Karnataka polls: Rahul Gandhi's 'Gabbar Singh' narrative against Narendra Modi has failed

The producer, director, scriptwriters, actors and a whole lot of other people who had been associated with the making of the mid-1970s Bollywood blockbuster Sholay would never have imagined that 43 years after the release of the movie, its villain Gabbar Singh, a role immortalised by Amjad Khan, would become one of the biggest talking points for Congress president Rahul Gandhi. The Congress chief has used the character for narrative-building in ten successive state elections spread over a year, from north to west, from north-east to the south, from Uttar Pradesh to Karnataka.

That movie was one of the biggest all-time hit and meant instant name, flame, glory and money for all its cast and crew, particularly for Amjad Khan, who made his debut with Gabbar Singh. Unfortunately, for Rahul, defeats are the norm for him and victory only an exception. Even when Congress won in Punjab, the credit for the victory went to Captain Amarinder Singh and not Rahul Gandhi. In Karnataka, incumbent Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has positioned himself like Amarinder Singh. Victory would go to his credit and defeat obviously has no claimants.

But the 48-year-old Congress chief does not mind that. Just like the story of Robert the Bruce and the spider, Rahul is trying to weave his own web, hoping that at some point of time in the future, people will believe in his Gabbar Singh story against Narendra Modi.

Rahul found Gabbar Singh’s parallel in Narendra Modi. If Modi is Gabbar Singh, Rahul Gandhi is positioning himself as Thakur Baldev Singh. It’s not clear who his Jai and Veeru would be.

Consider what Rahul Gandhi had to say on Thursday in a public rally in Karnataka.

In his rally, Rahul Gandhi said ,“There was Gabbar Singh in Sholay picture. You (Modi) brought Gabbar Singh Tax. But this time, you are trying to put the entire team of Gabbar Singh in Karnataka Assembly, meaning there is Gabbar Singh, there is Sambha, there is Kalia, matlab poora ka poora gang.”

Rahul perhaps has no knowledge that the people of Karnataka have very fond memories of Gabbar Singh and Sholay. The film was shot in the rocky terrain of  Ramanagara , a place between Bengaluru and Mysuru. Ramanagara is now a district and is favoured tourist spot. Thanks to some initiative by the government and some private individuals, Gabbar Singh, Thakur, Veeru, Jai and other characters are played by locals to recreate Sholay for visiting tourists. It is part of life and source of livelihood for the locals.

Over a year ago, in the run up to Uttar Pradesh elections, Rahul used to say that before 2014, Modi used to make promises like Shah Rukh Khan’s character from Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge but turned into Gabbar Singh after the Lok Sabha election. Unfortunately for Rahul Gandhi, voters in UP, Uttrakhand, Goa and Manipur were unimpressed with his Shah Rukh and Gabbar parallel to Modi. The voters in Gujarat, Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland didn’t oblige him either.

In Gujarat, Rahul Gandhi had said, “maine usko (GST) naya naam diya hai, Gabbar Singh Tax (I have given it a new name: Gabbar Singh Tax)." His official twitter handle had earlier tweeted:

Congress GST= Genuine Simple Tax

Modi ji's GST= Gabbar Singh Tax =''ये कमाई मुझे दे दे"

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 24, 2017

People heard that filmy story and left, forgetting it just as they tend to forget about a film  after leaving a theatre or switching off a television. In the end, Modi tasted victory and Rahul had to be satisfied with “moral victory”.

Rahul Gandhi has perhaps taken this story far too seriously, people don’t. Instead, Rahul should realise that hundreds of people across the nation would not gather to see and hear a person he keeps comparing with Gabbar Singh.