Rahul Gandhi

Born to lead: The challenges ahead of

Table of contents

The speech
How Rahul Gandhis VP speech made Congress weepy Rahul: Democrat on weekdays, privileged prince on weekends Does Rahul owe Priyanka, Pitroda for his badlav speech? Highlights from Rahul Gandhis emotionally charged speech 04 06 09 10

Rahul vs Modi?
Rahul vs Modi: They both face the same challenges Looking beyond Chintan Shivir: Is it now Rahul vs Modi in 2014? Rahul vs Modi: Who has the edge in Mahabharat 2014? 12 14 15

Great expectations
Cong projects Rahul as PM candidate, says only he can lead young India Why its a tough road ahead for Rahul Gandhi Can Rahul Gandhi really ensure the Congress victory in 2014? Not just a Number Two: Rahul Gandhi can transform Congress Son rise in Congress: Its too soon to write off Rahul Gandhi 19 21 23 24 26

Reactions
Rajiv Gandhi did not deliver on promises, so will Rahul? Rajivs speeches were inspiring, Rahul spoke like an Oppn leader: BJP Rahuls elevation in Cong comes as no surprise: BJP 29 32 33

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The speech

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made Congress weepy

The elevation of Rahul Gandhi to the vice president of the party was an emotional one, with many Congress leaders left wiping their eyes after his speech at the partys Chintan Shivir.
FP Politics, Jan 21, 2013

How Rahul Gandhis VP speech

t is rare to see a politician in India show any emotion. But with a speech that tugged on emotional chords, with references to his mother, father and grandmother, and didnt aver from criticising the partys functioning, Rahul Gandhi reportedly left many battle hardened Congressmen and women dewy eyed. In a speech that drew on his experiences with his grandmother, mother and father over the years and his learning within the party, Rahul Gandhi managed to hit all the right notes, at

least with the partys senior leaders and those present at the Chintan Shivir. According to a report in the Indian Express, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit was the first to greet him after he spoke at the Congress Chintan Shivir in Jaipur and was reduced to tears, needing Rahul Gandhis handkerchief to wipe them off. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot reportedly wiped tears and the normally unemotional
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party general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi, called Rahul Prakash kunj and Eklavya in a speech, before breaking down and inviting Sonia Gandhi to make her remarks, the report stated. Even the Telegraph in an article notes the charged atmosphere after Gandhis speech with many eyes welled up and even the Prime Minister reaching out to the Congress leader in a bear hug with a wide smile on his face, a show of emotion not something too many can claim to have seen. The article also describes the emotional reaction by many present at the venue with women activists breaking down and some charging towards the stage with shawls, flowers and whatever else they had in their hands. The hysteria over his elevation was evidently

visible outside the venue of the Congress Chintan Shivir as well with party workers reportedly clamouring to meet with him and express their support for his elevation. Celebrations were also held across Delhi with party workers going over each other to celebrate his elevation within the party. In a party where the Gandhi family has held sway for decades, the emotional display by leaders is bound to be viewed with a fair amount of skepticism and maybe rightly so. Congress, and other party activists in India, are given to wild shows of emotion for their leaders in a bid to prove their devotion or loyalty. But for many insiders within the party this speech by Rahul Gandhi, coming after months of will-he-wonthe despite their earnest pleadings over the years, might just be worth shedding a few tears of joy, if not relief, over.

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Rahul: Democrat on weekdays, privileged prince on weekends

Rahul Gandhi is trying to have the best of both worlds. Hes a democrat during the week but a prince on weekends.
Sagarika Ghose, Jan 22, 2013 hen a 42-year old pillar of the establishment sounds like a youthful anti-establishment hero, its either a delusion, a cynical ploy to capture the youth, or genuine idealism. Obama was an outsider in the Washington elite, whose cry for change echoed among all those excluded from traditional power structures. Rahul Gandhi is a third generation political aristocrat, born into VIPhood who grew up with Indian democracy as his playground. When Indira Gandhis grandson announces the need for badlav or change in the way power is exercised or in the way systems function, can he escape his own responsibility in upholding those very systems for the 9 long years hes been at the pinnacle of power?

of competitive loyalty, a fawning fiesta of gush gush praise. A party accustomed to being driven by a monarch listened bemused as the heir apparent held forth on the need to transform the nature of power, of ending closed door remote leadership, of ending the era of lal battis. But Rahul, the prince-turned rebel, the rulerturned attacker of status quo, might find that hes a misfit in an absolute monarchy. Sonia Gandhis greatest success over the last 10 years has been to rule the party like a regent, exercising queenly supreme power and placing dynasty at the centre of the Congress existence. Sonias leadership is imperious but tough, it keeps the Congress firmly in check, firmly bound to the family, firmly uniting potential traitors and discontents into an army loyal to the NehruGandhi flame. Rahul may find that ruling the Congress like a wannabe-democrat confuses the courtiers, scatters the coteries, and disappoints the power seekers and troops. Since 2004 the Congress has stayed together as a team only because Sonia has ruled it like Indira II. Yet his speech as Congress Vice President was his best so far. Some of the ideas were undoubtedly interesting: Why do ministries do the work of panchayats, why do politicians appoint vicechancellors, why is power centralised and operating behind closed doors, why do we respect position and not knowledge, our freedom movement gave a voice to millions, in the same way we must give a voice to the people in governance, and power is a poison that must be used to empower the weak and not pursued for its own sake. For the first time we heard the semblance of a political vision, and however much it sounded like a newspaper editorial, it was surprising to hear that a child of supreme power so comprehensively understands the predicament
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The Congress chintan shivir at Jaipur which anointed Rahul Gandhi as Congress Vice-President was a shivir awash in emotion, fulsome tributes and streaming tears from family loyalists. After Rahuls speech, particularly after the emotional recollections of his grandmothers assassination and fathers courage, Congressmen were in spasms of euphoric delight, comparing Rahul to a Rajiv Gandhi- Barack Obama Two-in-One. The chintan shivir was a carnival

