Rahul Gandhi is angry. And as anger management classes teach, he wants to channelise this anger to give nyay. That’s what the ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ is about. And it will also be the bedrock of the Congress manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The right to employment, to be announced grandly by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, is Gandhi’s attempt to bring the narrative back to what he thinks is the weak spot of the PM Narendra Modi-led government. Unemployment, rising prices, poor representation of backward castes, women’s rights are just some of the main points of the manifesto. And Gandhi, as the angry anti-establishment messiah, hopes to present an alternative to the Modi juggernaut.
So when he does have an issue to take on the BJP, why does he give opportunities to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)? Like when Gandhi, while speaking about joblessness, ended his speech saying, “Modi wants you to be on the phone and say Jai Shri Ram to divert attention."
It is not rocket science that this is what the BJP awaits. Such comments from an angry Gandhi help them build the narrative that the Opposition’s Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) front is anti-Hindu. In post Ram Mandir fervour, it’s a sure self-goal.
But the Congress and Gandhi don’t think so. He certainly feels that he can say this as the youth, who are looking for or losing jobs, will agree with him. In private, they will and this could be the vote-catcher, believes Gandhi.
RAM & BACHCHANS
Politics is about perception and building narratives. And on this count, any connection drawn between Ram and diversion is bound to throw the Congress off the handle. Couple this with his comments on weddings, corporate sector, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Amitabh Bachchan. Not only did it put his ally and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav in a fix, but also made Gandhi sound needlessly petulant.
ANGRY AT HIS OWN PEOPLE
But Gandhi’s anger is channelised not just at the PM. He’s just as angry at his party too.
When he entered active politics in 2004 and took charge of organisation of youth affairs, he had many ideas. Like top leaders must fight, even if it’s a losing battle; that elections must be held from bottom to top; that candidates must be announced well in advance, etc. But his pleas largely went unheard.
Just as his ‘Chowkidaar Chor Hai’ slogan found little support among his party seniors and he said this at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meet, when he resigned as the party president.
It is an anger which he has not yet managed and his rancour shows when it comes to core decision-making. He prefers to rely on a few around him, who he thinks listens to him.
THE LOK SABHA WISHLIST
It is this anger which is once again surfacing, with many top leaders still reluctant to contest the Lok Sabha polls in 2024. His wishlist was former CMs, many organisation leaders, a few whose Rajya Sabha term has either ended or is about to.
The party will finally have its topmost election body meeting to finalise the tickets. The cluster screening committees that have been set up have no inspiring stories to tell. Many who would have wanted to contest have either quit or have refused. Convincing them is on. But some ask in private if Gandhi and his sister Priyanka don’t make it clear where they will fight from, why the pressure on them.
Sources say that the Congress may finally come out with some big or high-profile names. After all, it was Gandhi who had convinced some like Randeep Surjewala to contest from a tough seat like Jind, only because the “boss wanted it".
The BJP has stolen the edge by announcing its first list well in advance, despite the embarrassment over Pawan Singh, who withdrew his name from the Asansol seat.
Gandhi and his advisors hope that his anger will be managed by the party and voters will eventually listen to him.
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