Attempting image makeover, Rahul Gandhi visits Banke Bihari temple, says I have changed

“Yahan aane se pehle, mandir gaya tha. Wahan bhi kaafi achha laga (Before coming here, I visited the temple. Felt good there as well),” Rahul told party workers.

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And to end any confusion on his temple visit, Congress legislature party leader Pradeep Mathur, speaking in Rahul’s presence, said: “You have visited the temple. From now on, the wind will change. It will blow in your favour and in favour of the Congress.”

Read: Rahul Gandhi attacks PM Modi, taunts RSS

Ever since its rout in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, a debate has been underway in the Congress on the perception that it pampered minorities which hurt the party at the hustings. Senior leader A K Antony, who authored a comprehensive report detailing the reasons for the debacle and the way ahead, openly spoke about the pro-minority tilt. Many senior leaders echoed Antony’s concern, pointing to the party’s inability to counter this perception by explaining its understanding of secularism.

Immediately after his return from an eight-week sabbatical earlier this year, Rahul trekked to the Kedarnath shrine. And on Monday, he visited the temple town of Vrindavan on the day it celebrated Radha Ashtami.

Addressing some 500 leaders of the Uttar Pradesh Congress — from state office bearers to district presidents — Rahul also sought to set right his personal image. He attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the RSS, but was silent on the SP, the ruling party in the state, and the BSP, rekindling the debate on electoral alliances.

With assembly elections due in Uttar Pradesh in 2017, his focus was on the organisation.

Rahul said he used to think of the Congress as an army with a command structure, complete with generals and soldiers.

“The views of every individual and, for that matter, politicians change slowly. My view too has changed slowly. Not fast, but slowly. I used to consider you as an army. An army which has to fight in Uttar Pradesh. An army which has a senapati, generals and soldiers. And my view was that if someone is not working in the army, somebody else should take his place.”

“But I have changed. I don’t consider you as an army now. I consider you my family. When I was young and when I used to say something, my father had the power to silence me. But my father used to listen to me. We used to talk to each other… there used to be discussion… The change in my viewpoint meant whether I like anybody in the team or not, it is still the family and we can’t throw them out. We have to bring in brotherhood and peace in our family.”

He said the earlier viewpoint meant simply replacing a non-performing senapati. “And if you consider (the party) as a family, you can tell him that you are not able to do this particular job and your strength lies in something else. It is about putting the right people for the right job.”

Rahul also gave a pep talk to the leaders, recounting Steve Jobs’ famous polished stones story to press the case for team work. He said Congress leaders were like unpolished stones and if they work together, they will polish each other and come out as beautiful stones.

“This is not the RSS. Had it been the RSS, Mohan Bhagwat, for instance, would have come and looked at the sky and said it is black. And everyone holding a lathi would have saluted and said ‘yes sir, the sky is indeed black’. The Congress is not like that,” he said.

Rahul is often accused of focusing more on Excel spreadsheets and presentations, grading and rewarding leaders based on their performance and interactive skills and trying to run the party more like a multinational company. The elders advocated continuation of the conventional style and a pragmatic approach.

On Monday, Rahul indicated he is learning the merits of the traditional style and that he is changing. He said the Congress may have finished fourth in elections, but its ideology is still the number one.

But many Congress leaders were unimpressed. “This was supposed to be a chintan shivir and the initial plan was to brainstorm for two days. It has been turned into a convention. Rahulji came, spoke and left. What has come out of this exercise? Leaders have come from across the state. He should have sat through the proceedings, listened the views of the leaders,” one senior leader said.

Rahul left after the inaugural session while the seniors — be it former ministers like R P N Singh, Sri Prakash Jaiswal or Jitin Prasada or senior leaders like Pramod Tiwari, Raj Babbar, Mohsina Kidwai and P L Punia — were not there at the brainstorming session.

“In Rahul’s presence, (UP Congress chief Nirmal) Khatri praised the team. CLP leader Pradeep Mathur said the party is united whereas that is not the case. The leadership in the state is not able to take everyone together. But all these things did not come out before Rahul,” another leader said. Some like CWC member Anil Shastri, who was a special invitee to the meeting, said “something is better than nothing”.