of the system. But this lecture on power and how to wield it, this moral science class from someone who has so far failed to notch up any political successes, could easily be cast as the woolly headed pipe dream of a university undergraduate writing an original term paper, rather than the words of a seasoned politician who has the stamina for hard 24*7 politics. Rahul campaigned hard in the 2010 Bihar assembly elections, but Nitish swept to power, Congress got just four seats. Rahul was the face of the UP assembly polls last year, but Congress slumped to fourth place in UP even falling behind the BJP, with just 28 seats. Rahuls well publicised UP padyatra yielded some good photo ops, but a gaffe on skeletons under mounds of ash in Bhatta Parsaul (a statement later revealed as totally false) struck a bit of a blow for Rahuls credentials as a leader of dispossessed farmers. In 2009, his boys night out at a Dalit hut with visiting British Foreign secretary David Miliband was seen as urban poverty tourism, a rural Scheduled Caste hut became the site of a brief overnight stay of the messiah and his foreign friend, like an adventurous night spent in a museum. Kalavati, the Vidharbha widow, in whose name Rahul made a speech during the trust motion in 2008, remains a now forgotten statistic in Rahuls discovery of India, her hut a pit stop in his whirlwind visitations, her plight designed to spice up a point in a rare speech. On two important occasions, the youth icon showed that, in sharp contrast to his grandmothers elephant-riding Belchi moment, he failed to gauge and seize a political opportunity. During youth protests against corruption Rahul remained absent, not seen at any of the rallies or saying anything in solidarity with the impassioned crowds. During the Delhi gang rape protests with thousands of young people pouring onto the streets chanting saare yuva yahaan hai Rahul Gandhi kahaan hai?, (all the young are here, where is Rahul Gandhi) he remained closeted away in silence, refusing to venture among those braving tear gas and water cannons. In his speech he analysed those protests as clinically as an editorial page writer, but he didnt seem to feel any emotion for the an-

guished young people in whose name he leads his party. To remain, day in and day out among the cadres, take up a single cause year after year, leave his room doors open to party cadres at all hours, to slog, persistently and with unflagging stamina, slog year after year a la Mamata Banerjee, toil on the streets a la Mayawati, build a vast network of samajwadis whose names you know by heart a la Mulayam, this is the stuff of vocational politics, that is the life of those whose personal lives and private spaces have long ceased to exist in the pursuit of a political mission.

After his speech on Sunday, Rahul has once again lapsed into customary silence; silence is in fact his default mode. He never speaks on the grave issues of the day. So far its no comment on 2G, no comment on FDI in retail, no comment on Anna Hazare, no comment on womens safety, no comment on Pakistan, no comment on price rise or economic reforms. Obama and Cameron constantly communicate, constantly talk to the press and constantly give interviews. Rahul has so far not given a single full length interview. In fact, his close associate Meenakshi Natarajan, a first time MP from Mandsaur was keen to bring in a bill that muzzles the media. Natarajan known to be a Rahul favourite with a determinedly grassroots deglamourized style - was all set to bring in the Print and Electronic Media Standards and Regulation Bill, which contained shockingly draconian measures to gag the press. Lets not forget that Rahuls father tried to bring in the Anti-Defamation Bill to curb the media and his grandmother imposed the Emergency. Is
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Rahuls championing of democratisation and giving people a voice in the power structure, a genuine article of faith or was that well- crafted speech simply a clever camouflage for someone who still exercises power without accountability? In a landscape dominated by powerful regional satraps, in a shrinking political space, in a Congress party riven by factionalism, Rahul may well be the genuine idealist trying to transform the way the Congress perceives itself. But badlav (change) will not come from speeches made from the pulpit of inherited leadership. True badlav can only come from a thorough-going self- transformation, a complete break from his own lifestyle in Delhi and either moving to Lucknow or away from the VIP enclaves and centre of power in Lutyensland. This means physically displacing himself from here and going there to live and work among the cadres 24*7. By trying

to be a democrat from the position of a king, by lecturing on systems change while jetting off on reportedly exotic holidays, Rahul is trying to have the best of both worlds. Hes a democrat during the week but a prince on weekends. He flip flops between dynast and democrat, now a prince, now a change agent, sometimes disgruntled with the system, sometimes revelling in its privileges, a man of the masses Monday-Friday, a man of the classes on Saturday and Sunday. This dual persona is risky. The dual persona runs the risk of neither being able to perform the highly efficient monarchical-style holding operation of his mother, nor being able to pull off the populist-style image makeover as a peoples- leader- of- a- peoples party, of his grandmother. Sagarika Ghose is Deputy Editor CNN-IBN

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Pitroda for his badlav speech?

Sam Pitroda and sister Priyanka Gandhi allegedly helped him put together the speech that moved many a battle hardened Congress leader.

Does Rahul owe Priyanka,

FP Staff, Jan 22, 2013 report said quoting unnamed sources. Understandably, he reportedly had a few butterflies in his stomach, even though the speech was being made before his own party members and he reportedly walked out during his mothers speech and returned only while the Prime Minister was getting done with his speech. The success of the speech can perhaps be attested to the fact that many senior Congress leaders, including Chief Ministers Sheila Dikshit and Ashok Gehlot, were left wiping tears from their eyes. Whether it was after hearing the speech or out of relief cant be said. Read the full text of Rahul Gandhis speech here or watch him give his speech here.
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eteran Congress party leaders were emotional and dewy eyed as they listened to Rahul Gandhis acceptance speech after he took charge as the vice-president of the party, with some leaders calling it his Obama moment and others pointing to it as the coming of age of the so-far reluctant party leader. But if a report by the Indian Express is to be believed the credit for the Congress leaders spirited speech goes not only to him, but Sam Pitroda and sister Priyanka Gandhi as well for making it the tearjerker that it was .

While Rahul is said to have written the speech, Pitroda reportedly made substantial contributions to the speech and it was vetted by sister Priyanka Gandhi before it was finalised, the

emotionally charged speech

Highlights from Rahul Gandhisemotionally charged speech.
IANS, Jan 21, 2013 aipur: Newly-appointed Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi gave an emotionally-charged speech Sunday at the Birla auditorium here while addressing the All India Congress Committee session on the last day of the Chintan Shivir. Some of the highlights: - The Food Bill will ensure that no mother sees her child go hungry at night. Right to Information allows every Indian to take on the battle against corruption. - There are people in high positions with no understanding of issues this happens because we respect position not knowledge. - The youth is angry as it is alienated. Until we start to empower people, we cant change anything in this country. - The corrupt talk of eradicating corruption and those who disrespect women talk of womens rights. - India is more connected today. It is no longer possible to limit an idea whose time has come (referring to Aadhar and direct cash transfer). - The Congress needs leadership development. Five years from now, we need to create 40-50 leaders who have the potential to run the country.

Highlights from Rahul Gandhis

- As a boy I loved to play badminton because it gave me balance in a complicated world. I was taught by two policemen who protected my grandmother and were my friends. They killed my grandmother and took way the balance.

