Fight against Modi: Is Rahul trying to beat other challengers in the race?

Rahul Gandhi has tried to take the pole position in the opposition’s fight against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He broke silence on Subramanian Swamy’s charge over his ‘British nationality (dual nationality)’ and much to the delight of the Congress he used high-pitched rhetoric than a substantive response to rebut whatever was being thrown at him over the last few days.

It was an occasion for Rahul to recall the virtues of Indira Gandhi –- it was her 98th birth anniversary – and tell the assembled Congress workers as to how he planned to revive the fortunes of the party. He, however, chose to launch a blistering attack against Modi, his government, the BJP and the RSS. That perhaps is the way he wants to give a boost to the sagging morale of the party.

Swamy’s charge against him that he purposely hid details of his company, Backops Services, its British operations, his shareholding, permission details etc, while filing nominations for parliamentary election and such other declarations came as an immediate provocation for the Congress vice-president to aggressively target Modi.

“Don’t use cronies to level allegations against me… Muje aaap se itna sa bhi..itna sa bhi bhi dar nahi hai. Main piche nahi hatunga. Main kisano ke liye larunga, Hindustan ke liye larunga, ek ke baad ek apke jhut pakrunga (I am not sacred even a bit by you. I will not backtrack and keep on fighting for farmers, for India and keep on exposing your lies).

Rahul then used the time-tested rhetorical formula of Indian politicians – daring the PM to throw him to jail if he had committed any wrong. He referred to Modi’s 56-inch chest claim to ridicule him, something which he had done during the electioneering in Bihar also. His barbs against Modi, of course, could not be complete without a critical reference to the RSS.

With Congress men and women on the dais and in the audience cheering every sentence he uttered, Rahul succeeded in sending a message to the wider political arena and also to the people at large that he was inclined to take Modi head on, within and outside Parliament. If Rahul’s belligerence today is any indication then the Winter Session of Parliament, which commences exactly a week later, is going to be very stormy.

Though Bihar elections yielded good dividend for the Congress, Rahul is aware that he and his party owe these numbers to Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav. The Congress piggybacked on the JD(U) and the RJD as a junior alliance partner and tasted success after a series of humiliating defeats in state after state and, of course, in the last parliamentary elections.

The BJP’s loss is not Congress’s gain. The other election which the BJP lost in 2015 was Delhi but there the Congress scored a blank while the political stock of Arvind Kejriwal went up sharply. The party, given its current strength, is not expected to do any better in the elections due next year – Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Pudduchery.

By taking on Modi aggressively and using the language which resembles more of a street fighter than a seasoned politician, Rahul is trying to pitch himself to a position where he would be the rallying point against Modi, should such a situation arise in future. He perhaps wants to have his stakes on the issues clearly known to all concerned. Bihar results have shown that there is space for anti-Modi forces and the Modi-led BJP could be vanquished if a broad political and social coalition is stitched. But that space as it seems at this point doe not belong to the Congress. It belongs to leaders of alternate political formations, a Kejriwal in Delhi or a Nitish in Bihar, a Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal, a Naveen Patnaik in Odisha, a Jayalalithaa or Karunanidhi in Tamil Nadu and so on.

Rahul is trying to tell people that currently he may not have the numbers but he has grown an appetite to fight Modi. He is expected to land in Patna to attend Nitish Kumar’s swearing in ceremony where he would get a very warm reception but then the heroes out there would be Lalu and Nitish, who didn’t care to share dais with him during the entire month-long Bihar election.