Why it's time liberals saw through Rahul Gandhi

I had heard about Rahul Gandhi’s “inner circle”, “coterie”, and “durbar” but didn’t know that he had built up a full-blooded personality cult around him – and an army of social media trolls to boot. That is, until I made the mistake of writing an innocuous one-sentence post on Facebook mocking Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto’s undiplomatic remarks about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

My post simply read: “Bilawal Bhutto is even shallower than Rahul G.” Within minutes I was bombarded with angry rejoinders, some attacking me personally and attributing motives to me suggesting that I had criticised Rahul to appease the Modi government.

One, a friend I’ve known for years and who knows where my politics lies, wrote: “Hassan Suroor are you looking for a Rajya Sabha nomination?”

Another said: “It’s surprising to hear this coming from you Hassan Suroor. Just to remind you that there’s a new determination in RG supporters to counter every attempt to malign him.”

“Malign” or not, there’s certainly a surprisingly long line of RG cheerleaders who believe that behind that mask of vacuity there lurks a hidden genius. I was inundated with posts protesting my implied description of their political hero as “shallow”. I was told that far from being shallow, he had “depth” whatever that means.

“In any case, he was never ever shallow. Young maybe, but not shallow. If anything he has shown great depth,” wrote one lady. Another opined that “Rahul is not shallow. He is a fine human being, just a bad politician.” And here’s another in the same vein: “Rahul is not shallow, he may be not an intellectual like his Nana, but he is deep at several levels.” Some thought that comparing him was Bhutto was “misconceived” implying perhaps that I was somehow guilty of insulting RG by clubbing him with an upstart.

One gentleman forwarded a video of an RG press conference to correct my perception of him.

“This is for your kind perusal: Rahul Gandhi has a clear vision for India and he speaks from his heart. Watch this video of a press conference where he answers Rajdeep Sardesai in detail and with lot of clarity! After this, you will know who is the real! ‘Pappu’”

Well, I did watch it – all of it. Yes, he was polite, articulate, and brimmed with confidence. But what did he say that has not been said ad nauseum over the past decade by various liberal commentators, including (pardon my arrogance) me? Not a single word, I’m afraid. Sometimes, even old worn-out cliches contain a new thougt, a new idea. Alas, there was none here.

So, this in essence what he said and I would be happy to be corrected if it was not all old hat, though dressed up as a grand philosophical narrative. He talked about two “visions” of India: a vision of “diviseness, monoculturalism, and hate”, I’m paraphrasing; and a vision of “unity, pluralism and love and kindness” – a vision his Bharat Jodo Yatra represented, and one with which most Indians identified.

Why did his party then not win elections?

Because, he said, the other side had a “very clear vision” of what they wanted: win elections at any cost. The vision, he represented, was “more complicated”. He didn’t explain why a party with a long history of inclusive politics suddenly found it so “complicated” to execute his vision. The bland truth is that he doesn’t have any concrete vision beyond rambling rhetoric about development, equity, diversity et al.

Over the years, I’ve followed his many speeches, parliamentary interventions, interviews, and conversations with experts, most recently with Raghuram Rajan, the former RBI governor. And though he talks a good talk (all goody-goody stuff about caring for the huddled masses and the wretched of the earth), he is yet to present a clear blueprint to translate his mish-mash of blurry ideas into action. Apparently, he has some clever academics and social activists to advise him but they can do only so much, ultimately it’s up to him to shape that advice into a clear and implementable policy blueprint. Which he has miserably failed to do.

The perception that he is stuck in an “NGO mode” with little interest in governing or finding hard answers to the country’s myriad problems is not wide of the mark. His record in politcs speaks for itself. In the nearly two decades that he has been in politics, including two years as the Congress president, he has done nothing he can be proud of.

On the contrary, he has presided over a succession of crises and electoral defeats including losing his own parliamentary seat in Amethi – a seat historically held by the Congress, including by his father, mother, and uncle Sanjay Gandhi. It requires a certain kind of genius to manage such incompetence. Just as it requires a certain kind of lack of self-awareness not to realise one’s incompetence. 

Rahul Gandhi is 52 – an age when politicians have generally “been there, done that” (his own father became prime minister at the age of 40) while he is still struggling to find his feet. His reputation in his own party is that of an intelligent but confused man who doesn’t know what he wants; or rather wants the best of both worlds – power without responsibility or accountability. He talks tirelessly of the need for social and political change but has no strategy to achieve it. Only fluffy, half-baked theories.

Those who believe he has “depth” tend to confuse academic jargon for a credible political vision. His supporters have attacked me for comparing him with Bilawal Bhutto –and calling him shallow. The fact is that the two have a lot in common: both are children of prominent political dynasties; both were thrust into frontline politics accidentally; both are intellectually under-equipped to offer credible alternative visions for their respective countries.

Who is more vacuous of the two is debatable (I thought I was being generous to RG when I called Bhutto shallower than him) but on the basis of his record so far and his apparent trajectory Rahul Gandhi is no visionary, and the fact that he has managed to build a personality cult says something as much about the bankruptcy of liberal politics as about our polarised politics.

The writer is an independent liberal commentator. Views expressed are personal.

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