- In the evening I saw my father address the nation. He was terrified of what lay ahead of him. But I saw a glimmer of hope. That hope has brought India where it is today. - Last night my mother came to my room and she sat and cried. Because she understands that the power that so many seek is poison. She can see it because she is not attached to it (power). - The Congress party is my life. The people of India are now my life. And I will fight for the people of India and for this party.

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Rahul vs Modi?

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Rahul vs Modi: They both face the same challenges

For a news editor, it is a catchy headline and the contrast between the Congresss dimpled Prince and the BJPs macho Pracharak is too striking to be ignored.
Rajdeep Sardesai, Jan 24, 2013 Indian politics; the other a child of hardship whose father was not even a sarpanch. One who claims to be the legatee of the idea of a Nehruvian India; the other who represents an alternate worldview of Hindutva nationalism. The BJP likes to present the contrast as dynasty versus meritocracy; the Congress would like to project it as a secular versus communal divide. Modi is the great communicator; Rahul appears uncomfortable in large public gatherings. One can be a rabble-rouser; the other a polite gent. Modi wears the badge of CEO-style governance as his calling card with panache; the other talks of reforming systems but has no ministerial experience. One is celebrated as an icon for a neo-middle class; the other claims to represent
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here is nothing journalists and the viewer love more than a big fight. A Roger Federer is a great tennis player, but the legend is enhanced because of his battles with a Nadal; a Tendulkars true genius was tested in his contests with a Mcgrath. What is true of sports is certainly true of politics. Which is perhaps why political pundits have rushed to predict a Rahul Gandhi versus Narendra Modi battle in 2014 even before the bugle has been sounded for the general elections. For a news editor, it is a catchy headline and the contrast between the Congresss dimpled Prince and the BJPs macho Pracharak is too striking to be ignored. One a child of privilege, blessed with the most enduring brand name in

the aspirations of a young India beyond the bright lights. Clearly, in a presidential style race, Modi versus Rahul is a delicious prospect, and one which is guaranteed to attract eyeballs. And yet, the irony is that Modi and Rahul face similar challenges. Both in the first instance are being asked to live down their past. For the last nine years, Rahul has been a bit of a political butterfly, almost flitting in and out of the heat and dust of politics. He is now being asked to prove that he is indeed ready for a long haul, ready to be a 24 x 7 neta and not a distant, inaccessible figure. Modi too, is being challenged to acknowledge his failure to control the Gujarat violence of 2002. He has tried to recast his image as a growth oriented chief minister, but the baggage of not having done enough to stop the killings of Muslims in the riots remains a black spot that cannot be erased only through well packaged sadbhavana yatras. Both Rahul and Modi are also also change agents within their own party, challenging the existing status quo. In a party notoriously resistant to change, Rahul is attempting to democratise the Congress by opening it up to a new, more youthful leadership. Unfortunately, the poison of power, as he described it, has so deeply coursed through the veins of the Grand old party, that Rahul has found it difficult to translate his good intentions into any radical overhaul of the party structures yet. Modi wants reform from within too. In a party wedded to the notion of collective leadership and which is still controlled by an extra-constitutional RSS, Modis individualistic, neardictatorial style of functioning is looked on with suspicion and even fear by his detractors within the sangh parivar. In Gujarat, Modi has succeeded in virtually wiping out the traditional sangh leadership in the state, but to effect a similar transformation in the balance of power between Nagpur and the parliamentary wing of the BJP may prove a shade more difficult. There are other parallels too. Both Modi and Rahul are leaders in the age of coalition politics, and are now confronted with the prospect of the increasingly shrinking social and geographical bases of the so-called national parties. As Rahul found out last year, Uttar Pradesh has

moved well beyond any emotional attachment to the Nehru-Gandhi family; the newly assertive caste groups want a large slice of the power cake and are not dependent on old style patron-client relations. Modi too has to live with the reality that in states like Bihar with a large Muslim population, regional satraps like a Nitish Kumar are unwilling to publicly share a platform with him. Modi atleast has proved himself as the supreme leader of his home state; Rahuls vote catching abilities remain largely untested. Modi too has to live with the reality that in states like Bihar with a large Muslim population, regional satraps like a Nitish Kumar are unwilling to publicly share a platform with him. AP Which is also perhaps why the pundits who are pitching the next elections as Rahul versus Modi have got both their maths and chemistry wrong. In a highly competitive and diverse political space, the arithmetic will tell you that the next election will be won by whoever is able to aggregate the maximum number of potential kingmakers Mayawati, Mulayam, Mamata, Jayalalithaa, Pawar, Naveen Patnaik, Nitish, even a Jagan under one large tent. The chemistry will convince you that that most of these regional players have no fixed loyalties and a number of them will be ready to mix with any combine that gives them a shot at power sharing. What Rahuls ascent and Modis likely emergence can do though is enthuse the rank and file of their respective parties. The Congress party organisation has only one glue that holds it together: The First Family. What to an outsider is evidence of chamchagiri is seen by the party worker as the very basis of his existence in the Congress fold. The BJP too, desperately needs a charismatic face to boost the morale of its cadres. A Rajnath Singh as party president can only be the result of a desperate compromise formula; only a Modi-like figure can give the BJP a sense of self-belief that it sorely lacks at the moment. Rahul versus Modi will, therefore, be a sell-out battle for the Congress and the BJP loyalists. For the rest of India, be prepared for a surprise political grand slam contender. The writer is editor-in-chief of CNN-IBN.
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Looking beyond Chintan Shivir: Is it now Rahul vs Modi in 2014?

It is certain that Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi are going to play key roles in the next Assembly elections. But will they be the only ones to rule the roost when it comes to a verdict at the Centre?

FP Staff, Jan 21, 2013 the media to provoke the BJP, thus ratcheting up a secularism-communalism divide. The Congress is going to fight this election on the issue of secularism-communalism divide. Therefore avoiding the more important issue of governance in the past ten years, he added. However, N Ram, former editor of The Hindu did not agree with the notion that the next election is going to be just about Gandhi and Modi. Before this speech of Rahul Gandhi everyone was talking about the rise of the regional parties in the next election. So the possible outcomes of the election will be a combination of the regional parties and one of the major national parties, the Congress or the BJP, Ram said.

ow that Rahul Gandhis been elevated to the post of vice president within the Congress, does it now set him up as the prime contender for the post of Prime Minister against Narendra Modi, who is most likely to lead the BJP in the next Assembly elections? According to senior journalist and columnist Swapan Dasgupta, it is now clear that the next election will be a Rahul vs Modi fight. Speaking to Sagarika Ghose on a late night discussion on CNN-IBN, he said, It seems to be reasonably clear the next election is to be a frontal confrontation between Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi. He pointed out that the Congress has been deliberately putting out secularist statements in

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Rahul vs Modi: Who has the

edge in Mahabharat 2014?

