Rahul Gandhi's so-called act of renunciation is a deft political move

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 06 Maret 2013 | 21.16

Dileep Padgaonkar
06 March 2013, 07:29 PM IST

 With his twin decisions – to forgo marriage and opt out of the race for the prime minister's post – Rahul Gandhi has truly set the cat among the pigeons. Clearly taken by surprise, Congress spokespersons rushed to state that this was not the last word on the subject of his candidature for the top job and that sooner or later the scion of the Gandhi family would have no option but to bow to the wishes of the party cadres. But, with a curious twist of logic, they pitted the party vice-president's refusal to hanker for power against the barely concealed prime ministerial ambitions of leaders of other parties, including, in the first place, the BJP.

It is this contradictory stance that will provide the opposition parties an opportunity to pooh-pooh Rahul Gandhi's decisions. Indeed, they can be trusted to snigger at his invocation of the Bhagvad Gita and of Mahatma Gandhi as the sources of his latest moves. They are bound to point to the consequences of his mother's renunciation of the prime ministerial post after the 2004 elections that was hers for the asking: to exert from behind the scenes a tight control over the government and, in the process, reduce the prime minister to the status of a 'night watchman' of the Gandhi fiefdom.

Another charge that the opposition parties are certain to hurl at him is that his opting out of the race for prime minister is in fact tantamount to escapism. Why? Because he has realised that his exertions in politics over the past eight years have paid few, if any, dividends on the ground. The effort to democratise the functioning of the youth and student organisations of the Congress has all but come a cropper. Just about everywhere the children of well-established politicians have carried the day.

Equally dismal, according to this school of sceptics, is Rahul Gandhi's record of reviving the Congress in states where its fortunes have steeply declined including, in particular, Bihar and UP. Spending nights in the homes of Dalits and breaking bread with them have not translated into a higher vote share for the party. That share has indeed declined even in the Gandhi family's constituencies. Add to this his lifeless role as a parliamentarian, his inability to present the nation with well-thought-out policies and programmes and his modest communication skills – when he chose to deploy them at all. Those occasions were few and far between. And so, conclude the sceptics, the Gandhi scion sought refuge in renunciation in the hope that should the Congress lead the government after the 2014 polls, he would be well placed, much like his mother, to play the part of puppeteer.

But here is another take on Rahul Gandhi's decisions. What if he truly means what he says? He doesn't want to get married, he argues, because if he does, and if he has children, he will continue with the status quo and make sure that his progeny will succeed him. In other words, he has been true to his word that he disapproves of dynastic politics and, by setting an example, he is determined to expose the oligarchies that dominate most political parties in the country.

Again, he has railed against the 'high command' culture of political parties including, especially, in the Congress. His priority is to empower the 720 odd MPs and the 5,000 odd legislators in different states, particularly at the middle levels. This is certainly a tall order. But Rahul Gandhi appears to be all geared up for the long haul. It is systemic change that he seeks. He may face ups and downs in the process. But who can deny that he has been responsive to the swiftly changing nature of the polity?

That calls for decentralisation of authority, abolition of glass ceilings for those – especially youth, women and the under-privileged sections of society – who wish to enter the political arena and a vision of India that upholds, indeed celebrates, inclusive development,  pluralism and, not least, engagement in public life without hankering for personal gain. Time and again Rahul Gandhi has acknowledged that he is where he is because he belongs to a dynasty that has governed India for the better part of its existence as an independent nation. Dynastic rule may have served India well in the past. But this cannot – and must not – detract attention from the harm it did to the polity.

For the Congress, as for the opposition, Rahul Gandhi's latest moves present a different, indeed novel, set of unexpected challenges. The Congress is called upon to reconcile itself to the fact that it can no longer count on the charisma of the Gandhi family to establish its credentials as a party that promotes the interests of India's maddeningly diverse society. This very diversity must be held together with delivery of electoral promises on the ground. The last mile is where the real action is.

The opposition parties, and the BJP in particular, can deride Rahul Gandhi to their heart's content. But they will perforce have to respond to his 'renunciation.' By withdrawing from the race for prime minister, he has dented Narendra Modi's vitriolic attack on the dynastic ambitions of the Gandhi family. In one fell swoop, he has reduced the Gujarat chief minister to the level of an aggressive salesman of a dubious insurance agent.


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