Facelift for Congress: Rahul Gandhi changed man after US visit, but can he beat BJP at its own game?

Rahul Gandhi seems to have been galvanized by his recent two-week tour of the US. The tour was important not just because it showed a new side to the Congress scion but also revealed the new political strategy of the Congress. Earlier, happy to play the ‘agitiationist’ by willfully breaking the security cordon or the ‘common man’ by standing in queue during the initial phase of demonetisation, Rahul seems to be looking to create a new avatar during the US stint — the statesman.                 

Statements like “Prime Minister Modi is perhaps a better communicator than me” or “I like the concept of Make in India,” and then following them up with jabs through Twitter shows that the Congress scion was looking to woo a new electorate — the middle class - an area he had almost completely ignored before. Also his tweets, such as the one when he said, “the wings have fallen off our plane” - when describing the state of the economy – clearly showed Rahul was looking to be the talking point on Twitter, an area which he had earlier almost completely ignored.  

This new strategy will make the political battle for the Gujarat polls all the more interesting, as Congress seems to be using the BJP’s own strategies against the party. While earlier the Congress scion was content to play the role of the “common man” by standing in line with people at ATMs - after the initial announcement of demonetisation by the Prime Minister – this time around it’s a new ball game.

By speaking to a relatively young crowd at well known foreign universities, Rahul is looking to win the youth card away from the PM; his candid statements seem to be a calculated move to shore up NRI support – a monopoly that so far the Prime Minister and BJP have enjoyed – and the barbs on Twitter suggest that the Congress scion finally realises the importance of setting the agenda on social media. 

However, given the BJP's mass social media machine, the fight is by no means equal and there’s still a lot Rahul has to do. It is one thing to make applause-worthy statements and Tweets but quite another to sustain them in India’s cut-throat political environment. Also, the fact that though Rahul has raised important issues like jobs - he kept citing the figure of 30,000 Indians entering the market every 24 hours and barely 450 of them finding work – he has failed to offer any alternative solutions so far. That is not good enough.

Still, the visit to the US has resulted in a number of important things. First, it has shown that Rahul is interested in leading the Congress party – something that earlier even those within his own party had doubted. Then, his willingness to speak his mind on a number of issues has dispelled the social media image of him being a “Pappu” and a person riding solely on the family name. Most importantly, it was a bid to unite the deeply divided state Congress in Gujarat. It may not be enough but it’s a start.    

The “abroad factor” has been crucial for this change. As Prime Minister Modi has demonstrated time and again, a strong showing abroad – one still remembers his ‘rock star reception’ at Madison Square Garden – works wonders with the Indian electorate. So while some people will pull Rahul up for speaking abroad, rather than in India, the fact of the matter is he managed to create a buzz which he would most certainly not have got here.

It remains to be seen what Rahul does with the goodwill gained and how he uses it for the upcoming Gujarat polls. But there are certain indicators that we can see. By choosing to speak abroad when he did, Rahul wanted NRIs, many of whom are Modi supporters, to think twice. This was especially important as the NRIs, especially those of Gujarati origin, turned out en masse to help the PM’s high tech electoral campaign in 2014. It’s a tall order to think that the Congress can woo away such people but Rahul’s foray has shown that the party is finally willing to try.

The Congress’ adoption of the BJP’s methods of campaigning is best seen on social media. The campaign called Vikas Gando thayo chhe which lampoons the BJP’s claims of development over the last 20 years in the state - the party has been in power in Gujarat since 1998 – strikes in an area which the NDA has been dominant thus far. 

Such tactics may or may not yield dividends for them at the EVM box, but it may give the ruling party at the state some pause for thought.  After all, the BJP’s polling strategies, have worked wonders for the saffron party so far. Could they actually work for the Congress?