Who's afraid of an ugly scrap? Only Rahul Gandhi

Competitive politics is a blood-sport. And before you begin to imagine Imran “Boti Boti” Masood, let me clarify: I mean metaphorically, not literally. The language, tone and polarisation of Campaign 2014 may discomfiture English-speaking drawing room liberals. But democratic politics is a reflection of a society and a country. If the country is angry, if its people have their vocal chords turned on to maximum, if they are passionate/deeply committed about their choice of candidate/party and if they have a strong stake in India’s future, you would get precisely the election that is unfolding – brutally competitive, name calling and all. Quite frankly, in raucous India, even elections for the local Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) are hardly staid affairs and that’s when the stakes are tiny. The stakes don’t get higher than electing a national Government for a period of five years. The one obvious benefit to voters in such a charged campaign is that it is possible to identify who has the stomach for a fight and who doesn’t. It matters, because to govern India successfully a party or leader needs to be driven and willing to fight uphill battles. So far, it is clear that Narendra Modi has the fire in his belly. So does the maverick Arvind Kejriwal who continues to be heard loud and clear even if opinion polls predict a rout for his Aam Aadmi Party. Some of the regional leaders are up for a fight – Mamata Banerjee, Naveen Patnaik, Jayalalitha are loud and clear on where they stand and who their opponents are; even the Yadav duo of Mulayam Singh and Lalu Prasad has their sleeves rolled up. [caption id=“attachment_1495361” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Rahul Gandhi speaks to his mother Sonia Gandhi during a campaign rally. AP[/caption] The only major politician who has shown no appetite for an almighty scrap is Rahul Gandhi . Pray why does Mr Gandhi not wish to attack his main rival Narendra Modi personally? Why does he think that ‘anger’ is ‘four-letter word’? Why does he think that he can make India believe that politics is about love? If the opinion polls are correct, Rahul Gandhi is not cutting much ice with voters. And that’s because he is a talking in an alien language. In fact, Rahul’s sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has shown that she has an appetite for an ugly scrap. She has come out all guns blazing defending the seemingly indefensible Robert Vadra. She is angry with the way her opponents have targeted the Gandhi family. She has attacked Modi frontally on the matter of Snoopgate. But she is not the leader of her party. She cannot become Rahul Gandhi’s voice. Of course, it can be no one’s argument that simply replacing Rahul with Priyanka will change the course of this election, or any future election for that matter. Should she enter politics, Priyanaka Gandhi Vadra will be judged on several parameters. She may or may not come out trumps. But she has shown that she is up for a fight while her brother hides behind the cloak of so-called ‘civility’. Congress matriarch Sonia Gandhi can be criticised for several things, but she too has been ready to do battle. Her infamous description of Maut ka Saudagar description of Narendra Modi in 2007 may have offended some, may have even cost her votes, but it was the kind of aggression that die-hard Congress supporters would have rallied around, just like die-hard BJP supporters rally around Modi each time he calls Rahul Gandhi Shehzada. Unfortunately Rahul Gandhi hasn’t even shown the ability to defend the UPAs achievements even as political opponents have ripped that record to shreds. India circa 2014 is radically different from the India of 2009. It is younger. It is impatient. It is aspirational. It is angry. It has strong opinions. There is no space for a relaxed feudal sort of politics a la Rahul Gandhi. The reality of politics is that if you are unwilling to scrap, you are simply not in contention.