The “shuddhikaran (purification)” controversy, Manusmriti, “Chhatron ki Goonj”, and the caste census. These four show that Rahul Gandhi is moving according to a plan. The Leader of Opposition (LoP) has stepped up efforts to create a new narrative geared to win over Dalits, women, Gen Z, the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), and minorities, having eyed this constituency of “90% of India” for some time now.
Gandhi recently sparked a backlash from the BJP by criticising the Manusmriti, the ancient Hindu text, for viewing women only as an extension of their father, husband, or son. Not unexpectedly, the ruling party accused him of being derisive about the Hindu faith. The stage is now set for a slugfest between the two parties, each reaching out to constituencies that might enable them to come to power in Uttar Pradesh and other poll-bound states in 2027.
Gandhi’s words at his “Chhatron ki goonj” event in Pune reflected a shift in the Congress’s strategy. The LoP did not use the usual, mild words that political parties use to express concern for women, such as “welfare” and “empowerment”. Instead, he talked about “smashing patriarchy” and accused the RSS and the BJP of possessing a “Manusmriti mindset”.
The format of the meeting was also differently conceived and it even reflected in Gandhi’s sartorial choice. He was dressed in a more stylish yellow shirt instead of his customary beige trousers and white T-shirt (with the trademark one hand in his pocket). At the “Chhatron ki Goonj” address in Prayagraj earlier, he had worn a pink flowing shirt.
The idea of Gandhi’s makeover, if Congressmen are to be believed, is to try and win over a large section of Gen Z, especially women, whom the party thinks it has not paid attention to until now. Many urban, educated, middle-class, and upper-caste Gen Z like the LoP’s “inconsistent” ways — such as taking off for a break from time to time, unlike traditional politicians who are expected to work 24×7. For Gandhi to pay as much attention to his fitness and health as to his work is a model that interests them, and they like him for asking questions of the government — as a 19-year-old put it, “To be modern is to ask questions.”
In Pune, Gandhi also demonstrated a different way of political engagement. He walked up and down the stage with a mike in his hand, calling on groups of young women to come up on the stage and chat with him. They talked about their experiences — the safety constraints they face that have a bearing on their education or work, their inability to make decisions independently, as well as lack of finances. These were not only English-speaking women. Most of them were more at home in Marathi, managing to speak in Hindi that was disarming — their punchlines drawing applause from the audience, a large number of them women. It appears that the Gen Z are viewing Rahul Gandhi with new eyes.
Why Gandhi brought up Manusmriti
Gandhi could just as well have made a powerful pitch for women’s rights without referring to the controversial Manusmriti. But he chose to court a controversy because not only did he want to reach out to Gen Z women — and Gen Alpha girls — but also to Dalits. A century ago, B R Ambedkar had burnt the Manusmriti in public in 1927 to protest against its teachings, criticising it for encouraging untouchability and denying the lower castes and women equality and autonomy of functioning.
Then, on August 29, Gandhi upped the ante with his attack against the BJP for not acting against those who had washed the stage from which Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had addressed a gathering in Haldwani earlier this month. This, the LoP argued, was just because Kharge is Dalit. Gandhi tried to make this “shuddhikaran (purification)” act synonymous with continuing untouchability against Dalits and project that the BJP, despite rapidly expanding its base and courting the OBCs and Dalits since 2014, remains the party of the upper castes — the Brahmin-Bania party — at its core.
The BJP distanced itself from the incident and hit back, but Gandhi is not letting up, asking if the Dalit president of the largest Opposition party could be treated in this fashion, what might be the fate of ordinary Dalits in villages? Gandhi knows that the return of Dalits to the Congress fold holds the key to the party’s future. It is the Dalit fear of losing their constitutionally guaranteed reservations that had led to the BJP failing to get a majority on its own in 2024.
Gandhi is also not abandoning his outreach to the OBCs, though he has not made much of a headway with them in the Hindi heartland. This was the sum total of the letter that he and Kharge shot off to Prime Minister Modi to reframe the questions in the caste census — many believe that it will not do justice to the OBCs.
Gandhi’s problem, however, lies elsewhere. It is the emaciation of the Congress organisation in large parts of the country. Winning elections is a complex business today. A buzz is not good enough without the machinery to convert goodwill into votes and that is where the Congress has been found wanting.
Can BJP capitalise?
Paradoxically, the Manusmriti debate has also come as a godsend for a BJP on the back foot after the recent protests. It could help the ruling party switch the narrative back on the Hindu versus anti-Hindu lines to polarise the polity. BJP leaders were quick to target the LoP, saying he criticises only the Hindu religious texts for discriminating against women. The newly appointed BJP general secretary Smriti Irani, who defeated Gandhi in Amethi in 2019 and who has been rehabilitated to take him on, asked the LoP to walk the talk and support the implementation of the Women’s Reservation Act and induct women ministers in the Congress’s Karnataka Cabinet. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also took aim at Gandhi, accusing him of insulting the state and the country’s religious traditions.
It is early days yet, but given that the Manusmriti gives primacy to the Brahmins and upper castes, the new controversy could help the BJP consolidate the upper castes behind it once again. Though they have been the most convinced of the BJP’s supporters in the Hindi heartland since the Mandir movement, these communities have been feeling restive with what they see as the BJP’s tilt towards the OBCs. They had reacted to the UGC equity norms, now stayed, and even the caste census that is underway.
In 2018, the government, which had restored the SC-ST Act diluted by the Supreme Court, had to move with alacrity to bring a 10% quota for the economically weaker sections in the general category. As then, so also today, the BJP, whose base has expanded under Narendra Modi, is compelled to walk the tightrope.
In the end, the two “Ms” — Mahila and Manusmriti — may well define the 2027 elections in UP and other states, which in turn will have a ripple effect in the big battle in 2029.
(Neerja Chowdhury, Contributing Editor, The Indian Express, has covered the last 11 Lok Sabha elections. She is the author of How Prime Ministers Decide.)
Rahul Gandhi recently sparked a backlash from the BJP by criticising the Manusmriti, the ancient Hindu text, for viewing women only as an extension of their father, husband, or son. (ANI Photo) 
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