A year after Rahul Gandhi was anointed as Congress president, he has silenced all those who chanted the slogans of “Congress mukt bharat” and kept writing the obituary of the grand old party on daily basis. December 11 marked the completion of “Rahul’s first year in office as president.
Last year same day, Rahul took over as president of the Congress and led the party with remarkable vigour in Gujarat Assembly elections and thereafter brought Karnataka to the party’s kitty.
Emboldened with these wins, challenge from Rahul to Prime Minister Narendra Modi appears more serious than ever before. The gains for the Congress in the Hindi heartland States assume significance though the party suffered a severe drubbing in Telangana and Mizoram.
Addressing the media, Rahul termed the victory of Congress as victory of farmers and the youth. “It’s now time for change. We are going to provide the three States with a vision for overall development. There is a clear feeling in the country that PM Modi has failed to deliver what he committed. The Opposition is now strongly united and will fight together in 2019 polls to defeat Modi to end the politics of hatred. I have learnt about a lot of things since 2014 and most important being humility,” Rahul said.
He said Modiji taught him what not to do in politics. “He (Modi) taught me not be to be arrogant,” Rahul quipped.
Hitting at the BJP for its often-stated remark of Congress-mukt (Congress-free) Bharat, Rahul said, “The BJP has a certain ideology and we will fight against it. We have won elections, we will also win in 2019. However, we do not want to get rid of anyone, ‘hum kisi ko mukt nahi karna chahtein’.”
Rahul thanked people and party workers for party’s good performance in three States of Rajasthan, Chhatisgarh and Madhya Pradesh while asserting that the poll outcome raised “questions” on the Modi Government’s policies. He said now there is a perception within the people that the PM himself is a corrupt man. He also said it is a clear message to Modi that people are not happy with decisions, including demonetisation and those pertaining to farmers and youth.
On naming the Chief Ministers in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Rahul said this will be done smoothly.
Attacking Modi, the Congress chief said Modi got a massive mandate but refused to listen to heartbeat of the people. “Under the BJP big mismanagement of economy, unnecessary damage to sections of economy that were doing well was done. The ruling dispensation failed to provide a vision for the country going forward,” Rahul mentioned.
On the issue of party manifesto on loan waiver, Rahul said this will be done definitely and pointed that loan waiver is a measure and not a solution to farmers’ distress.
The Tuesday’s Assembly results will certainly strengthen Rahul’s position within the party and will give him a strong voice in the national politics and leverage in unifying the Opposition parties to stop the Modi juggernaut in six months.
Before the Assembly elections, the rivals of Uttar Pradesh BSP and SP snubbed Congress and went alone in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The clean sweep by Congress in Chhatisgarh and a comfortable win in Rajasthan and satisfactory performance in MP will now keep the “political bargainers” in check.
In his first year Rahul focused on farmer’s distress, unemployment and constantly attacked the Modi Government over Rafale deal. Rahul as head of the grand old party focused on strengthening the organisation.
Keeping in the mind the need of political circumstances, Rahul created several new departments right from farmers wing to unorganised labour wing to NRI wing. He systematically divided the work among new leaders and also created a system where daily to weekly reports are directly sent to him. Even in ticket distribution, Rahul went by the internal survey and insisted on giving tickets to the winnable leaders.
As compared to the high voltage political campaigns by Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, Rahul campaigned in a low pitched manner focusing more on the farmers and the unemployed sections of society.
The Congress president, once dubbed by critics as a “reluctant politician”, addressed 82 public rallies and seven road shows since October 6, crisscrossing Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telanagana and Mizoram on an almost daily basis.
The result will also help the Congress re-energise party workers, who have been demoralised by a string of electoral defeats. Several Congress leaders from the Hindi heartland such as Sachin Pilot, Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel credited Rahul’s dynamic campaign as the reason for party’s good showing.