Rahul Gandhi's message to multiple constituencies
On May 8 when the President of India's main opposition party Congress said that he was ready to become the prime minister if his party finished on top in fresh general elections due next year, he sent a message to multiple constituencies and once again set the political circles abuzz. This was not the first time Rahul came out with such an assertion. In fact, it was eight months ago that he had said during a question-answer session with students at University of California at Berkley, that he was ready to be Congress' prime ministerial face in the next big electoral battle.
For long, 47-year-old Rahul Gandhi has been perceived to be a non-serious politician who is not ready to shoulder the responsibilities required of him. During the decade-long reign of Congress-led United Progressive Alliance from 2004, he had more than once spurned offers to join the cabinet, if we are to believe former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. True, Rahul successfully won three parliamentary elections from Rae Bareily, a traditional bastion of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh state, and was second-in-command after his mother Sonia Gandhi in the party for five years before he stepped into her shoes on December 16 last year. Before he took over the party President's mantle, Rahul had often been criticised for his acts of "disappearance" when Congress needed him the most. Two such instances were in December 2016 when Rahul's party had gone hammer and tongs attacking the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over demonetisation. He went to Europe for a year-end holiday.
Not that Rahul is not entitled to a holiday. But what raised eyebrows was the timing of such an absence. Prior to that, Rahul had gone on a long absence at a time when parliament was in session in 2015 and he had a vital role in shaping the party's strategy on the floor of the House where ruling Bharatiya Janata Party was pushing a number of key legislations relating to auctioning of coal blocks and foreign direct investment. Such absences had contributed to Rahul's image as a non-serious leader. But things started changing for the better ever since the last quarter of 2017 when it became increasingly clear that Sonia was preparing to step down making way for Rahul who gave enough signs that he was finally bracing himself up for the responsibility of steering the country's oldest party at a time when it faces an existential crisis.
There are two main reasons why Rahul's "ready for PM" remark on May 8 is significant. First, it came at the fag end of a high-voltage campaign for fresh elections (slated for May 12) to the legislative assembly to the southern state of Karnataka where Congress is fighting anti-incumbency and trying to stave off BJP's efforts, spearheaded by none other than Modi, to grab power in South India. Secondly, it came in the midst of the rest of the non-Congress opposition parties trying to put together a united face against BJP by keeping Rahul-led party in a supportive and not dominant role.
The outcome of elections in Karnataka, whose capital city Bengaluru is considered India's answer to the Silicon City in the US, is expected to set the tone and build momentum for the 2019 general election. The result is likely to fuel the battle of perceptions. Since coming to power at the centre in May, 2014, BJP has reduced Congress' presence in power to just three major states. On the other hand, BJP sees Karnataka as the gateway to the South and enhance its pan-India profile which Congress had enjoyed once. So, Rahul's remark is aimed at giving a boost to his party's electoral prospects in Karnataka.
Rahul's "ready for PM" remark has clearly signalled the start of a narrative of him versus Modi battle in the run up to the general elections and that Congress party is the anchor of an anti-BJP coalition. In the last few months, leaders of regional parties like Trinamool Congress, Telangana Rashtriya Samiti, Nationalist Congress Party, Telugu Desam Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party are to build a federal anti-BJP front. Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, one of the prime movers of the opposition front along with TRS supreme K Chandrasekhara Rao, had recently made it clear that Congress should accept a supportive role in the proposed front and not insist on leading it.
A win in Karnataka would cement Congress' pre-eminent role in an anti-BJP alliance and slow down the regional parties' push for leading such an alliance. It is in this context as well as his bid to project himself as a leader who has what it takes for the top job that Rahul's remark needs to be assessed.
Pallab Bhattacharya is a special correspondent to The Daily Star.
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