Sam Pitroda, the brain behind the UC Berkeley event, says the idea is to take Rahul Gandhi to a new place every four months and introduce him to new audiences.
New Delhi: Pleased with the success of Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the United States two months back, the Congress is all set to showcase him on more foreign shores. The plan this time is to hit the road in the Middle East, just weeks after he is expected to take over as the president of the party from his mother.
The exact date of his tour, likely to be of three-four days, has not been finalised yet but party sources said it is likely to be in January.
“We are planning it in January. The actual date has to be decided keeping in mind his schedule in January,” said Sam Pitroda, chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress, a new division created by the party.
Pitroda was the brain behind Rahul Gandhi’s US trip. Sources said his visit to UC Berkeley had generated a lot of interest and many professionals wanted to associate themselves with the Congress.
The visit to the Middle East is expected to involve meetings with leaders of countries in the region and interaction with the NRI community there.
According to the sources, the US trip was an “image building exercise” that worked really well and since then Rahul’s popularity as a leader has been on the upswing. His meetings in Gujarat as part of his ‘Nav Srijan Yatra’ are drawing good crowds, something Congress had been missing in the state for long.
Besides the Middle East, the party is also considering more foreign trips for the Congress president-to-be. “The idea is to take him to a new place every four months. This would introduce him to new audiences and at the same time would also give him a break,” added Pitroda.
Rahul Gandhi’s election to the post of party president is being seen as a formality after the party announced its internal election schedule Monday. He will file his nomination on 4 December and if no one else files, he will be elected unopposed on 11 December.
In the next three weeks, Rahul Gandhi will be busy campaigning in Gujarat. He will do a road show in Porbandar — the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi — on 24 November and reach Ahmedabad the next day.
Till date Rahul looks like a poor ‘me-too’. It won’t be surprising that his immediate family and the makeover team are aware of these shortcomings and behind this bravado, there is an earnest attempt to just survive and stay relevant. The reality is that GE 2014 was the second inflection point in India’s democracy (the first one being Indira Gandhi’s elevation as India’s 3rd PM); the electorate and democracy are displaying a new confidence. In this new environment, burdened with lack of charisma, the baggage of dynasty and his inability to articulate solid vision and common-sense policies (not just the ‘women empowerment types) that generate a genuine sense of hope, Rahul Gandhi will have to work very hard, if he really wants to be the 15th prime minister of India.