With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) going to the town with a slogan of 400+ in the Lok Sabha elections 2024, its workers will need to work hard to achieve this feat. It is seeking votes in the name of its performance, with scrapping of Article 370 being presented before electorate as an important milestone. Its formidable electoral machinery based on mass mobilisation is getting galvanised and primed up. In contrast, the Congress is in disarray as its candidates for seats going to polls on April 19 have not been declared yet.
Confusion begins at top in the Congress with Rahul Gandhi himself and leaders around him try to figure out his philosophy. They have failed to decode Rahul with whom they have to work and who is the undeclared numero uno in the party right since 2004. Who is Rahul Gandhi? To begin with, a man who had refused to become a minister in Manmohan Singh’s government. He was happy being all powerful but with no responsibility.
Actually, he is thought of as unreliable and inconsistent by those who have observed him for last two decades. Who is the real Rahul is an enigma for the party leaders, and hence for those who may cast vote in his name. A la `Don’ movie, they are still trying hard to figure out as to …. Kahan se aaya, yeh hai kaun? In 2018, he was Rahul Gandhi, Dattatreya gotra grandson of Feroz Khan, wearing sacred janeu over his kurta. If only mocking Sanatana traditions had a face, Rahul is a perfect fit. In 2009, he had declared Hindu organisations to be worse than Lashkar e Toiba (LeT).
In September 2013, he displayed his unpredictable ways when he tore away an ordinance brought by UPA. Ajay Maken, accompanying Rahul to Press Club of India on that occasion, was defending the ordinance just 10 minutes before that shocker. This was Rahul’s way of announcing to the world that he would be Narendra Modi’s challenger for the PM’s post. Not Manmohan as the venerable doctor was nearing past his `use best before’ date. Incidentally, by that time, it was clear that Modi would be the BJP mascot for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
For Maken’s own good, one hopes that at least he has figured out Rahul in last 11 years since then. The masses, the ordinary men and women, cannot hope to be as lucky as Maken who spends considerable time with Rahul. Masses in hordes have deserted the Congress due to Rahul’s wayward ways just as Himanta Biswa Sarma did many years ago. Himanta had come to Delhi, all the way from Guwahati, but instead of listening to the Assam leader, Rahul preferred feeding his pet Pidi. Or so the story goes.
The disinterest shown by senior Congress leaders is best illustrated by Navjot Singh Sidhu who has chosen commentary at lucrative IPL over party! At one time, Sidhu was an aspirant for Punjab CM’s post. By his actions, Sidhu has made it clear that he will neither contest, nor campaign.
Taking stock of BJP and the Congress performance in 2009, then 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections reveals interesting data. In 2009, the Congress scored 206, scored 52 in 2014 and 44 in 2019 totalling 302. The BJP scored one better than this, 303 in 2019 elections alone. The Congress failing to do in three attempts what the BJP does in a single is the real story of 2024 elections too.
