Capt M K Tayal

Rahul Gandhi, the spelling evokes a bag full of mixed thoughts and amusement, depending on which side of the fence you view the man from the ‘prime minister family’. He is intriguing, more so now that he claims that he is not who is. Walking long distance; perhaps, can do wonders.

And wonder, in deed it is. Bharat Jodo Yatra by Congress heir, Rahul Gandhi, is no small feat. For the record, it is the longest political march by any wannabee prime minister. You have to give it to Rahul Gandhi just for the sheer effort.

The problem is to identify to give credit to whom and for what. “Rahul Gandhi is in your head; I have killed him. He is not there. He is not in my mind. He is gone. The person you are seeing, he is not Rahul Gandhi, you can see him… Rahul Gandhi is in your head, not in my head. Rahul Gandhi is in the mind of BJP, not in my head…” This is what he said after walking nearly 3,000 kilometres with breaks and political events splintered along the way. 

It makes perfect sense for a seer to evoke philosophical reflections but for someone who dreams of changing the landscape and giving ‘happiness to the entire people of the nation’ it doesn’t fit the picture.

Has the long walk tired the young, angry-old man or is it a structural-design flaw?

For a serious politician, we ought not to restrict the idea of Rahul Gandhi to sporting a beard and a T-shirt and eventually a ‘pheron’. The wise-man look is understandably desirable but the choice of wearing weather-inappropriate clothing, may not do him good. He just barely avoided catching pneumonia, for god sake and the sake of his followers.

Rahul Gandhi says he got inspired by two poor girls who couldn’t afford warm clothing. To express solidarity with the girls, he decided to give up warm clothes. Wouldn’t it have been better to gift the girls with two sweaters? “You are scared of cold, I am not,” Rahul told a scribe who questioned his choice of dressing in the winter month. In the Valley, finally he gave that up also and covered with a pheron.

Not that he has not been flashing Burberry jacket in the Parliament and other places. But again give it Rahul for the T-shirt too. The bravado did last till the last? However, given that Rahul Gandhi is not Rahul Gandhi and thus evolving, anything could have been expected.

The Congress, on its part, left leaving no stone unturned for the success of the yatra. Ensuring constant media coverage, the party certainly created a buzz.

Though the BJP may have termed it a failure but for the wrong reasons again. Christened Bharat Jodo Yatra, it couldn’t have been called Congress Jodo Yatra. The central underlining idea of the yatra was to rejuvenate the Seva Dal cadre, keep Rahul Gandhi busy and physically fit, not necessarily in that order. It did all that without any phenomenal image makeover.

Yatra nevertheless did not lack in length but perhaps in depth and substance for the larger part. By his constant offensive against the BJP and its parent ideological organisation, the RSS, Rahul Gandhi, whoever is the new avatar, did provide enough material for the Congress Sandesh and gave ammo and hope to the left-centrists. Ironically, crowds are not an accurate barometer of support it purports to have gathered.

It has, by and large, been ineffective in getting the desired political traction. Not willing to cede any space, leaders in the North just left in the cold. Other party leaders did not particularly queue up to get a peekaboo of the prince in shining armour.

But given Rahul as it is today, is good for the BJP. As a standalone foe, he is unable to singlehandedly challenge the might of Narendra Modi and the highly energised Sangh cadre.

Had the Yatra managers made it a walk from North to South rather than vice-versa, it could have yielded in different results for uniting the party.

The yatra is the right effort but in the wrong direction. But that is being addressed in the part two, as suggested by fellow leaders in Srinagar.

Perhaps, a part two from Kutch to Tripura, would be desirable to fill in the blanks. A structurally stronger and more mature Rahul is desired for a vibrant democracy.

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Overnight, it seems, Modi has induced a rush of moral accountability in a party which hitherto was notorious for absorbing electoral setbacks without anyone owning up a wee whit of responsibility. A leadership impervious to a series of defeats was now being thrown into an internal crisis by none other than its own supreme head.

