Rahul Gandhi: The Hapless Deity

By Madhu Kishwar

I feel truly sorry to see how the Congress Party is loading Rahul Gandhi with too many unrealistic expectations. If you expect one man or one family to exercise magical powers to revive and rejuvenate a moribund organization that has rotted out due to unbridled corruption that comes from excessive centralization of power and lack of transparent democratic functioning, it amounts to ballooning in the cloud cuckoo land.

You need more than a genius to pull off that kind of a miracle. Unfortunately, Rahul is neither a Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi nor a Barack Obama. He comes across as a person trying hard to learn the political game--a game not really suited to his innate genius.

He would do much better if only he could be himself rather than be forced to act as the Divine Charioteer expected to steer Congress to victory. He is simply not cut out to be the father figure that the Congress so desperately yearns for. Nor does he have the genius to work out a new paradigm for his party in particular and or for Indian politics at large.

It is ironical that on the one hand, he is supposed to be under training – a large team of intellectuals and academics --both home bred and Harvard educated--are supposedly engaged in training him to take lead of India.

On the other hand, he is supposed to simultaneously play the unquestioned charismatic leader for the Party and be ready to take on prime ministerial responsibilities. The two can't work together.

Why just him? Any inexperienced young politician would crack up under such a strain. It is a great misfortune that he has been brought up to believe that he is born to rule. Everyone in the Congress Party has to work hard to dwarf himself/herself so that he can appear to be the tallest of all and can shine like no other. He is not treated like a young person who has to find his own level just as many other youngsters are doing.

I remember that after his trip to India British Foreign Secretary David Milliband had made this revealing comment in a British newspaper about Rahul Gandhi. (Milliband had accompanied Rahul on the much-he was made to sleep on a humble charpoy in a Dalit hut as part of sharing Rahul's "Discovery of India"). He said he found it strange that a man expected to occupy the prime minister's chair in the near future could not be engaged in discussing anything beyond "development issues" related to his constituency--such as building polytechnics, schools or factories in his constituency. He could not engage in any macro level political discussion--not even on burning issues like Indo Pak relations or the future of Kashmir. I found that comment devastating because if this is the kind of training he is being given, then the Congress intellectuals are doing a very poor job of grooming their leader.

I think Rahul needs a little mercy. He needs time and space to find his own pace and level. He has fallen into the trap his own family and the Congress Party laid out for him. Even today, the Congress Party has more talent than any other Party. It also has a glorious history and legacy. But their supine dependence on the Nehru--Indira dynasty is draining the life blood of the Party.

They would do far better to do nirgun bhakti and anchor themselves in the values and vision of Mahatma Gandhi, rather than prop up sagun deities in the form of Nehru--Indira offsprings.

It is like admitting that all of them collectively are good for nothing and cannot hold together unless a Rahul or Sonia bring some of their glory to shine on them.

Madhu Kishwar, Professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies.