Growing up with Rahul Gandhi

This well-heeled, earnest young MP from Amethi has, according to his supporters, great potential. Never mind if he wasn8217;t in the business of asking questions in the House 8212; it was thought that this serious Gandhi was learning, often humbly re-learning, what it means to be a Gandhi in 2007. Those who follow him said he was on the way to redefining his family8217;s relationship with the Congress. He is said to have firmly told a bunch of Congress sycophants who was trying to persuade his mother to accept the PM8217;s post in 2004, that 8220;the family was not in public life to just rule as a right, but to serve8221;.

It is useful at this juncture to consider, for a moment, Rajiv Gandhi8217;s own beginnings as politician. His memorable 8220;hum haarein ya loose-ein8221; or 8220;nani yaad dila denge8230;8221; phrases are now the stuff of legend. But to give Rajiv Gandhi his due, those phrases were, at worst, desperate attempts to speak the language of the aam aadmi 8212; a yearning by a reluctant politician to connect with the people in the hinterland. The naive, fresh-from-the-cockpit Rajiv quite endeared himself to the people, and even these verbal indiscretions did not blot his copybook. The point is that these errors were charming rather than riling. They spelt no serious departure from established foreign policy principles, nor did they lay claim to the greatness of the 8216;family8217;.

Rahul Gandhi8217;s comments in Bareilly is of a different ilk. They jar in today8217;s times, given the complexity of a state like UP, given the grave organisational crisis the Congress party faces, given the intense media scrutiny. Even the Pakistan Foreign Office reacted to them within a few hours of the statement. In contrast, Rajiv Gandhi8217;s days appear like an abridged edition of Hans Christian Andersen.

Essentially, Rahul Gandhi has a lot going for him. He clearly outshines the aging leadership within the party. Since a large chunk of the electorate was born after his grandmother8217;s and even after his father8217;s terms, he does not have to be defensive about their often controversial records in office. Also, unlike his father who started a party general secretary, Rahul Gandhi has not been shackled by a formal position in the party hierarchy. He has been given a clean slate and the freedom to plot his own way. But if he is to play the leadership role his party demands from him, it would require great maturity 8212; a maturity that he has on occasion displayed.

Rahul Gandhi must clearly start again and the first thing he should do is to shed his excessive attachment to the 8216;family8217; mystique. The electorate in UP is already characterised by caste loyalties which have shrunk to loyalties to sub-castes and kinship groups. Appealing to loyalty to one family, against such a scenario, is a recipe for disaster. It will, by no means, widen the Congress8217;s catchment area.

The wise Doctor has again tried to show Rahul Gandhi the road ahead, by gently invoking the 8220;future8221;. In fact, Rahul Gandhi himself talked about going 8220;to the 21st century8221; in a speech in Badaun on Sunday. He should take a cue from that. A lot of Indians are still caught between the India of the medieval age and that of the 21st century. If Rahul Gandhi and his party are to gain in relevance, he needs to be serious about reading right that roadmap to take Bharat to the 21st century.