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HomeThePrint AnalysisIn fiery speech, Rahul Gandhi may have given Narendra Modi a perfect...

In fiery speech, Rahul Gandhi may have given Narendra Modi a perfect 2019 pitch

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The master of spin that the Prime Minister is, the Congress chief may come to regret his jibe that the RSS/BJP had taught him ‘the meaning of being Hindu’.

New Delhi: In his much talked about speech in Parliament during Friday’s discussions on the no-confidence motion, Congress president Rahul Gandhi may have launched some pointed, even brazen, attacks at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, the PM – a master of spin – is unlikely to let go of the chance to twist Gandhi’s words to build a narrative in his favour.

There are two parts of Gandhi’s speech in particular that Modi will attempt to spin to his advantage, never mind the context in which the Congress president may have spoken.

Mid-way through his speech, Gandhi said the PM could not even look him in the eye. Modi was quick to catch on to the statement and, in his speech later in the day, said, “I am a poor woman’s son, you are the elite. How can I dare to look you in the eye?”

This is a narrative the PM will continue to peddle all the way through to next year’s Lok Sabha elections. He has already been in victim mode, making the rest-versus-him line a staple in recent speeches, including Friday’s.

His portrayal of Rahul’s statement as an elite person’s sense of superiority with respect to a poor woman’s son is just the perfect garnishing for his victimhood recital.

The “naamdaar dynast asking the “kaamdaar PM who has risen from the ground to look him in the eye will be the perfect narrative for Modi to sell to his voters as he seeks re-election. Add to that the image of Gandhi’s boyish wink, and you have Modi showcasing his rival as an entitled, brattish dynast.

If there is one line in his speech that Gandhi will regret for a long time to come, it will be the one about how the BJP, the RSS and the PM had taught him “the meaning of being Hindu”.

Of course, Gandhi meant it as a barb for the RSS/BJP and their polarising brand of Hindutva. But these words would have been music to the PM’s ears, and it would be too tempting for him to let go of the chance to use this statement to further his portrayal of the Congress as a “pro-Muslim party”.

The PM and the BJP have consistently tried to weave a narrative of the Congress being a party for the minorities, and, in fact, even succeeded in putting it on the back-foot on the issue. The party’s senior spokespersons coming out to declare Gandhi a “janehudhaari Brahmin” was adequate proof of how the BJP has successfully got the grand old party worried about being seen as pro-Muslim and antagonising the Hindu voter.

Given the polarised times, it will be hardly difficult for the PM to distort Gandhi’s statement, and claim to the Hindu electorate that the Congress president did not even know what being a Hindu meant and had to be taught as much by his party and him.

The one key thing Modi has that Gandhi does not is the ability to connect with the masses with ease. The PM is an extremely effective salesman, with an uncanny ability to sell his words to the voter. Modi’s words more often than not translate into votes, and if he does manage to use Gandhi’s latest statement as a re-affirmation of the Congress being anti-Hindu, it can cause some serious damage to the party.

Besides being an effective peddler of narratives, Modi is also relentless while at it. Make no mistake, while Gandhi may have given a Friday blockbuster with his energetic speech, hug and wink, the ruthlessly competitive PM will do all he can to have his revenge – at the hustings.

In 2019, it will be a “hardworking poor woman’s Hindu son” versus an “elite dynast who had to be taught what it means to be Hindu”.

 

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5 COMMENTS

  1. True. But Modi is sounding repetitive and boring to his fans (me included). Pappu on the other hand is growing up, refreshingly. TDP the main mover of N C M got hardly any mention. Obsession with Congress will be his undoing.

  2. Yeh, like the pitch that the DMK had to make in 1988 Tamil Nadu after Rajiv engineered a split of the ADMK (and foisted the reject-Kannada sodomite termagant as the leader of the surviving faction) with the assumption that it would return (after 21-years absence) Congress to power in Chennai — none!

  3. It is eye watering to read this article from an anti Modi organ trying to create a narrative to pre-empt an unfolding scenario – continuing dismantling of the lies of the Gandhi family and their privately owned Party! To suggest that this family and Party loathe Hinduism is not news. They have been playing the polarisation game by dividing castes and promoting minorities to nurture and create a vote bank. Modi has blasted through this hypocrisy and the fact that for all their pretence they have not even served the welfare of their vote bank by dangling the carrot ever forward in the future! If Modi loses next election he will be out! Could one say that of Rahul or his mother? Until Congress becomes a meritocratic party it does not deserve a chance to governing India! In the meantime it’s highly erudite and educated stalwarts continue to play a game of unquestioning sycophancy in a display of brazen lack of self respect!

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