Punching holes in suit, boot

At his 'comeback' rally on Sunday, Rahul Gandhi, got at least one thing right: the timing of the event. Held on the eve of the Lok Sabha session when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is having to deal with a somewhat more combative — and desperate — Opposition, he was evidently making up for his disappearing act in the last session.

Monday was an extension of Sunday. He once again attacked the Modi government on the land bill, this time in the Lok Sabha. In effect, he had done another thing right in picking this legislation as the weapon to target the government with. The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act could have a pretty long shelf life as a political conflict issue. The Prime Minister believes in it and how it will promote industrialisation and employment, and his party is ready for the long haul to have its way on it. The Congress realises how emotive land acquisition laws can get — the poor toiling farmer versus the rich is a well-tested theme for a potboiler — and looks prepared to take the fight to the ruling party on this.

Upfront, despite what it might be labelled as, this rally was less about Rahul and more about the Congress party, its efforts to get a foot in the door to prevent being shut out of the political discourse and bolster its chances of a quick rebound. The drubbing at the hands of Narendra Modi and its lack of will to act in the following months had the party in troubled waters. Rahul's nearly two-month unexplained disappearance made things disastrous.

Now his return has given a push to the party; it may have created the impression of the Congress waking up. And perhaps introduced a cut-off date and a new identity, Rahul 2.0 if you please, signalling its intent to start political action afresh. As a counter force to the BJP, this is perhaps the best development for the time being. The Congress party alone, with its size and reach, has the base on which to stand up to the BJP. The 44 MPs are only one aspect of it. Its ability to launch a movement outside Parliament will determine the strength of Opposition politics for the remaining period of the Modi government. It is only natural for some Congressmen to see the green shoots of a political revival in the buzz generated by Rahul's comeback rally.

There are two enabling factors in the prospects for a Congress revival. Sitaram Yechury's election as CPI(M) general secretary and the coming together of the Janata Parivar should hopefully add to the show of hands behind the Congress.

This is the good part. But India's grand old party, betraying doubts over whether it will ride on Rahul, has to find ways to keep itself relevant and in the public eye. With the BJP clearly superior organisationally, besides having the advantage of being in power, the Congress faces an uphill climb. Doubts have been raised since the final months of UPA-II about the kind of hold the Gandhis have over the party. Since Modi's emphatic win, the Congress appeared to have vacated the Opposition space with the Gandhis seemingly reluctant to take charge. Some of that spilled over to Sunday's rally — the empty chairs at  Ramlila Maidan during Rahul's speech being an example. The party high command is clearly dependent on powerful satraps from the states, but how much they will indulge the high command is another question, giving the impression that the Gandhis' absolute hold over the party could be slipping.

So, wresting the initiative will be an important task for Rahul. The baton does indeed have to pass on to the party's GenNext to take it forward in a changing world. The Congress party's Old Guard, its presumed opposition to Rahul notwithstanding and with it being steeped in old-style politics, is unlikely to face the challenge of the so-called 'new politics' with felicity — and it has shown no evidence to the contrary. The embarrassing show of being rudderless in recent days has made the shift to a new generation of younger Congress politicians inevitable. The timetable for this is what needs to be fixed.

Over Sunday and Monday, Rahul showed some energy. The lack of inventiveness in content was compensated by some spirited speech delivery. He was also charmingly colloquial in parts of his speech. There wasn't much in it for the pundits, but he was already attempting to be in the game and trying to create a negative perception of Modi. The "suited-booted" remark aimed at the Prime Minister would likely have touched a raw nerve for those on the treasury benches.

The shortage of preparation time for upcoming polls, though, will provide the reality check. The Congress party's slow fall after the 2009 polls that brought in UPA-II cannot be reversed overnight. The big tests for India's principal opposition party will come in the Bihar assembly elections, likely this year-end and in the West Bengal assembly polls next year. To imagine that it will get its act together by then will be more than a bit optimistic. But an above-expectation showing will provide the launch pad for the party's future — even though in Bihar it will be mainly about how the Janata Parivar fares. In West Bengal, where the BJP has made inroads, the Congress party could be a factor depending on how it plays the game.

One strategy could lie in overreach, in the party's and Rahul's — going by his performance over the last two days — ability to punch above their weight. This is, after all, a big party with large resources and a still sizeable support base. It has to go for broke and do its best to win the perception game. That won't be an easy task in view of the Prime Minister's profile. Rahul has taken the plunge and launched a broadside against Modi over the last two days. It is a political gambit fraught with danger because he will be shown up if he does not measure up. But Rahul does not have too many choices left right now. Because, among other things, after his absence from work for 57 days during the Budget session, he has also to win the perception war about himself — and show that he does not lack resilience and the will to work. 

The writer is a senior journalist