Faith as power strategy
Rahul’s temple run and projecting a ‘soft Hindu’ image may not help Cong in polls People can see through his facade
The Congress strategy to project its party president Rahul Gandhi as a great defender of Hinduism may not impress people. This is a party that has, in the past, blatantly supported appeasement of Muslims and ignored Hindu interests for its narrow political gains. People still recall that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said Muslims have the first right to the nation’s resources. When the New York Times reported that Mr Gandhi was a Catholic (the news was widely circulated), the Congress president did not challenge it. Mr Gandhi is visiting temples to woo voters but he will not be successful. He is a mute person and does not match the ideology of the Congress, the party that has always played the game of minority appeasement.
The party speaks about development of religious places, including temples. But has any Congress-led government given any concession to Hindu pilgrims or started any schemes for them, ever?
In the recent Gujarat elections, despite all efforts by Mr Gandhi to project his image as that of a janeudhari Brahmin, the Congress could not win the state. The margin of victory for the BJP was low only because of a cynical caste alliance forged by the Congress and two decades of anti-incumbency. The Congress claims that it does not use religion for political gains but it has always worked with the motive of winning elections. Mr Gandhi makes a series of visits to temples in Gujarat before the Assembly elections but in Meghalaya he joins a rock show!
Mr Gandhi was made the party president out of an utter compulsion; history is witness to the fact that whenever someone from outside the Nehru-Gandhi family has become party president, the party has begun disintegrating.
His attendance in Parliament is pathetically low, but Mr Gandhi enjoys the advantage of a friendly media that highlights his speech on the rare occasions when he speaks up. While his speeches evoke derisive laughter in the House, few in the media say that people don’t take him seriously.
Another big problem with Mr Gandhi is that he does not stick to any issue. He raises an issue one day, another the next day, and forgets all previous issues. He never visited the dalit families with whom he had dinner again. He never travelled by local train twice. He didn’t go to Bhatta Parsaul again. He even stopped talking about GST and demonetisation after the Gujarat elections. This is a bad marketing strategy. Since his debut in mainstream politics, he has not led the Congress to victory in any election because the Indian public is intelligent and aware. Rahul Gandhi’s temple run and projecting a soft Hindu image shows his bankruptcy of ideas, ideology and leadership.