Battered by the Robert Vadra episode, the Congress has now swung into pre-emptive damage control to protect the image of Rahul Gandhi. The party on Thursday held an unscheduled press conference to hail the Supreme Court judgement quashing the petition alleging rape charges against Rahul Gandhi. The apex court termed the petition as "baseless and without substance".
On Wednesday evening, within hours of former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala accusing Gandhi of defrauding the exchequer and undervaluing a plot of land he had bought in Haryana, the Congress came out with its official response, rebutting the charges.
The revelations about the financial dealings of Vadra and realty giant DLF had badly singed the party. While the party had gone all out defending Vadra, Congressmen conceded that the episode dented the party’s public image. Therefore, the party is now more careful. It does not any more allegations that could possible harm Gandhi’s image.
AICC media department Chairperson Janardan Dwivedi described the Supreme court judgement as ‘landmark’. He said: “It is dangerous for politics the way today very cheap, very low level allegations are bring traded in the political arena.” Insiders say the party can ill afford to allow Gandhi’s image to take a hit, especially amid talks that Gandhi is all set to take on a “bigger role”.
Over the past two days, Gandhi has met both President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. While this has triggered speculation of his joining the Cabinet in the next reshuffle, senior Congress leaders say Gandhi is unlikely to take up a ministerial berth.
“It is most likely that he will take on a larger role within the organisation and he has already started working towards it,” said a young Congress MP close to Gandhi.