After announcing his decision to quit at the first meeting of the Congress Working Committee after the election results, Rahul apparently made himself unavailable to all but his hand-picked aides. Courtiers found themselves cut out by the Leader who indicated that he was not ready to be persuaded to change his decision.

After a tense hiatus of 24 hours when nobody was allowed to meet him, Sonia Gandhi’s trusted political adviser, Ahmed Patel, and, a day later, Priyanka Vadra, Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot, met him, as per media reports. His callers denied they discussed his resignation but it was clear they did nothing else.

Of course, Sonia Gandhi is dead-set against her son quitting the party post. She cannot countenance someone else from outside the family taking over the reins of what she believes is a family firm. All indications, however, suggest that the son is equally firm on resigning. Maybe a Manmohan Singh-like figure can be found to head the party till Rahul is ready again to assume charge of the party.

Again, if Rahul quits owning up responsibility for the huge blow to the party in the recent election, what justification will heads of various Pradesh Congress Committees have to continue after their humiliating defeat? The Raj Babbar, Sunil Jakhars, Sanjay Nirupama, etc all will have no earthly reason to continue after their chief embarrasses them publicly by walking away from his post.

Probably, individual responsibility is what Rahul had in view when he publicly rebuked Gehlot, P Chidambaram, Kamal Nath, etc, for neglecting the party while concentrating on the election of their respective sons. This uncharacteristic ticking-off of senior leaders hinted that Rahul was unlikely to put himself on a different pedestal. He could insist on accountability for the party only if he himself was ready to admit his role for the disaster.

An upshot of the public humiliation of party bosses by Rahul is that a Rajasthan minister has sent in his resignation in order to shame Chief Minister Gehlot to own up responsibility for the total wipe-out of the party in the State. The BJP won all 25 seats in Rajasthan. Nath too is under pressure for the abject failure of the party in M P As for Chidambaram, win or loss in Tamil Nadu is linked directly to the fortunes of the leading Dravida party with which the Congress is aligned.

The Congress had a tie-up with the DMK which swept the poll, helping Chidambaram’s controversial son, Karthi, to win. In 2014, Karthi failed to save his deposit owing to DMK’s lack of popular support. The ongoing turmoil in Congress may not have a direct bearing on its allies, but they have a deep interest in its fortunes. If Rahul’s resignation drama is not resolved soon, it will further demoralize the opposition which is struggling to find its feet after its rejection by the people.

Indeed, the uncertainty over Rahul’s status has caused confusion over the leadership of the Congress MPs in the Lok Sabha. With the defeat of Mallikarjun Kharge, the party has to search for a new leader. Sonia Gandhi is the chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party but did not head its Lok Sabha component.

Shashi Tharoor has expressed a desire to replace Kharge, but his being an accused in the ‘suicide’ of his wife, Sunanda Pushkar, and earlier his involvement in the IPL ‘sweat equity’ scandal, should normally disqualify him from leading the party in the Lok Sabha despite his gift of the gab and an ability to turn an elegant phrase or two in English.

Jyotiraditya Scindia could have been considered but he failed to retain his seat. In short, there is a crisis of leadership both at the organisational and parliamentary levels in the Grand Old Party. Unless resolved soon, it can have an adverse effect on the Congress ministries in the States.

The Correspondent Bureau with inputs from agencies

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Congressmen think it is not a problem if the candidates of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) win the electoral battle, but the nominees of the SP-BSP-RLD alliance should not win the polls, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister alleged.

“Like the BJP, the Congress has started saying absurd things about the SP-BSP alliance. It is clear that both (Congress, BJP) have a tacit understanding and are contesting against our alliance unitedly,” Mayawati said while appealing to the voters not to waste their votes by supporting the Congress.

Addressing a poll rally in Barabanki, Congress president Rahul Gandhi had alleged that the control of Mayawati and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav was in the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“In the last five years, did the SP or the BSP take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi directly? Did you hear any statement from Mayawati or (SP patriarch) Mulayam Singh Yadav? See, I am not scared of Modi. I do not care. If someone is scared, it is Narendra Modi. But the control of Mayawati and Akhilesh is in the hands of Modi,” he had said.

