)
It seems that Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi sees himself as an agent of change and wants to play the role of an angry young man who is impatient to change the system and his party. Political observers are of the view that there will be bipolar politics in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, with the Congress on one side and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the other.
The 43-year-old Gandhi scion is talking of inclusive politics while BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is the face of Hindutva.
The 43-year-old Gandhi scion is talking of inclusive politics while BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is the face of Hindutva.
Addressing an election rally in Rajasthan, Gandhi stressed the secular credentials of his party and the commitment of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government to the poor.
Political pundits believe that Gandhi has taken a calculated risk to concentrate his attack on the BJP’s alleged 'politics of hatred' because, in case of a polarisation of votes, the Congress hopes to wrest the secular space which is divided among several regional parties in different states at present.
“The BJP plays with the anger of people and tries to vitiate communal harmony,” Gandhi had said. He cited the 2002 Gujarat riots and recent Muzaffarnagar communal riots that killed approximately 62 people.
Political pundits believe that Gandhi has taken a calculated risk to concentrate his attack on the BJP’s alleged 'politics of hatred' because, in case of a polarisation of votes, the Congress hopes to wrest the secular space which is divided among several regional parties in different states at present.
“The BJP plays with the anger of people and tries to vitiate communal harmony,” Gandhi had said. He cited the 2002 Gujarat riots and recent Muzaffarnagar communal riots that killed approximately 62 people.
Continuing his tirade against the BJP in Madhya Pradesh, Gandhi on Thursday alleged that the saffron party's politics is the politics of air-conditioners and industrialists. "Did 'India Shining' (BJP's national campaign of 2004) bring development to you?" he asked. The Congress, he said, engages in the politics of development and empowerment of people.
Opinion polls have predicted a clear edge for the BJP, led by the Gujarat Chief Minister, suggesting the Congress has become unpopular due to corruption charges against many of its ministers as well as its alleged misgovernance at the Centre.
In his first public rally in Uttar Pradesh this month, Modi, however, maintained a distance from the Ram temple issue. The Hindutva mascot said the BJP had made development as its agenda for the next general election. Whenever the Congress faced a crisis, it resorted to the politics of vote bank. The BJP knew only one religion, which was "nation first, India first," one scripture, that was the Constitution, one “bhakti,” which was nationhood and one power, which was the collective strength of 125-crore Indians.
The thrust of Gandhi’s speeches has been that the Congress and BJP represent two divergent schools of thought — one which gives priority to the poor and backward in its growth model and the other which only talks about development and industry.
Needless to say, he has been aggressively hard selling the food security and land bills, which he believes are going to be the game-changers.
He even made an emotional pitch in Gwalior this month where he spoke how his mother Sonia Gandhi wanted to vote for her pet food Bill in Parliament despite being unwell. Nearly 90% of the 543 MPs represent rural or semi-urban constituencies, according to the New Delhi-based Centre for the Study of Developing Studies.
Experts believe concentrating on rural votes is a good electoral strategy for the Congress, whose leadership right from the days of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi has been identified with pro-poor programmes.
Modi has declared his priority is not to build temples but toilets in an apparent bid to recast his image from that of a friend of big business to that of a leader with a social conscience. Also, at Kanpur this month, Modi said: “I was born into poverty, I spent a childhood in poverty. That ‘shehzada’ (prince),” alluding to Gandhi, “says poverty is a state of mind. It makes my heart ache because it’s like sprinkling salt on the wounds of the poor”. “The Planning Commission, headed by an economist Prime Minister, says anyone earning Rs26 a day in a village is above the poverty line,” the Gujarat CM said to thunderous applause.
Amid loud cheers from crowd in Baran (Rajasthan), Gandhi said: “When we talk of schemes like the right to food and medical insurance for poor, the Opposition asks where will the money come from. They don’t care about the poor.”
Sample this: the expenditure since 2004 under UPA has burdened India with one of Asia’s widest budget deficits and contributed to consumer-price inflation running above 7% for the past 20 months.
In 2009, the Congress got over 200 seats due to the support of the middle class. But the arrival of Modi on the national scene has altered the situation as the middle class is disenchanted with the Manmohan Singh-led government.at present. Modi is credited with helping Gujarat's economy achieve average yearly growth in the double digits in the past decade and he is popular among the middle class as well as many wealthy businessmen.
Critics say that the Congress leader has little to offer for the current problems of India.
Critics say that the Congress leader has little to offer for the current problems of India.
