February 14
There was a recent New Yorker piece about Barack Obama which talked extensively of how the US President always thinks of what his actions mean for the future. David Remnick quotes Obama aide Valerie Jarrett when he writes, “And then she said something that I’ve come to think of as the Administration’s mantra: “The President always takes the long view.””
Now, I don’t think Rahul Gandhi is quite the Obama. Nevertheless, I believe there is a lot of this “long view” thought process in a lot of what he does.
This belief stems from an interaction with someone whom I believe knows the Congress Vice President’s plans well. At one point in the meeting, he named Bhatta-Parsaul without being prompted. After visiting the villages and writing on his election campaign meeting for the Jewar assembly seat they fall within, I had described in February 2012 that it was the, “site of his most daring political escapade.” I also wrote that since Rahul’s visit, “….Jewar, held by the BSP's Horam Singh, has become the Congress's to lose.”
Yet, the Congress lost the seat to the BSP in 2012. I mentioned this to the individual. He said that the social conditions of the area were an obstacle. So I asked, tongue-in-cheek, “Doesn’t Rahul Gandhi transcend caste?” To me at least, the answer was surprising. “No,” the man said, in all seriousness, “but we are working on it. Give us 25 years.”
Twenty five years. Five election cycles. In Jharkhand, where I work, it’s an appropriate collective noun of chief ministers. Only vision documents and the Planning Commission talk in terms of 25 years, not politicians.
There is this maddening snail-ness about Rahul Gandhi; even regression. In September 2009, I wrote that, “Rahul Gandhi went to JNU on Tuesday for a bout. He brought along the paraphernalia too: armed guards, Member of parliament Meenakshi Natarajan’s research and a truckload of tenacity.” That night’s interaction with the students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University was an inspiring performance, in a campus that stopped his grandmother at the gates.
At JNU too, he talked of the long-term future of the country. More importantly, he seemed to have done his homework and come up with answers. On the other hand, at Ranchi in February 2014, he was asked about some of the same problems that he was faced with when he visited in September 2012. He did not have solutions and worse – as with the issue of devolving power to the panchayats - had lost the opportunity to make a change in the meanwhile, using the fact that the Congress now shares power with the JMM here and even handles the relevant portfolio.
In spite of all this - and the Times Now interview, one must add – there is a constant about Rahul Gandhi. It has been his passion for organisational elections within the Congress. His party’s spin doctors will point out that the Aam Aadmi Party merely copied what Mr. Gandhi has been trying to do for a very long time, but that the Congress is a far bigger, more stubborn organisation. The individual I met claims that the Congress V-P is a different man altogether when discussing this organisational revamp: he knows its details intimately and is more passionate. After all, the pre-election advertisements featuring him have so far been solely about the new blood in the party. In that sense, also taking into account how he has “guided” government policy of late, he performs more as a Sarsanghchalak than anything else.
Probably the main reason why Mr. Gandhi can think in terms of 25 years is because he trusts the stability of his dynastic relationship with the Congress. It is therefore ironical that he tries to use that position to bring in youngsters without a background in electoral politics. During this interaction I keep referring to, someone turned to the individual holding court and asked, “Why are we not seeing more Rahul Gandhis?” His reaction was to turn to me and ask, “You’re from Kerala, right? Tell them how it is working so well out there!” So much for trying to mask your identity and believing you had developed a neutral accent.
All through that interaction, whenever the topic of organisational elections came up, this individual would go back to describing Kerala. He talked glowingly of the youngsters with no previous electoral politics experience taking to the Youth Congress. I have since come to believe that Kerala is Rahul Gandhi’s Saranda.
The Saranda forest in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district was till recently a no-go area for representatives of the Indian state, with the CPI-Maoist operating its Eastern Regional Bureau out of it. Since, a unique experiment where massive developmental effort follows armed action has helped the state establish its presence within the Sal forest. Saranda is viewed as a pilot study for left wing extremism-affected areas. Its failure will not be in isolation; it could mean the scrapping of similar plans for other areas and starting afresh.
So far, Kerala has held. But then, Kerala – where the disciplined, cadre-d CPI-M is more than just a political party – is no Uttar Pradesh.
