Meghalaya polls: Rahul Gandhi goes after RSS for being anti-women, but confident BJP seeks to dent ruling Congress

On face of it, Rahul Gandhi’s trip to Meghalaya to kick off Congress’s poll campaign didn’t offer exciting prospects for the media. But the Congress president apparently had other ideas, and made the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

While his Rs 70,000, two-in-one down puffer jacket from Burberry, a British luxury fashion brand, was making news and trending on social media, Rahul went on a different tangent, trying to woo the electorate by comparing RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat to Mahatma Gandhi: Two persons of different stature, belonging to two different generations, two different situations, and two different ideologies.

This is what Rahul said at a program in Saint Edmund’s College, Shillong: “If you see a picture of Mahatma Gandhi, you’ll find women on this side (right), women on that side (left) and women behind. But, if you see a picture of Mohan Bhagwat, he’ll be alone or surrounded by men. He will never be surrounded by women.” The point is: Rahul was trying to paint the RSS as an anti-women organisation and present it in stark contrast to the Congress.

“In our society, women have a very large space. They play a crucial role in decision making and running things. However, the RSS does not believe in women’s rights and give more power to men to dominate without fear in the society… RSS idea is aimed at disempowering women. Does anyone know many leadership positions are with women in RSS? Zero”, Rahul said.

The question: Why is Rahul Gandhi talking so extensively about the Mohan Bhagwat and RSS, not Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, which is his principal opponent in the state? Remember, Meghalaya is one of four states which Congress rules. Plagued with a number of defections by party MLAs and factional feuds, the Meghalaya Congress landed itself in a difficult situation .

What is even more important is that Meghalaya is a Christian-dominated state. According to the 2011 census, Christians comprise 74.59 percent of total population, while Hindus make up 11.53 percent and Muslims stand at 4.40 percent.

While the BJP previously had a miniscule presence in Meghalaya, it has lately become an effective challenger with the help of local ally National People’s Party (NPP). The BJP also made Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Culture, and Tourism KJ Alphons election in-charge for Meghalaya.

It’s a well-known fact that even though the BJP had a marginal presence in the North East until the advent of Narendra Modi at the Centre, the RSS’ footprint in that region goes back ages. As the RSS is seen as a Hindu organisation, an attack on it might impact the voting pattern of non-Hindus and Christians who might ultimately choose a party which would keep the BJP at bay.

“We are fighting the RSS ideology across the nation. The idea is that one form of thinking is imposed on the country. What the BJP and RSS are doing all over India, particularly in North East, is attempting to undermine your culture, language and way of life”, Rahul said. The Congress president also took on BJP directly: “If they (the BJP) form the government here and continue to capture institutions, then your culture, your religion and your way of life will be under pressure".

Will Rahul’s warnings and scaremongering work on the Christian community? The answer will be revealed in the coming weeks. Modi is yet to start his campaign, but the BJP and its allies are very confident of giving a tough fight to the ruling Congress. Their confidence that the Christian community could place its trust in the party at the Centre stems from the fact that the BJP rules Goa, which has a substantive Christian population and has broadly kept the community’s confidence.

BJP’s jacket jibe

The BJP’s Meghalaya unit made waves on social media on Wednesday after it took a jibe at Rahul’s fashionable jacket:

So @OfficeOfRG , soot(pun intended!)-boot ki sarkar with ‘black’ money fleeced from Meghalayan State exchequer by rampant corruption? Instead of singing away our woes, you could have given a report card of your inefficient govt in Meghalaya! Your indifference mocks us! pic.twitter.com/sRvj5eoyRb

— BJP Meghalaya (@BJP4Meghalaya) January 30, 2018

The music concert which Rahul attended (wearing his fashionable Burberry jacket) was named “peace conclave”. Alphons mocked Rahul, saying: “Some people are asking me which war he was referring to that he needed a peace conference in Meghalaya. The nearest war is a few thousand kilometres away.”