Rahul will try to distance himself from his governments recent record. Modi will try to get the electorates mind off 2002. The winner will be whoever succeeds in making voters forget their past.

R Jagannathan, Jan 22, 2013 ollsters and psephologists must be emerge whether in the youth wing or in the smacking their lips in anticipation. With central leadership or in the states will ensure the coronation of Rahul Gandhi at the that he has a free run. Rahul will get whatever recent Congress Chintan Shivir, it is becomhe asks for. ing increasingly apparent that the title bout in 2014 will be between Narendra Modi and Rahul Modi has strong grassroots party support, and Gandhi, though both sides will be eager to play is certainly first among equals in the party, but down this angle for their own reasons. unlike the Congress, the BJP is not a singlepower-centre party. Every BJP Chief Minister is a power centre, and the party is Indias most federated organisation. Plus, there is parental interference from the RSS. Modi will have more challenges before the anointment than Rahul. So score 1-0 for Rahul on his initial challenges. But Rahul is no match for Modi as a communicator. Modi will probably make mincemeat of Rahul when he is in form. Nobody can, of course, predict how the next general election will pan out there is simply too much time between now and 2014 or even late 2013. But it is not unreasonable to presume that Modi and Rahul will be their parties respective standard bearers, even if they are not officially declared their prime ministerial candidates. It is thus worth speculating on how such a battle will be fought, and what strategies the two sides will adopt. A preliminary Swot analysis is in order: Rahul Gandhi starts with an initial advantage, for in his party there is no challenger. The Congresss refusal to allow any alternative power centre to Score 1-1. Modi and Rahul also have similarities of a sort. Neither Congress nor BJP is likely to announce their candidatures in advance for the former because it does not want to saddle Rahul with any defeat, and the latter to avoid deterring potential allies. It is more than probable, therefore, that both Rahul and Modi will be their parties chief campaign managers with a major say in who gets to run and who does not in the next elections. They will also crucially determine campaign strategies. Scores still level. But next come the crucial differentiators. There is no doubt at all that the Congress will
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make communalism its major plank to overcome anti-incumbency. After making a mess of the economy and facing serious corruption charges, the Congress is hardly in great shape to defend its record in governance. Its best chance is to shift the focus of the debate to communalism, where it believes it has a natural advantage. The entry of Modi will allow this to happen naturally. Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shindes remarks on BJP-RSS terror camps were not an innocent slip of the tongue. The decision to include the BJP (and not just the Sangh) in his linkage with terror is deliberate. What he is trying to do is to force the BJP on the defensive on terror, even if it means giving Pakistan a free ride on this propaganda self-goal. It will also allow him to defer a decision on the hanging of Afzal Guru something Shinde does not appear keen to do. The Congress strategy on communalism will thus be two-fold: while Rahul will take the high ground and talk about meeting the aspirations of youth, development, etc, partys political attack dogs the likes of Digvijaya Singh, Shinde, etc will go hammer and tongs at the BJP-RSS connection and try to force Modi and his supporters to hit back in ways where there can only be further complications. The Congress will harp on this theme outside Gujarat, and especially in UP and Bihar, in order to polarise the Muslim vote. The central idea will be to put the BJP permanently on the defensive on communalism, and force it to make dangerous statements to polarise votes further. For the BJP, communalism is a no-win game, for the harder it tries to defend itself, the more it will get caught in the same perception that it is communal. Modi may himself be tempted to play a subtle communal card in the hope that there is a reverse Hindu polarisation in states like UP, Bihar, Telangana and Assam to the BJPs advantage, but the task is more complicated since there are serious regional players in the game. The score now tilts 2-1 in favour of Congress, unless Modi is able to force a focus on different issues. Modis best hope must be to keep absolutely quiet on communalism and focus only on

development and governance in the hope that the Congress will lose credibility by attacking the BJP too much. Next, its worth looking at the youth factor. In theory, a 42-year-old Rahul should be streets ahead of a 62-year-old Modi in garnering the youth vote, which will be very significant in 2014. But in practice, Modi demonstrated in Gujarat that youth is about an attitude of mind, not age. Rahul is far behind in understanding the aspirations of the middle class and the youth as the BJPs sweeping victories in Gujarats urban centres showed. Rahul looks youthful, but has an old feudal mindset. His party is even more feudal, and believes in old-style freebies and sops to win votes. Modi entices youth with his energy and understanding of what they want. But in his recent Chintan Shivir speech, Rahul did acknowledge the importance of looking at the causes of urban anger and disenchantment. One assumes he will address their concerns. On balance, both Modi and Rahul will perhaps draw level on this count. A lot would depend on how the two parties try to woo the urban, youth and middle class vote and both parties will probably have strong manifesto promises for youth and urban India. Modi probably has a small edge on the youth vote. Scores: 3:3 at this stage. Now, lets look at the strategy that could come from the Modi camp. If there are real strategists here, their best bet would be to focus on the Congress governance record and economic failures of UPA-2 where Modi stands out as a performer in his home state. Modis could focus on economic governance where he scores over the Congress record at the centre. However, success in Gujarat is not easily going to rub off in other states. In fact, too much talk of the Gujarat model will only irritate voters outside Gujarat as they would want to know what is in it for them and their state. Given the strong undercurrent of regionalism,
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Modi should articulate his Gujarat model and development policies in regional terms rather than a repeated invocation of his own states approach. As against this, the Congress will continue to hold the high card of rural empowerment, freebies and cash transfers which may continue to give Congress an edge in rural areas while Modi gets an edge in urban areas. Scores 4-4. The most important element in the Rahul-Modi clash will not about ideas or policies, but their ability to tailor state-level strategies that will work for them. A Lok Sabha general election is often a bunch of state elections aggregated as a national vote. Here, Rahul has the advantage of not raising hackles among any sort of ally from Nitish Kumar to Navin Patnaik, the Congress would be an acceptable option at the centre. For Modi, the search for allies has to be more strategic. The general assumption that he will find it tougher to get allies is not founded on any realistic assessment of post-poll political realities, even if pre-poll rhetoric needs allies to keep their distance from him. If he is hoping for a reverse Hindu consolidation, Modi has to seek it through proxy for example, in Assam, he could talk of the Bangladeshi influx. In UP, he can talk of Hindu-Muslim unity to build the Ram temple in Ayodhya. But one point is important: at 150-plus seats, the Congress can still form a government like UPA-1, with outside Left support. At 150-plus seats, the BJP will have to provide a leader other than Modi to run a government. At less than 140 seats each, we are more likely to see a Federal or United Front of regional parties in power with outside Congress support. This arithmetic implies that Modi has a higher hurdle to cross than Rahul. Without 180 seats, Modi is a not a realistic contender for PM. This tilts the final score at 5-4 in favour of Rahul.

