The schoolboy vs the rock star: Rahul's 'speech' impediment

Poor Rahul Gandhi. A man damned by comparison, forever failing to measure up to the towering standards set by Narendra Modi. Each failure, in turn, serves as further confirmation of his image as a milquetoast wannabe. The latest is his speech in Barana, Rajasthan, which has been proclaimed by the media as a giant yawn. “This was the first public rally of Rahul Gandhi after Narendra Modi was declared the prime ministerial candidate for the BJP. Just a few days before on Sunday September 15, Modi did a huge rally in Haryana. The comparison between Modi and Congress heir apparent was unavoidable. But barring one or two occasions, Rahul Gandhi failed to connect with the crowd the way Modi did in Haryana on Sunday,” reports India Today. In other words, it was a typical Rahul snoozer – or so media reports would have us believe. But, in fact, the actual video of the speech reveals an unusually animated Rahul. He is articulate and animated without a trace of his usual stilted delivery.  For once, he looks comfortable up on stage – despite the occasional inexplicable lunge to grab on to his mikes. And he looks good in a filmi neta kind of way: The smeared tikka works with the stubble and white kurta-pajama.  Sure, we can complain about the same-old, same-old populist messaging, but that just comes with the territory of being a Congress leader. [caption id=“attachment_1117055” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Rahul Gandhi at Baran, Rajasthan yesterday. PTI.[/caption] Truth is Rahul today is light years better than any of his relatives. Indira Gandhi’s famous wit sparkled in her interviews and press conferences, and she could deliver those quotable lines when the occasion demanded, but her stump speeches were mostly dull and uninspiring – and, worse, delivered in a high-pitched voice that made microphones shriek in protest. That we remember her as an effective orator is likely because she shines in comparison to the son who succeeded her. Rajiv Gandhi was a notoriously poor public speaker, best known for his appalling Hindi, nasal tone, and unintentionally comic bursts of machismo. Sonia too enjoyed the benefit of the Rajiv legacy. That she spoke decent Hindi, unlike her late husband, was sufficient for us to forgive the belaboured, lacklustre style. The truth is that Rahul, today, is shaping up to be a better speaker than most other politicians, including the most beloved members of his own family. And he’s learning to do better. The Baran speech is a vast improvement than the clunker he delivered in the Parliament over a year ago. Rahul’s real problem is not what he says – or how he says it – but who he isn’t. Previous Gandhis made up for their poor oratorical skills with sheer charisma. Rahul, sadly, has none. He cannot fill a stage with his personality or evoke enthusiasm by his mere presence – as did even a fumbling Rajiv. And he therefore cannot rely on personal popularity to inspire his audience, who listen to him instead with placid curiousity, as did the crowd in Barana. This is a problem for any politician at the best of times, but more so when one is pitted against a rival like Narendra Modi. The stage is Modi’s natural environment, where his persona finds its fullest expression. As Javed Sayed notes in the Economic Times, “Narendra Modi aspires to be India’s third orator Prime Minister. He has a compelling personality, an authoritative voice and the ability to hold his audience’s attention. He embellishes his speeches with powerful idioms and imagery. He thinks of sound bites and headlines for his many friends and admirers in the media.” But it also doesn’t matter what Modi says. His adoring supporters will hang on his every word, nevertheless, and cheer his every punchline. Modi is a rock star. Rahul, in comparison, is the captain of the school debate team. All this ‘war of the speeches’ talk is absurd in a competition this lopsided. Let’s just agree that Rahul will never ever outgun Modi on a stage, and move on. Let’s, however, also acknowledge that other inconvenient truth: speeches don’t win parliamentary elections. Our system is not designed to reward an Obama. An inarticulate Sonia Gandhi, after all, bested an eloquent Atal Behari Vajpayee.  Modi may indeed win in 2014, but it won’t be because he delivers a great speech.