Already under tremendous shock following recent the Assembly poll drubbings received largely at the hands of the BJP, Rahul Gandhi’s adventure plans in Jharkhand have gone into shelf. After making several attempts to finalise the Congress vice-president’s rally in the State the party is still waiting for its turn.
Earlier the Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee (JPCC) had planned for a massive rally of the Gandhi scion anytime in November that has been shunted indefinitely. Sources in the party are unofficially citing pro-Narendra Modi wave currently sweeping across and also continuous debacles Rahul Gandhi has received on several poll fronts.
“The party is looking at the Narendra Modi rally and would be accessing its success before deciding anything. Keeping in mind the media hype about Modi, the party is also apprehensive about outnumbering the headcount coming in the BJP’s rally,” said a senior party leader requesting anonymity.
Party leaders are also murmuring about ideas their undeclared prime ministerial probable has to outfox Modi in the upcoming elections. Rahul Gandhi has had array of meetings and rallies in all the four States underwent polls last month where the Congress faired very poorly. The setback was a continuation of the defeats taken place in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha the Congress had to face quite a sometimes ago.
“You can understand it by an example. Modi was in Varanasi few days ago for a rally. At the same time Rahul Gandhi went to Muzzafarnagar to meet some 200 minorities living in relief camps. People can ask what the Congress was doing when riots were taking place and at the same time also taking support from the Samajwadi Party! This kind of politics is proving him a spent force in the national politics,” said another leader, indicating towards lack of enthusiasm among partymen about Rahul’s Jharkhand visit.
The dip in the popularity of Rahul among masses has made Congress leaders in Jharkhand apprehensive about arranging sufficient crowd for the proposed rally. The fear can be seen in a recent election meeting held in Delhi where former Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit was seen appealing the crowd to listen to Rahul before leaving the venue. “It would be tough for the party to manage even 30,000–40,000 people for the rally. That is why the central leadership is buying time and dragging it as long as possible,” said a legislator.
Nevertheless the apprehension, the party is publically looking forward for Rahul’s visit which, they think, would boost prospects in the State. “We were waiting for this December 29 Modi rally. After it is over we may look for a time in January or so,” said Deo Kumar Dhan, who had been given responsibility for the rally, proposed for few months back.