Attacking the prime minister, Mayawati said, “He has made some comments on the BSP, taking the name of Bhim Rao Ambedkar. I want to tell him that Baba Saheb’s name might be for vote politics and self-interest for them, but he is the soul of the BSP. The BSP does not practice the politics of ‘Ramnaam japna, janta ko thagna’ (taking the name of Ram and duping people) like the BJP.” 

“I want to advise the BJP that it should not try to become fake ‘Ambedkarwadi’ like the Congress,” she added in a statement issued here.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo alleged that in line with the politics of caste and hatred, the Congress had fielded candidates to defeat the SP-BSP alliance in Uttar Pradesh and benefit the BJP.

“The Congress and the BJP do not want people who suffered due to casteism, communalism, capitalism to rule in any way. These parties are two sides of the same coin,” she said.

Stating that Mulayam Singh Yadav blessing Modi in Parliament was due to his “old age”, Mayawati said, “He never intends to bless Modi and this is known to all.” 

“I want to tell the Congress that its president Rahul Gandhi is not old, but what was he doing by taking Modi in his arms? As the Congress and the BJP know that they will be wiped out from Uttar Pradesh in this election, they are upset,” she added.

Mayawati said the prime minister was mum on Pakistan for the last five years and now, during election time, he was showing all his courage to divert the attention of people from the core issues and hide the “failures” of his government.

“During its previous stint, the BJP not only took out Masood Azhar (of jail) but also left him abroad and now, they are trying to get votes in his name which is condemnable,” she added.

In a huge diplomatic victory for India, the United Nations Sanctions Committee designated Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed’s chief Masood Azhar a global terrorist after China lifted its hold on a proposal to ban him.

The Correspondent Bureau with inputs from agencies

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Addressing a poll rally here in Damoh district of Madhya Pradesh, Gandhi also reiterated his allegations over the Rafale jet purchase deal.

“I can say with guarantee…if you go in front of the Race Course Road (residence of the PM) where personnel of CRPF, BSF stand with guns…and utter the word ‘chowkidar’ in front of them, they will respond by saying ‘chor hai’.

“You go to Race Course Road in Delhi and try this..say ‘chowkidar’..Probably the security personnel standing before Narendra Modi’s residence would say, ‘chor hai’,” he said.

The Congress president said such reply was a given “because the entire country knows that Modi has waived Rs 5.55 lakh crore of 15 persons in the country in the last five years”.

Gandhi has been raising the “Chowkidar Chor Hai” (Watchman is a thief) slogan to target the PM whom he accuses of being cosy with select businessmen.

He also alleged that the PM has given Rs 30,000 crore to businessman Anil Ambani through the “Rafale scam”. “Modi has committed a theft of several lakh crores of your money,” he said.

Gandhi asked Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath to probe the “Bundelkhand package scam”.

“The then UPA government (at the Centre) had given Rs 3800 crore for development of the Bundelkhand region, but nothing happened,” Gandhi said.

The Congress has been alleging irregularities in the Bundelkhand package which was released when Shivraj Singh Chouhan government was in power in MP.

While six of the 29 Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh went to polls in the first phase on April 29, the other 23 constituencies will vote on May 6, 12 and 19.

The Correspondent Bureau with inputs from agencies

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Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said: “The Supreme Court had asked for our explanation regarding the statement made by Rahul Gandhi in Amethi and Bihar. A very detailed and comprehensive explanation has been filed in the court in which we expressed regret for Rahul Gandhi’s statement in which he had attributed ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ slogan to a court order.”

“We have also made very clear in the explanation that we have no intention of stopping the ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ slogan, which is being used to target the Prime Minister and his ministers for their alleged involvement in Rafale scam,” said Singhvi. He also stated that it was not their intention to attribute the slogan as a decision by the Supreme Court and that the matter should be dropped as the BJP was trying to deliberately politicize the matter.

