Making fun of the princeling
News of Rahul Gandhi's 'break' triggered understandable mirth and mockery.
DARIUS NAKHOONWALA analyses the edits on this strangely timed rest. Pix: Rahul Gandhi, from Scoopwhoop.com
You don’t say!
Darius Nakhoonwala
There are some people who, in spite of other endowments - brains, power, money or looks - are born only to make fools of themselves. Rahul Gandhi, who has had everything any medieval prince could ask for, is one of them.
Seldom has Indian politics seen a man who is so lacking in judgement. That is why he has chosen, whatever the excellent reasons he may have, to go off on ‘sabbatical’ at this time. Had he not been taking time off frequently, this could have been pardoned as a one time lapse. But actually Mr Gandhi spends more time off than anyone else.
That’s why the media has had a field day over his requesting his boss, his mother, to go off on leave just before the Budget session. Everyone went to town. But should not someone make allowances for the fact that he is not the sharpest pencil in the box?
The Indian Express, as usual was first off the mark. “It may well be that Rahul intends to return with a radical new roadmap, but for now, the question can reasonably be asked: Will anyone miss Rahul Gandhi while he is away?” Ouch!
It went on in this vein but you get the point. It then made the point that everyone has been making for some time: “The Congress is in decline because of several reasons, but largely because of a remote and disengaged leadership that has ceased to think and intervene politically, or simply to take charge and work hard.”
The Times of India said more-or-less the same thing. “The trouble is that Rahul’s journey of self-discovery is never-ending. While he keeps struggling to find his centre in politics, the party he represents continues to vanish…his absence provides more mirth than answers.” Then it took a huge leap: “If Rahul introspects seriously…he ought to see his own and his mother’s hand behind his party’s misfortunes.” In short, the Empress has no clothes.
It’s solution? “Sonia must anoint a successor or call for open elections in which the family does not take part.”
The Hindu was strangely sympathetic to Sonia Gandhi. “For Mr. Gandhi it is not just a case of another missed opportunity: the “leave of absence” …has left Congress president Sonia Gandhi embarrassed, and the party faithful stunned and bewildered…But damaging as Mr. Gandhi’s “leave of absence” is for the Congress, it is consistent with his known need for frequent breaks. The Congress has shown no signs yet of demanding an alternative leadership…”
The Hindustan Times was less harsh than some other papers. It focussed on the party. “Its leadership seems uninterested and dispirited, has not evolved with the changing times, and worse still, it doesn’t seem to know how to do so…the Opposition space seems to have been ceded to other parties with the Congress as just another face in the crowd.This suggests that the party seems unable any longer to function out of power… an energetic leadership seems missing. That is something that the party has to address on a priority basis if it can muster the enthusiasm.”
The Telegraph, unlike other general newspapers, was asleep and did not write.
The Pioneer also didn’t write, perhaps regarding it as an “internal matter.”
Amongst the business dailies, only the Economic Times wrote an edit. The rest have clearly given up both on the Congress and Mr Gandhi. “Sonia,” wrote ET, “should now take the initiative to make the Congress a more democratic organisation, for which a pivotal central figure matters ever less, with leaders who have popular support and are responsive to local grievances and aspirations. These grassroots demands should translate into a viable political project. Only that can revive a party that will celebrate its 130th anniversary in December.”
Aah, if wishes were horses…
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