However, a purely neutral analysis is unlikely to be anywhere close to a realistic assessment of what will happen in 2014. Too many things can change, and too many new imponderables may emerge out of the blue. As things stand now, the following conclusions seem likely. One, secular versus communal will be a major campaign element in this battle. One cannot rule out a bitter and dirty fight over this issue. Two, rich versus poor will be a major issue while discussing development. The Congress will try to paint Modi as pro-rich, while the BJP will try to tie Rahul to the Congress actual economic track record. Three, Modis personality will be both a plus and a minus, but Rahuls will be neutral. Four, governance will be a bigger issue than corruption, now that both Congress and BJP seem tainted by it. Five, the key to 7 Race Course Road will run through state capitals Modi will have to have a viable state-level strategy, both to get the BJP more seats in hitherto weak states (UP, etc), and to create future allies. Rahul has the luxury of making his plans after the elections and choosing allies with the right numbers. He also has the option of anointing a PM like his mother did with Manmohan Singh. Even if Rahul has a theoretical edge, all bets are off when it comes to the final battle where guts, grit and gumption count for as much as elevating rhetoric. In the ultimate analysis, both Modi and Rahul will try and convince the electorate that they are more than their past or their parties past. Rahul will try to distance himself from his governments recent record. Modi will try to get the electorates mind off 2002. The winner will be whoever succeeds more in making voters forget their past.

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Great expectations

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says only he can lead young India

Rahul Gandhis elevation as the Congress Vice President and his address at the AICC meeting has led to jubiliant partymen projecting him as the Prime Ministerial candidate who can lead the party to power again.
PTI, Jan 21, 2013

Cong projects Rahul as PM candidate,

ew Delhi: Rahul Gandhis elevation as the Congress Vice President and his address at the AICC meeting has led to jubiliant partymen projecting him as the Prime Ministerial candidate who can lead the party to power again. Gandhis elevation has been a morale booster for the younger generation of the country and I feel he is the 2014 Prime Ministerial candidate of the party and I have no doubt people of the

country will definately back his leadership, Kerala Congress Committee Chief Ramesh Chennithala said today. India is young and you are young and only Rahul can lead Congress to power again was how some party leaders hailed the elevation, describing it as historic push forward for Congress. Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee President
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Niranjan Patnaik said that the state Congress plans to encourage more youths by giving them key functions within the party. India is young and you are young. We see in you the future of the nation and the party. Lead us, guide us and take us on path of regeneration and national renewal. The process of change (parivartan) has begun and we are sure that the youth will take active part as critical change agents. Odisha needs people who understand the state and are committed, Patnaik said in a press release. Party leader Anil Shastri in his comments on the microblogging site Twitter said, Its only Rahul Gandhi who can lead the Congress to power again. .All eyes are on Rahul Gandhi now to lead the party to 2014 elections. UPA III doesnt seem far and theres lot to be still done for the common man, Shastri said. Describing the Jaipur Chintan Shivir of the party as great success, he said, Rahul Gandhi is the Vice President of the party. This is the best thing that could have happened to the Congress in the New Year. Noting that Rahul Gandhi is committed to transforming India, Shastri said, All like minded parties should support him in this cause.

System must change for the better. Present system is feudal and archaic. Is not responsive to peoples aspirations. Let all come together and support Rahul to change the system. Rahuls speech yesterday reflected the anger, anguish and dreams of the youth. Chennithala said that his leadership would take the party in the right direction. Patnaik lauded Congress President Sonia Gandhi for giving the party an opportunity to work more closely with the 42-year-old leader. Chennithala, Patnaik and Shastri had attended the Chintan Shivir where a decision to elevate Rahul was taken. Patnaik also asked the youth in Odisha to take part in the process of building a better and stronger nation by supporting Rahuls leadership. Get ready to script a new chapter in the politics of the nation as the old make way for the young, as there is hope and dynamism. Give up cynicism and channelise your new ideas in taking Odisha forward. Odisha needs new ideas, people need you, he said. Patnaik targeted the BJD government in the state, saying Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has no vision for the future.

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for Rahul Gandhi

While any success in the elections will bring him credit, he would also have to accept the blame in case of a failure.
IANS, Jan 22, 2013 aipur: A special Congress session over the weekend formally launched Rahul Gandhi as the official number two after party chief Sonia Gandhi, making him the presumptive prime ministerial candidate of the party for the 2014 general elections, but the battle is half won and testing times lie ahead for the 42-yearold fifth generation leader of the Nehru-Gandhi family.

Why its a tough road ahead

Nine assembly polls five big ones in Delhi, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh, where the Congress will have direct contest with the Bharatiya Janata Party, and four in the northeast will test his leadership skills. The return of the third edition of the Congressled United Progressive Alliance in 2014 will also depend on how the Amethi lawmaker is able to restructure and re-energise the party for the big political fight. He heads the partys coordination panel for the 2014 polls. Rahul Gandhi is also expected to restructure the organisation and give key roles to younger leaders so the party is able to reach out to the voters, 70 percent of whom are below the age of 35. Reaching out to the youth of the country, who are angry over corruption in the system and other social issues, crave for better systems of governnance and want accountability from the politicians and the government, will be a major task for the new Congress vice president. The Nehru-Gandhi family scion would also be expected to spell out his position on various national issues clearly as he now holds an official post in the Congress. While any success in the elections will bring him credit, he would also have to accept the blame in case of a failure. Rahul Gandhi faces enormous challenges during the coming polls as his leadership skills would be tested, Zoya Hasan, who teaches political science at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, told IANS.
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The Jaipur Declaration, that emerged from the three-day 18-20 January introspection cum strategy session Chintan Shivir appeared to have lost significance once Rahul was made the vice president, converting his de facto status into de jure one. But the road ahead is paved with umpteen obstacles and uneasy will lie the head that is likely to wear the crown of thorns, that Gandhi alluded to when he talked about the poison that came with such heavy political responsibility and the personal risks that come with it. And his mother, who came to his room and cried on Saturday night, understood it better than anyone else.

