Why Rahul is the only leader who can challenge PM Modi in 2019 despite goof-ups
The BJP is going to fight the 2019 polls on PM Modi's personality. The Congress is burning mid-night oil to remodel Rahul Gandhi as a challenger to PM Modi (Image- Reuters)
HIGHLIGHTS
- In spite of his goof-ups, Rahul Gandhi remains the main challenger to PM Modi
- Recent survey figures point towards Gandhi's growing acceptability as challenger
- The BJP has always aggressively countered every statement made by Gandhi
During his four-day tour of Europe, Congress president Rahul Gandhi hit national headlines with statements courting controversies. Rahul Gandhi has been found off the mark in his belligerent attacks on the Narendra Modi government.
Rahul Gandhi erroneously compared the situation in India with the one that led to creation of the Islamic State and gave wrong data about job creation in India and China. However, his biggest goof-up on the two nation tour would be his clean-chit to the Congress in 1984 anti-Sikh riots. But, despite his goof-ups, Rahul Gandhi remains the only politician who can challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019.
The significance of being Rahul Gandhi is understood by the BJP more than any other party. This reflects in the party's high-octane rebuttal of every single allegation that Rahul Gandhi levels against the BJP, the NDA government and PM Modi.
It began with Rahul Gandhi's "suit boot ki sarkar" mock. The BJP fielded a battery of top leaders to defend PM Modi's choice to wear monogrammed suit. PM Modi would later got the suit auctioned for a public cause. But Rahul Gandhi's experiment with guerilla politics emerged as the winner. The government is still wary of the "suit boot" tag.
Team Rahul has been busy recasting him in a new aam aadmi politician image. The team is making every effort to present him in sharp contrast to PM Modi. Rahul Gandhi, who was once considered inaccessible, is often seen interacting with his own partymen but also the general public and taking unscripted questions from journalists and audiences at large.
In September last year, Rahul Gandhi spoke at University of California, Berkeley in the US. He took questions and gave impromptu answers. He has continued that streak of open interaction ever since. On his latest foreign trip, Rahul Gandhi threw a challenge to PM Modi to face an open interaction session like the ones he holds.
Rahul Gandhi has looked vulnerable at time while facing some tough questions in his open interactions. But the Congress has presented it as his boldness and fearless attitude to take questions saying that PM Modi shies away from being held accountable. Of late, Rahul Gandhi has been holding press conferences while PM Modi has not held a single press conference since 2014. His critics paint it as his major weakness despite PM Modi's superlative oratorical skills.
The Congress has been trying to build a parallel narrative as 2019 Lok Sabha election draws closer. The BJP is going to fight the 2019 polls on PM Modi's personality. The Congress is burning mid-night oil to remodel Rahul Gandhi as a challenger to PM Modi. This is why Rahul Gandhi has been leveling direct accusations against PM Modi, be it in the case of demonetisation, GST rollout or the Rafale deal.
Another part of the parallel narrative building process is to position Rahul Gandhi against what former BJP leader Arun Shourie dubbed as "Congress plus cow" while describing the Narendra Modi government. Rahul Gandhi openly admitted that the Congress made mistakes which cost it power in 2014. Then he launched a frontal attack on PM Modi and the BJP in the wake of a series of assaults by cow vigilantes.
It was the incessant attacks by Rahul Gandhi on the Modi government branding it as anti-Dalit that the ruling dispensation was forced to move a Bill in Parliament to overturn the Supreme Court judgment watering down the SC/ST Act. The decision taken by the government was seen as the Shah Bano moment of the Modi government.
On his part, Rahul Gandhi compensated his attack on Hindutva brigade by temple hopping and self-proclaiming himself a devotee of Lord Shiva. The Congress declared him a janewdhari (wearer of the sacred thread).
The politicking by Rahul Gandhi and the Congress seem to be working for him. Recent surveys point to his growing acceptability as a challenger to PM Narendra Modi in 2019. The latest India Today Mood of the Nation poll showed Rahul Gandhi closing the gap with PM Modi in popular perception for next year's Lok Sabha election.
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