This review examines events from the past one to two years, highlighting how the Congress party, once seen as declining, has become an important and necessary political force in the country today. My perspective may differ from others.
Key events between June 2022 and January 2023 significantly impacted the Congress party. These include the appointment of a new Congress president, the Bharat Jodo Yatra, and the Congress's new strategic camp in Rajasthan. Additionally, the election of Jairam Ramesh as the Congress party's media and communication in-charge on June 16-17 was also pivotal. These events were crucial for revitalizing the Congress party and enhancing its image.
However, these actions alone are not enough to improve the image of Congress and Rahul Gandhi. Recent records and achievements also play a significant role.
Both Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi are considered hardworking leaders. As with many great or famous individuals, both have unique qualities that have solidified their positions as important leaders in the country today. It is evident that both leaders take each other seriously. Rahul Gandhi acknowledges this openly, while Modi likely does so privately.
Narendra Modi's perspective seems to be that society and groups should grow and survive, using the bitter and sweet events of history as lessons for the present. On the other hand, Rahul Gandhi's ideology emphasizes the importance of every individual, social justice, and providing not just infrastructural development for the poor but ensuring they have food and a significant place in the mainstream.
At times, both leaders, Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi, change their opinions and decisions based on the advice of those close to them. You have never heard either Modi or Rahul Gandhi speak about their private or personal lives, and you probably never will. Have these leaders ever expressed themselves to anyone other than a few close friends and colleagues? This is an important question.
Modi's youth was shaped by witnessing and reading about socio-religious discrimination and conflicts such as the Kashmir issue, Sikh riots, Gujarat riots, persecution of Sangh workers in Bengal and Kerala, the 1993 Mumbai bomb blast, discrimination between upper and lower castes, and the gap between Northeast India and Delhi. These experiences have profoundly influenced Modi's life, causing his personal and political views to overlap. Modi is often characterized as a sensitive man but also a staunch religious leader.
In the last 12-13 years, Modi has influenced some of India's prominent intellectuals by providing them with necessities and support, making them adopt his views or become subservient. This demonstrates that thought and profession can be compromised. Modi did not seek mere political gain from this; the BJP and Modi won the 2014 and 2019 elections with the help of social media and mainstream media. The Gujarat 2002 riots and subsequent media trials made Modi view the media as a one-sided and mercenary machine. To show the world and certain people how not just specific channels but the entire fourth pillar of democracy had been compromised, Modi kept the media under tight control, creating a situation where journalists felt ashamed to identify themselves as such.
Today, many YouTube channel owners explicitly state that they are not journalists but rather sold-out or independent YouTubers.
Between 2009-2010, there was talk of Rahul Gandhi becoming the Prime Minister, but Gandhi rejected the idea and focused on growing the party. It was around this time that both Modi and Gandhi were unofficially announced as their respective parties' prime ministerial candidates. Modi's main competitor was Rahul Gandhi, while the BJP's main competitors were Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh. Both leaders were forward-looking; Modi aimed to eliminate senior competitors within his party, while Gandhi's struggle was to remove ineffective or irresponsible leaders and strengthen the party.
Rahul Gandhi made several important changes in the overall functioning of the Congress party between 2005-2007. He mainstreamed several leaders such as Scindia, Pilot, Randeep Surjewala, and Rajiv Satav, and strengthened the organization. His increasingly interventionist and broad policy did not sit well with some of the more aristocratic and indulgent leaders in the Congress.
Between 2008-2009, Gandhi worked to shed his royal identity by engaging with the grassroots. He ate at the homes of the poor and walked in the fields to promote the Employment Guarantee Scheme, actions that endeared him to many. This approach gave him the image of a sincere and credible leader among the youth and even among older generations. His efforts changed the perceptions of many leaders within Congress, the BJP, other parties, and the general public. Some accepted this change, while others did not.
In short, if Gandhi did not change, we did; our attitude toward him changed. The new media team and media policy of the Congress helped to facilitate this change in attitude. Public communication and interaction with people is Rahul Gandhi's nature, but what was needed was a propaganda machine, and that is exactly what the Congress implemented.
From 2000 to 2012, Modi's tenure was ideologically untouchable by the Congress and like-minded leaders of the time. Congress leaders and the media were successful in portraying Modi as a staunchly religious and insensitive leader. However, public anger at the Congress, the perception of Gandhi's dynasticism, and Modi's effective use of social media and the Gujarat model managed to tarnish his "death ka saudagar" (merchant of death) image.
A similar scenario unfolded for Rahul Gandhi from 2012 to 2022, which was a challenging and declining period for him. The Congress party and its ideology were on the wane, the organization was at a critical juncture, and the "Pappu" tag stuck to him like glue. After winning three state assemblies in 2017, Rahul Gandhi experienced a short-lived victory that could not be sustained against the BJP's formidable election machinery and campaigning methods.
In the 2019 elections, Rahul Gandhi resigned from the post of party president, citing a lack of support from many leaders within his own party. His resignation emphasized party unity and acknowledged the views of senior leaders. Gandhi, who had set out to transform the Congress, changed its working style, brought in foreign consultants, and formed agreements with companies aligned with Congress's ideology, integrating them into the organization. Realizing that to compete with the BJP, the Congress needed to adopt a more aggressive stance, Gandhi asserted that it was necessary to raise their issues rather than just responding to the BJP's strategies.
After 2019, Rahul Gandhi distanced himself from the party's political and organizational decisions, limiting his role to providing advice. The Congress appointed veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge as party president, temporarily sidelining the issue of nepotism.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, when the world was in turmoil, the Congress was formulating its Navodaya plan. Prashant Kishor engaged in discussions with key party leaders who had an understanding of propaganda and new technologies for almost six months. Although Kishor's political ambitions did not align with the Congress, leading to the collapse of their collaboration, his advice, coupled with Gandhi's freedom to work beyond organizational and political constraints, helped the Congress revive. The party adopted modern working methods and partnered with PR firms to stay alive and competitive in the coming years..
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