His speech after being made vice president pointed out many wrongs in the party. Now he has to set things right, she said. The move to make him vice president, which marks a generational shift in the 127-year-old party, is significant and has mentally prepared the senior leaders to accept Rahul as their leader. Party insiders said the decision was getting postponed for a while due to reservations among some senior leaders on giving him the official number two position in the grand old party. But the members of the Youth Congress and National Students Union of India and the younger leaders in the party who comprised a third of the 350-odd delegates at the session made strong demands for his elevation, keeping in mind that 70 percent of the voters in the country are under 35 years of age. Over 50 senior leaders who shared the dais with Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan

Singh at the session, not only heard Rahul with rapt attention, but stood up as soon as he finished his speech and were seen competing with one another in congratulating him. Rahul had arrived. In an impassioned speech, Rahul made it clear that he does not hanker for power and stressed the need to transform the partys systems and develop new leaders at all levels while saying the youths must be involved in decision making. Rahul struck an emotional chord when he related how his mother and Congress president Sonia Gandhi cried when she met him after he was made the vice president and moved many leaders to tears. The question now is whether he will be able to bring the middle class, especially the restless and impatient young, to the Congress camp from which they stood quite alienated over perceptions of corruption, misgovernance, inflation and insensitivity to issues that concern them.

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Can Rahul Gandhi really ensure

the Congress victory in 2014?

Rahul might have impressed the rank and file of Congress leaders by his impassioned speech and self critical tone. But does that make him a game changer for the Congress in 2014 elections?
FP Staff, Jan 21, 2013

oes Rahul Gandhis elevation to the post of party vice-president, impassioned speech and all, make him a game changer for the party in the run up to the 2014 elections? No, said former editor of The Hindu N Ram.

organisation man, Ram said. Senior journalist Swapan Dasgupta was also skeptical of Rahuls speech and said it seemed to be from the same stable of dynastic politics that the Congress and the Gandhi family have been accused of perpetrating. He is going to rule the minions. There was some kind of divine right underlining his speech, he said. According to him, young leaders were impressed by his speech and do want him to step into a leadership role. However, he will be prey to the very ills that he had vouched to fight for in the speech, the columnist said. He is talking about decentralisation and after all MNREGA is a horribly centralised scheme. It has no provision for modification by the implementing states, Dasgupta said. Watch Video

Speaking to Sagarika Ghose during a late night discussion on CNN-IBN, he said, Rahuls programme lacks details. He does not make it clear to what end he desires change. According to Ram, one is also not clear about Rahuls political positioning and thus he risks the chance of being misinterpreted. We dont have a clear idea of his ideological make-up. Like, we do that Sonia Gandhi is a social democrat and she supports welfare schemes for the underprivileged extensively, he said. However, unlike Sonia, Rahul has only supported these measures sporadically. All we know of him is that he is an obsessive

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Not just a Number Two:

Rahul Gandhi can transform Congress
For the Congress workers his speech clicked, as mid way into his speech he got a standing ovation from the audience and those at the dais. Will he shape the destiny of the Grand Old Party of Indian politics
Sanjay Singh, Jan 21, 2013

ahul Gandhis coronation speech as Congress vice-president gave clear hints that while he may have been officially or emotionally designated as Number Two, he would be the de-facto Number One. His mother, Congress President, Sonia Gandhi will be the patron, who would love to see him exercise all powers that lakhs of Congress workers had bestowed upon her for so long. He was not going to be just the face but also the final court of appeal: I will be the judge not the lawyer, he said earlier today.

to a majority of over 1500 delegates gathered at the AICC conclave in Jaipur. Like his father Rajiv Gandhi, he claimed the innocence of a youthful outsider, elevated to the position of command but felt frustrated by the prevailing system of client-patron and it was thus his duty to correct it. He was out to sell a dream to his own party men in particular. He sprinkled his maiden speech as vice-president with many personal anecdotes of tragic family events. How his mother, Sonia who had gone through the emotional grind wept in relative isolation of his hotel room because she perceived power as poison. She wept. Why? Because she knows that power is poison and she has seen it in its worst. So, all I want to say is, that with power, we shouldnt forget the responsibility that come with it. I have known it my life. He also spoke of how he woke at 4 am and went onto the balcony, in the dark and cold, when he decided to speak what he felt, also of hope, not what they wanted to hear.

If he claimed innocence of an eight-year old beginner in politics, he also sought to impress his party and the voting public that he was not a novice; he had learnt the tricks of the trade faster and in times to come he would unfold his plan transform the system. He was not content to just look at ways to better the system because there was no system in place. Decisions were taken behind close doors by few empowered people who did not represent the will of the massesmediocrity dominated all round good compassionate words that were music

For the Congress workers his speech clicked, as mid way into his speech he got a standing ovation from the audience and those at the dais. His mothers grim face and moist eyes added whatever was left to bind them to him, as the man who would shape their destiny and of that of the Grand Old Party of Indian politics. He is a self proclaimed seeker of knowledge, understanding and compassion. Yes I am optimistic, I am not a pessimist. He thanked his mother, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Congress party for the building blocks that
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helped him transform the system. Rahul Gandhis problem is not his speech or intent but his delivery and track record in supposed transformations that he has so far carried out. His democratisation of youth Congress, selection of youth who became MPs and MPs who became ministers of state and further elevated to Independent charge or Cabinet rank mostly have a rich dynastic lineage. This perpetuates further, instead of reinforcing his vision of equality and democracy. The prevalent ills that he talked about in ticket distribution, where an outsider would paratroop at the time of elections and then fly out after losing it had all been there in last years Uttar Pradesh elections where he was directly at the helm. The Samajwadi and Bahujan Samaj Party rebels and turn coats were welcomed with open arms and most regular workers, whoever were left in the state, were not considered worthwhile in ticket distribution and kept at arms length even during the heat of campaigning in Uttar Pradesh. It did boost morale of the party men when he

said workers should be respected and leaders at all levels, in the government and organization should open up beyond their chosen few to listen to them. Learn to praise your colleague, respect knowledge and understanding was his mantra to them. Even those who were corrupt spoke of eradicating corruption, he said drawing a similar parallel to criminal politicians. Today he spoke like a management consultant suggesting remedies to transform the system in a party, we have to build 40-50 leaders who will run the country, 5-10 in every state anyone of whom can rule that state. The promises that he made were good to generate hope among those gathered who believed in him as their leader and religiously kept chanting for him throughout the day inside or outside but his test lies in delivery, not just for the Congress party but much beyond that to the people at large if UPA3 has to come into existence after 2014 polls. Pitted against him would be the BJP strongman Narendra Modi. The prospects are of huge electoral excitement.

