Stuck in semi-final

Congress veterans in U.P. believe that Rahul Gandhi's initiative is bereft of political acumen and has brought the party no net gain.

"HE is our biggest asset, and from time to time a major liability too." That was how a veteran local-level Congress activist from Bareilly summed up Rahul Gandhi's contribution to the election campaign in Uttar Pradesh.

Trailing the young leader in the Ruhelkhand region of the State, through the towns of Badayun, Bareilly and Shajahanpur, it was not difficult to understand the implications of the comment from the septuagenarian activist. Wherever Rahul Gandhi appeared, whether at a roadshow or in a public meeting, he attracted sizeable crowds and it had the effect of enthusing and inspiring Congress workers. At the same time, the style of his address and its content, especially statements of a controversial nature, prevented party workers from converting their enthusiasm into sustained " vote-catching" organisational activity.

The experience at the Badayun meeting, where Rahul Gandhi made the controversial statement about the role played by the Nehru-Gandhi family "in dividing Pakistan", highlighted this dichotomous nature of his campaign. A crowd of over 25,000 people had waited for over four hours in the sweltering heat to greet the young leader on his delayed arrival. After the mandatory introductions, Rahul Gandhi started his speech, straightaway talking about the manner in which Uttar Pradesh had slipped in terms of socio-economic development during the past 15 years of non-Congress rule.

An important point in this exposition was that unemployed youth in the State were migrating to Punjab, Delhi and Haryana, taking up various kinds of jobs and contributing immensely to the development of those States. He said this means that the people of Uttar Pradesh were creative and development-oriented but were being denied opportunities in their home State.

According to a number of Congress activists this correspondent interacted with, points such as this could have taken the Congress campaign a long way, but somehow Rahul Gandhi was not able to strike the correct pitch in presenting them. "The speech is stolid, which gives the impression that the leader lacks involvement in what he is saying. The appeal of the Nehru-Gandhi family among Congress workers as well as large sections of the public is basically an emotive one and this element has to be stressed by Rahul Gandhi. But the presentation in a tutored manner makes it appear as though there is no heart to it," said one of the participants at the Badayun meeting.

Veerender Kashyap and Kailash Kashyap, two Youth Congress workers who travelled over 30 kilometres to be at the meeting and waited for more than five hours to see and hear their leader, drew attention to a similar point. "We had been waiting in the heat for such a long time with parched lips and hungry stomachs. A word of apology for the delayed arrival or an expression of concern about our plight in the heat would have imparted a greater enthusiasm in us. Normally, politicians do seek pardon for troubling the public, but Rahulji went ahead with his speech." According to the two workers, the distinct impression they got was that Rahul Gandhi was presenting a memorised, prepared speech, which failed to take local factors into account.

Impressions such as these strengthen the perception that not much political deliberation has gone into the preparation of his campaign. The veteran activist from Bareilly said the talk among various echelons of the Congress was that Rahul Gandhi was not consulting even State-level party leaders such as Salman Khurshid and Pramod Tiwari while developing his campaign points.

The veteran and many other Congress workers said the talk within the party was that the political points made by Rahul Gandhi and the manner in which he made them were decided by a group of people who had recently left the corporate world to join politics. A growing perception among traditional Congress workers across the State was that the inexperience of this group of political neophytes could well be the reason for Rahul Gandhi's controversial statements on the protection of the Babri Masjid and the division of Pakistan.

Many Congress workers across Badayun, Bareilly and Shajahanpur said they did not understand why Rahul Gandhi should have claimed that the Nehru-Gandhi family played a proactive role in dismembering Pakistan. "It would have been much better if he had focussed on the sacrifices, including the sacrifice of their lives, made by members of the Nehru-Gandhi family for the country," said one party activist. He felt this would have struck a chord with the crowd and the workers.

According to the Bareilly veteran, while the statement on the Babri Masjid (that it would have been protected had a member of the Gandhi family been in power) was an unqualified display of political imprudence, evoking ridicule from the Muslim community; the one on the division of Pakistan could have been used politically had it been timed better and presented well. "If the whole assignment had been carried out with political acumen, it could have helped the party play its soft Hindutva card and could have weaned away a section of the sectarian Hindus from the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party]," he said.

The veteran activist recalled how Rajiv Gandhi had advanced a brand of soft Hindutva politics in the mid-1980s by supporting the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya and overseeing the shilanyas (laying of the foundation stone) for the same. "Similarly, a claim that the Congress had actively worked for the division of Pakistan would have appealed more to a section of sectarian Hindus."

However, the veteran was of the considered opinion that Rahul Gandhi's initiative was bereft of political acumen and brought the party no net electoral gain.

On the contrary, the statements from the young leader evoked critical reactions from across the political spectrum and provided a good handle for forces as varied as the BJP, the Samajwadi Party (S.P.) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) to go hammer and tongs at the "historical understanding" of the Congress Lok Sabha member. The Congress may well have actually suffered political and electoral losses rather than made gains from Rahul Gandhi's statements.

However, in spite of such negative perceptions within the rank and file and outside the party, Rahul Gandhi continues to be the principal campaigner for the Congress. There are also no indications that the disapproval of his apolitical approach and the dissatisfaction with his group of neophyte advisers him has led to any course correction.

In Rahul Gandhi's own words, he and the Congress party view the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections as a semi-final in the larger political battle for the country, which would happen through the Lok Sabha elections in 2009. Clearly, the young leader is trying out an approach that he deems as original in the current elections. The overwhelming view among the political class in Uttar Pradesh is that this unique, and somewhat amateurish, approach may well help the Congress make limited gains in the semi-final Assembly polls, but as a style of politics it might be found wanting on many counts in the crucial final.