DNA Edit: Rallying Point

Congress scion Rahul Gandhi clearly believes that his ‘Save the Constitution’ war cry will be enough to rally the disgruntled party and Indians behind him in the run-up to the upcoming Karnataka polls. But sadly for him, that is far from the truth.

What the Congress president has failed to realise time and again is that using aggressive language against Prime Minister Narendra Modi has galvanised BJP supporters to stand with the PM, while he comes off looking like a disgruntled man desperately in need of an issue. This is a problem that Rahul has faced ever since the Modi government came to power and this is the problem he faces today.

Making loose remarks about the undermining of the judiciary, RSS ideologues being appointed to key positions, and the challenge to the PM to have a 15-minute one-on-one debate with him, makes for great media soundbites, but it gets Rahul nowhere with the electorate.

What does he stand for? What will the Congress promise that is different from the BJP? Is he also adopting a Hindutva ideology? These are some of the key questions that voters in Karnataka and in other key states will be asking themselves in the run-up to the polls.

Indeed, Rahul’s flirtation with what some have dubbed as ‘soft Hindutva’ with his visits to temples have confused the Congress’ traditional secular votebase and thus begged the question. Why would you vote for a party moving towards ‘soft Hindutva’ when you have a party that soundly defines itself as ‘Hindutva’, which is the BJP?

The Congress, so far, does not seem to have any answer to that. This is the problem that refuses to go away for the Congress and thus Rahul’s speeches come off as ‘reactive’ rather than ‘pro-active.’ The speech that he gave in Delhi was a good case in point as he appointed Modi-isms to attack the PM.

‘In 2019, the people of India will tell their Mann ki Baat’, was one of the sentences he used. This was a disastrous thing to say, as even the PM’s detractors will concede that Mann ki Baat has been a huge hit with the people of India and to attack it, not only boomerangs on Rahul, but also reminds people of the programme.

If he really wants to attack the PM, he would be better off coming up with his own isms such as “suit-boot ki sarkar”. These isms have sadly been in short supply and thus Rahul remains an enigma to the electorate. The sad truth for Rahul is that not only does he have no ideas; he is fast running out of options, too.

With other parties reluctant to tie up with the Congress or even back them on the key issue of the impeachment of the CJI, the party is cutting a lonely figure and could even end up being marginalised in the ‘Third Front’, if it is ever formed. The time is fast approaching for Rahul to throw up his hand and say goodbye for the party’s own good.