Dynasty, Next Episode

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

"Politics", as Bismarck the Iron Duke, said centuries ago, "is the art of the possible". The line sounds funny when you think of the picture of Bismarck, with pith helmet on his head and riding a horse. Even such a picture of stern authority at the head of a large empire thought that democracy could be possible some day.

Every age has its own list of what is possible in politics, and what is not. Till recently, after the rise of Narendra Modi last year, chances of a revival of the Congress were 'impossible'. Nor was there much hope of Rahul Gandhi, the 44-year-old vice president of the party, leading it back to the centre-stage. Many thought, including his own party leaders and regular visitors to his mother and Congress president Sonia Gandhi's 10 Janpath home, that he'd be a disaster as leader. In his 11-year-long career in politics, Rahul remained mostly silent, as it is against his nature to participate in the political discourse of the day. Many party insiders, not to speak of Delhi's commentariat, pointed finger at Rahul for his character traits. Why doesn't he talk? Where does he disappear at crucial moments? Finally, has he got it in him, or putting him in charge is a sure recipe for the party's last year's tally of 44 MPs to become 22, or even less?

But the Iron Duke, and Rahul is back in action. At the AICC session next month, it is more than anybody's guess that Rahul will take over as the party's president, while his mother can ride, possibly drive, from the back seat as chairperson of the parliamentary party and the board. It is also the time for Rahul to choose his personnel, even though some of them were appointed by none other than Rahul in his capacity as the party's vice president.

Between the May 2014 poll debacle and now, the party grandees toyed with many options. Bidding farewell to the Gandhi dynasty was out of the question, so deep are the fissures among the satraps. While most senior party leaders would have preferred Sonia Gandhi to continue as the chief, both real and titular, it was clear the party would then burn its last opportunity to connect with the 200 million or so young men and women who will qualify to vote in 2019. Rahul too has his problems; he is taciturn, and probably a slow thinker. But he speaks fluent Hindi now. Besides, he has a modern outlook which the veterans among Indian politicians seldom have. Take Prime Minister Narendra Modi for example. Under the veneer of his debonair dresses, and generally fanciful talk of development, he spearheaded a blitzkrieg on the BBC to block the Nirbhaya documentary, and, failing which, is now preparing to curb the citizens' Internet rights.

If Modi is frittering away a golden

opportunity by ruling India without knowing it,

Rahul, with a closed mind, may not even get a chance

Rahul and his sister Priyanka have worked a lot to get over the harrowing memories of  their growing years; of their loving grandmother getting riddled one morning in a hail of bullets, and just a few years later, their papa getting fragmented into body parts as a human bomb exploded herself on him. The family tragedies were shrouded in mystery, as they still are. But it traumatised the two children to the point where one loses all bearings. It is through admirable effort that the brother-and-sister duo have maintained their equipoise, through vipassana, a Buddhist meditation exercise that teaches its practitioner the impermanence of existence. Priyanka, who has taken advanced courses in Buddhist studies, is a long-time vipassana practitioner and so is her brother. They are dynasts tied together by a chain of sadness. And they'll surely stick together if Rahul leads the party.

Not much is known about how Rahul is planning to reshape the Congress, except a note he got drafted with the help of some of his friends. It seems Rahul wants the Congress to become a party-centric organization, and not leader-centric, as it became almost since Independence. It means creating a 'Congress' brand, a job which, according to one report, has been given to Alankar Sawai, a former banker. Rahul has also set the ball rolling to create a party 'machinery' that connects right down to the booth level. Its objective is not just to mobilise votes but to use it as listening posts for framing strategy. Former IAS officer Koppala Raju has been given the charge of the booth-level connection programme. It's quite possible that Rahul has borrowed the idea from Arvind Kejriwal and his AAP, but it stands to logic. AAP will survive its present desertions if only it doesn't deviate from the programmes it outlined at the mohalla meetings. On the other hand, Modi and his BJP are fast losing sheen because, before the general election, Modi only talked and talked; he hardly listened. If he'd heard what the people were saying, he'd probably not have entertained such senseless idea that every Indian is a Hindu first, Ghar Vapasi etc. Though he tried to distance himself later, the damage had already been done.

In fact the Modi government is wobbly already. True BJP has 282 members, but RSS wields total control over most of their actions. And there are several missteps lately between Modi and RSS. Like having a perverse coalition with pro-separatist PDP in Jammu & Kashmir which may soon tumble.

Many used to say that in the most critical hour Rahul heads for the hills. But he seems to have understood that his moment may come sooner than expected. Obviously with his prodding, the Youth Congress will gherao Parliament on March 16 to protest against the changes made by the Modi government to UPA government's pro-farmer law for land acquisition.

But street protest is no short cut to power. As he starts connecting with the people, he'll know their wants. If he fails to hear them, it will be sad. If Modi is frittering away a golden opportunity by ruling India without knowing it, Rahul, with a closed mind, may not even get a chance.

(The author is National Editor  of Lokmat group)