Even as the Rahul project proceeds languidly with its 25-year-deadline, the Congress has elections to win. It is frustrating covering Mr. Gandhi’s recent events as a reporter – almost everything is behind-closed-doors and the Congress V-P hardly says anything. Instead, he listens. He is gentle, warm, sensitive, inquisitive. But at the end of the day, he ends up being a glorified shrink, to whom people from all over are invited to come and vent.
At JNU too, he talked of the long-term future of the country. More importantly, he seemed to have done his homework and come up with answers. On the other hand, at Ranchi in February 2014, he was asked about some of the same problems that he was faced with when he visited in September 2012. He did not have solutions and worse – as with the issue of devolving power to the panchayats - had lost the opportunity to make a change in the meanwhile, using the fact that the Congress now shares power with the JMM here and even handles the relevant portfolio.
In spite of all this - and the Times Now interview, one must add – there is a constant about Rahul Gandhi. It has been his passion for organisational elections within the Congress. His party’s spin doctors will point out that the Aam Aadmi Party merely copied what Mr. Gandhi has been trying to do for a very long time, but that the Congress is a far bigger, more stubborn organisation. The individual I met claims that the Congress V-P is a different man altogether when discussing this organisational revamp: he knows its details intimately and is more passionate. After all, the pre-election advertisements featuring him have so far been solely about the new blood in the party. In that sense, also taking into account how he has “guided” government policy of late, he performs more as a Sarsanghchalak than anything else.
Probably the main reason why Mr. Gandhi can think in terms of 25 years is because he trusts the stability of his dynastic relationship with the Congress. It is therefore ironical that he tries to use that position to bring in youngsters without a background in electoral politics. During this interaction I keep referring to, someone turned to the individual holding court and asked, “Why are we not seeing more Rahul Gandhis?” His reaction was to turn to me and ask, “You’re from Kerala, right? Tell them how it is working so well out there!” So much for trying to mask your identity and believing you had developed a neutral accent.
All through that interaction, whenever the topic of organisational elections came up, this individual would go back to describing Kerala. He talked glowingly of the youngsters with no previous electoral politics experience taking to the Youth Congress. I have since come to believe that Kerala is Rahul Gandhi’s Saranda.
The Saranda forest in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district was till recently a no-go area for representatives of the Indian state, with the CPI-Maoist operating its Eastern Regional Bureau out of it. Since, a unique experiment where massive developmental effort follows armed action has helped the state establish its presence within the Sal forest. Saranda is viewed as a pilot study for left wing extremism-affected areas. Its failure will not be in isolation; it could mean the scrapping of similar plans for other areas and starting afresh.
So far, Kerala has held. But then, Kerala – where the disciplined, cadre-d CPI-M is more than just a political party – is no Uttar Pradesh.
Even as the Rahul project proceeds languidly with its 25-year-deadline, the Congress has elections to win. It is frustrating covering Mr. Gandhi’s recent events as a reporter – almost everything is behind-closed-doors and the Congress V-P hardly says anything. Instead, he listens. He is gentle, warm, sensitive, inquisitive. But at the end of the day, he ends up being a glorified shrink, to whom people from all over are invited to come and vent.
It has got to a point where reporters are asking, “What just happened?” to each other at the end of Rahul’s interactive sessions. Which is what the bureau chief of an English daily asked me after Mr. Gandhi’s recent Ranchi visit. The truism-laden headlines are an indication: “In Jharkhand, Rahul holds meeting with women tribals,” “Rahul Gandhi meets railway porters, trackmen, promises to solve their problems.”
At the end of his interactions, there is always this hope – among his audience as well as reporters – that there will be a rabbit out of Rahul Gandhi’s hat. That he will make a grand promise, offer some solutions. Instead, he takes it all in, becoming a repository for all things India. Mr. Gandhi surely intends to use it over those 25 years. However, winter is coming.
At the end of his interactions, there is always this hope – among his audience as well as reporters – that there will be a rabbit out of Rahul Gandhi’s hat. That he will make a grand promise, offer some solutions. Instead, he takes it all in, becoming a repository for all things India. Mr. Gandhi surely intends to use it over those 25 years. However, winter is coming.
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