“It was never our intention to attribute this slogan as a finding or conclusion of the Supreme Court. I also requested the court to close this matter as the BJP is trying to deliberately politicize the matter in the context of ongoing elections,” said Singhvi. The Supreme Court has issued a formal contempt notice against Congress president Rahul Gandhi for claiming that the apex court said ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ while hearing the admissibility of some documents in Rafale jet scam recently.

The Correspondent Bureau with inputs from agencies

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“In a bid to empower women, our party will deposit the entire amount into the bank accounts of the women of the household,” he added. In its election manifesto, the Congress promised to give Rs 72,000 per year to 20 per cent of India’s poorest under the NYAY scheme.

Reiterating his promise to bring in the one-tax regime, he said: “Within six months of forming the government, we will replace PM Modi’s ‘Gabber Singh Tax’ (GST) with a ‘real GST’.

Congress president also accused the PM Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government of taking away 27,000 jobs every 24-hours from the youth. “If our party emerges victorious in the Lok Sabha elections, we will give 22 lakh government jobs in a year and would employ as many as 10 lakh youths in the panchayat.” “We will make a government for the poor, businessmen and unemployed youth of the country,” he added. Gujarat will go to polls on April 23 in a single phase for all the 26 Lok Sabha seats. The counting of votes will take place on May 23.

The Correspondent Bureau with inputs from agencies

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Addressing a press conference here, the former Finance Minister said ‘enough’ economists and experts in the subject had been consulted and they broadly agreed that India has the capacity to implement the scheme.

Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has said the implementation of the scheme is possible, Chidambaram added.

“Our calculation shows that it will not cross 2 percent of the GDP, it will be 1.8 percent of the GDP at any given point of time,” he said.

“The scheme will be rolled out in phases and we will cover the five crore families in phases,” he said.

The senior party leader said the scheme has to be tested in the field and then rolled out.

An expert committee will be set up for its implementation and it will design the scheme at every stage and “we will consult the committee before we move to the next stage,” he said.

There is enough data to identify the five crore families, Chidambaram said.

When the 100 days employment scheme (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) was implemented in 2009, BJP leader Arun Jaitley had said it was not possible to implement the scheme.

Jaitley, however, forgot to say that doubling income for the farmers was not possible when Modi announced it, he said.

“I don’t wish to reply to anyone who criticizes a programme intended to wipe out poverty,” he said answering a question on criticism of the scheme.

“MNREGA eradicated hunger income scheme will root out poverty.”

The Congress alone cannot be blamed for not eradicating poverty, he said adding the party had taken several measures to root it out and succeeded in several of them as well.

“To eradicate poverty, a minimum income is needed otherwise poverty will not end.”

Like the Minimum Wages Act which stipulates minimum wages, every family should have a minimum income and the government cannot provide the entire income and that was why the scheme is called the “Minimum Income Support Scheme.”

An amount of Rs 72,000 a year, a standard amount Rs 6,000 per month is proposed to be transferred to the account of beneficiaries if the Congress is voted to power in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

He said his party was aware of the challenges involved in implementing the scheme and added that “we will overcome these challenges.”

“We will insist that every family should open an account in the name of the woman in the family and the money will be transferred to her account.”

Poverty eradication should be accepted as an “Aram (meaning dharma in Tamil), it is dharma, it is a moral duty of every government in the 21st century,” he said.

To a question, he said, “don’t compare Kisan Samman Scheme with this scheme and trivialize our scheme,” he said and alleged the BJP rolled out the farmers plan “for elections.”

Had the scheme been important for the BJP-led NDA, Chidambaram asked why it did not implement it in “full five budgets,” and rolled it out at the fag end of its tenure.

He indicated that the Congress manifesto is likely to be released on April 2.

On March 25, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said 20 percent families in poorest of the poor category will be given Rs 72,000 each annually as a minimum income.

Gandhi had touted the promise as a “groundbreaking” measure to end poverty.

The Congress president had said: “The time for change has come”. Five crore families and 25 crore people will directly benefit from the scheme, he claimed, terming it is a “final assault” to eradicate poverty in the country.

with inputs from news agencies.

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