably disproportionate to the party’s 46-member strength in the Lok Sabha.

Congress leaders may have left in large numbers, many of whom have even joined the BJP, but the shake-up has not resulted in a major breach in the party. If anything, the splintering in the periphery is drawing the core together, which is how the old and young in the Congress have eventually reconciled to Rahul’s leadership.

The Congress has cast its lot behind Rahul. He will have to get them to rally around him and fight with what they have. Weak as it may appear, but Rahul Gandhi does realise that he is at the head of a very potent political outfit which even in a BJP-dominated state like Gujarat starts with a 40 per cent vote base.

The Congress party at the cutting edge will want him to push, not pull the Congress cart – essentially hold up the platform, promote talent, give opportunity and be a guarantor of fairplay. It’s quite a different RG story they are hoping for, but one where his authority and influence is central to reviving the Congress.

Either way, Rahul Gandhi has got more political oxygen than he may have expected after the 2014 debacle. Result: He now gets yet another chance. This time, though, recognised and established by the BJP as the country’s primary opposition figure.