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Its too soon to write off Rahul Gandhi

When youre a Rahul Gandhi, there will always be countless fall guys within the party to accept moral responsibility for electoral losses. Any victory, on the other hand, will be attributed to his Chanakyan politics.
Venky Vembu, Jan 20, 2013 here is a certain air of inevitability to Rahul Gandhis ascension to the No 2 post in the Congress party. For months now, diehard Dynasty worshippers within the party had practically been chanting the Rahul Gandhi chalisa and asking for the yuvraj to be coronated not just as party leader, but as Prime Minister.

Son rise in Congress:

tics, but he himself was working to rejuvenate it through inner-party democracy, he claimed. And when that mission is accomplished, he suggested, the party will no longer be tied to dynastic apronstrings. Its hard to say with certainty whether Rahul Gandhi was ever serious about weaning the party away from its dynastic instincts. Certainly he went about trying to hold elections to the Youth Congress and infuse some fresh blood. But when the old order within the party struck back, he surrendered too tamely and fell back upon a group of trusted courtiers, the only distinguishing feature of whom was that virtually all of them were themselves the fruits of subdynastic politics within the Congress. The passage of time, however, appears to have dimmed Rahul Gandhis ardour to render the Dynasty irrelevant. One reason for this could be that there is far too much at stake for the First Family to forego all the trappings of power. As the National Herald land scam case showed, the Congress is today a business empire more than a political party. Even notionally apolitical sons-in-law get to ride the gravy train and profit unduly from being a part of the Dynasty. And as Sonia Gandhi has demonstrated over the past eight-plus years, untrammelled power can be wielded without responsibility and accountability. But its perhaps just as true that Rahul Gandhi has valiantly overcome his own sense of selfdoubt and increasingly sees himself in messianic terms. After his formal anointment as party vice-president on Saturday, he claimed he
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Were it not for the fact that Rahul Gandhis own lack of self-assuredness in politics, which manifests itself everytime he steps out of his comfort zone of carefully corralled crowds, inhibited him from taking on a larger role despite the many intimations of his imminent arrival, he would have been borne aloft the hot air of chamchagiri and inflicted upon the country. In rare moments of earnestness, Rahul Gandhi has in the past confessed to a keenness to work his way out of a job, so to speak. The Congress party, which is something of a Nehru-Gandhi family heirloom, privileges people like himself, who belong to the First Family of Indian poli-

was looking to transform India. I have great experience, he said. In the last eight years that I have worked with the party I have seen it is a great organisation and together we will transform the country. Critics of the Congress have been mocking Rahul Gandhis elevation, and leaders of the BJP have airily dismissed him as a political lightweight who wont change the game for the Congress in any significant way. They perhaps take heart from Rahul Gandhis patchy record of recent months and years in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat where Rahul Gandhis exertions failed miserably. Perhaps they rejoice too soon. When youre a Rahul Gandhi, there will always be countless fall guys within the party to accept moral responsibility for electoral losses. Any victory, on the other hand, will be attributed to the Chanakyan politics of Rahul Gandhi, as happened after the 2009 general elections. Another such opportunity presents itself in Karnataka, where Assembly elections later this year will likely see the BJP lose its foothold in the South. Watch how the Congress spin doc-

tors project it as a Rahul Gandhi-engineered victory and set him up for 2014 Media commentators are already salivating at the prospect of seeing a galactic battle in 2014 between a Rahul Gandhi-led Congress and a Narendra Modi-led BJP. If it does come about, it will be the sharpest clash of political ideas and personalities that we will have seen in a generation. But there is no certainty of such a contest, given that the Congress appears to have residual inhibitions about making it a Presidential-style election which will amplify Rahul Gandhis limitations. Rather than rejoice over Rahul Gandhis anointment, the BJP would be better off addressing its own organisational limitations that keep it from leveraging on the UPA governments many follies of the past four years. Even today, the BJP is under RSS pressure to reappoint Nitin Gadkari as its president for a second term. If it yields, it will have appointed as its president about the only leader who can match Rahul Gandhi for his inability to inspire. It will also validate the belief that the BJP is infinitely capable of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

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Reactions

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on promises, so will Rahul?

Rahul Gandhi spoke the language of the outsider looking to change the system, but he is a consummate insider to the system that he says is flawed. And, worse, he is a direct beneficiary of the flaws in the system that he riles against.
Venky Vembu, Jan 21, 2013 hose of us who have been around a fair bit in this world will need no reminder of this, but Rahul Gandhi, who made an emotion-laced coming-out speech at the Congress chintan shivir retreat in Jaipur on Sunday isnt the first person with photogenic facial dimples to charm diehard Congress supporters and more than a few members of the media brigade. A generation ago, Rahul Gandhis father Rajiv Gandhi, the original Mr Dimples who had been living a charmed life, became Prime Minister in tragic circumstances following the assassination of his mother Indira Gandhi, and attempted to channel the power of Indias youth and usher in a generational change in Indian politics.

Rajiv Gandhi did not deliver

In 1985, the year the Congress party turned 100, Rajiv Gandhi delivered one of the most searing indictments of the political and administrative system as it existed then. Speaking as an outsider to the system (which he truly was), Rajiv Gandhi was particularly harsh on the Congress party, which, he said, had shrunk from a party that had once fired the imagination of the masses to a party that had lost touch with people and was being controlled by power brokers and self-perpetuating cliques. We are a party of social transformation, but in our preoccupation with governance we are drifting away from the people. Thereby, we have weakened ourselves and fallen prey to the ills that the loss of invigCopyright 2012 Firstpost

orating mass contact brings. It was pretty strong stuff (you can read the entire speech here), and there was an earnestness about Rajiv Gandhi as he set about trying to cleanse the corrupt and rotten system, much of which was the product of nearly four decades of (virtually uninterrupted) Congress rule at the Centre. But within four years, the hope that Rajiv Gandhi inspired was dashed by the harsh reality of Congress organisational politics and Rajiv Gandhis own fall from grace. Entangled in the Bofors kickback scandal, in which Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchchi was implicated, Rajiv Gandhi did his damnedest to sabotage an independent investigation into the scandal and fell back on the usual coterie of Congress power brokers to shield him. By 1989, the decent dimpled bloke who had charmed a nation some years earlier had been reduced to mouthing crude turns of phrases directed at Opposition leaders. Never very comfortable in Hindi, he gave rise to much merriment with his Nani yaad dila denge threats. As it turned out, all these years later, the only person in whom Rajiv Gandhi has bestirred nani memories is his son Rahul Gandhi, who is now positioning himself as a consummate outsider who is looking to transform the system. In his speech at the Congress retreat on Sunday, Rahul Gandhi spoke movingly about his grandmother Indira Gandhis assassination (and how it left his father Rajiv Gandhi broken). But in the main, he was railing against the system that, he said, had effectively disenfranchised most of the people and rendered them voiceless. Media anchors given to gushing have called this Rahul Gandhis (and the UPAs) Obama moment whatever that means. (Other than the fact that like Obama, Rahul Gandhi appears to have found a halfways-decent speechwriter, and invoked the promise of change, there was nothing Obama-esque about the speech.) But the striking thing was that Rahul Gandhi ap-

propriated the language of the street protestors led by, say, Arvind Kejriwal in seeking systemic change. But unlike with Rajiv Gandhi, who was truly an outsider to the system when he made his 1985 critique of the Congress, Rahul Gandhi is , as I noted here, a consummate insider to the system that he says is flawed. And, worse, he is a direct beneficiary of the flaws in the system that he riles against.

Any honest critique of Indias systemic flaws must begin with the corrupting influence of his nani and his father (of whom he spoke endearingly) and, it needs to be said, his mother Sonia Gandhi. For sure, other leaders, many of whom are in other parties, too share a part of the blame, but the Congress has been in power at the Centre for all but a handful of years since Independence, and much of the blame for Indias social, economic and political decay rests at its door. And there was nothing in Rahul Gandhis speech to signal that he would bring about system change at the core of the Congress being. If anything, some of the things that Rahul Gandhi said showed him up as perhaps lacking in a sense of irony. In India, he said, we dont respect knowledge, only position, and virtually everyday he meets people holding high positions who have a tremendous voice, but who have no understanding of the issues at hand. Well, it may have come as a revelation to Rahul Gandhi, but the only reason why his vacuous pronouncements and ill-informed articulations
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thus far have gained amplitude is because he is who he is: a privileged member of Indias foremost political dynasty. The central theme of Rahul Gandhis speech was about giving voice to the voiceless. In channelling that sentiment, even if it was borrowed from the street protestors in recent years, Rahul Gandhi appeared to have found his own voice. This was in many ways his most disciplined public speech in recent years, and there were some signs to suggest that he was ready to give

up his now-you-see-him-now-you-dont dilettantism and submit himself to the harsh grind of a political life in greater measure. Yet, Rahul Gandhi will be eventually judged not by what he says in prepared speeches, but whether he delivers on those promises. His father tried rather more earnestly, but failed. Weve been fooled by those facial dimples before. It will take much more to reinforce faith in well-meant, but dishonest, promises of change.

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Rajivs speeches were inspiring,

Rahul spoke like an Oppn leader: BJP
Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi received praise from the BJP with the party describing his speech in the 80s as passionate and inspiring, while dismissing Rahul Gandhis Jaipur speech as that of an opposition leader.
PTI, Jan 21, 2013

ew Delhi: Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi received praise from the BJP with the party describing his speech in the 80s as passionate and inspiring, while dismissing Rahul Gandhis Jaipur speech as that of an opposition leader.

get out of the hold of power brokers. It was a very, very inspiring speech, no doubt. Referring to Rahuls address at the Congress Chintan Shivir, she said, Today Rahul Gandhi has spoken with a great lot of idealism. I hope he is able to implement most of the things that he said within his own party first and prove it to the country that he is able to achieve it within his own party before he probably would ever become the PM, if at all, so good luck. On Home Minister Sushilkumar Shindes Hindu terror statement, she said, They first start saying saffron terror, they engage with terrorists and later on they say Hindu terror. They also would like to call BJP and related organisations and sometimes name a patriotic, nationalistic organisation such as the RSS as a terror outfit.

He (Rahul) certainly spoke like a leader of the Opposition rather than a person belonging to the ruling party, BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said here. Recalling Rajivs speech, she said, I am able to recall when Rajiv Gandhi had taken over his role, a greater role in his party, he had spoken very passionately about how the party should

Taking on Shinde, the BJP leader said, The Home Minister should better know that he cannot escape from the responsibility of bringing answers to the table rather colour of terror. Condemning this periodic misleading of the people in the name of terror politics, she demanded apology from the Minister. We demand that the Home Minister retracts and also apologise for the statement, she said.

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comes as no surprise: BJP

BJP today said the elevation of Rahul Gandhi to the number two position in Congress poses no challenges to it.
PTI, Jan 19, 2013

Rahuls elevation in Cong

N
to it.

ew Delhi: BJP today said the elevation of Rahul Gandhi to the number two position in Congress poses no challenges

gress. He does not pose a challenge to BJP even if he becomes President of Congress. Congress has no future, Hussain claimed. Another party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said though this decision is entirely of Congress and is an internal matter of that party, it will not have much political impact. If Congress thinks the elevation of Rahul Gandhi will give a boost to the partys future prospects, then it is highly mistaken. People will judge Congress as well as Rahul Gandhi by their performance in the last nine years that the party has been in power, Prasad said. He maintained people will look at Rahul Gandhis track record as an MP and a campaigner of Congress before taking any decision.

This announcement of Rahul Gandhi becoming number two of Congress has not come as a surprise. He was already number two after Sonia Gandhi. He was not number three who has been elevated to number two. Only a member of Nehru-Gandhi family can be number two, BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain told PTI. Congress announced today that the Congress Working Committee has unanimously supported a resolution moved by A K Antony to make Rahul Gandhi Vice President of the party. This decision will not bring any gains to Con-

Another BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said the whole country knows Congress is a one-family party and has always had dynastic leadership since independence.This development may excite Congress but does not excite the people of this country, he said. Asked if Gandhis elevation poses a challenge to BJP, he said absolutely not. Changing a nomenclature does not change the situation on the ground. Another spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said the people still do not know what Rahul Gandhis views are on the Delhi gangrape and other crucial issues.

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