Rahul's 20-questions program: Political death by paperwork

Rahul Gandhi, the newly anointed Congress vice president, wants his party leaders to play that old childhood game: 20 Questions. Except in this version, all answers must be submitted in writing in the form of detailed reports that include “a political analysis of the State unit’s weaknesses and strengths, political issues, a short-term plan for the next three months and a long-term plan”. Also required: A road map for victory in civic polls, Assembly elections and general election, level of coordination between various units, and current status prescribed party committee. Rahul, the former strategy consultant, is all about reorganising, delegating, number-crunching and assessing. In changing the method, he expects to change the Congress party and Indian politics itself. The questionnaire is just the latest in his supposedly corporate geek innovations. [caption id=“attachment_662635” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi. Reuters[/caption] A campaign for documentation is not entirely wrong-headed. Indian politicians are all about maintaining deniability, keeping most of their activities out of sight and off the record. The requirement for a paper trail is therefore hugely unwelcome news, especially since the complaint box is now no longer anonymous. “Are people going to spend their time writing reports or be engaged in political work?” grumbles one Congressman. “Will people put down on paper that some party members are not doing their work and risk creating tension within?” The format demands that PCC chiefs mention instances of infighting in state units and name trouble-makers. All those backroom machinations are threatened by this sudden loss of anonymity. “Frankly, such a process where everything needs to be put on paper is not a politically wise decision. It would be like a first information report against Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan for ignoring our projects. But then if the CM counters effectively before Gandhi citing valid reasons we will be the ones who will be at the receiving end,” complains a senior MP from Vidarbha. More likely, given an entrenched political culture of sycophancy and ass-protection, Rahul’s fact-finding mission will instead turn into an exercise in futility, as his party chiefs adhere strictly to Thumper’s Law: “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all.” And responses to pointed questions like “How many schemes listed in the poll manifesto have been pursued by you in your constituency? What is the status of these schemes?” will make entertaining fiction. Aspiring novelists may well find some lucrative opportunities to practice their craft. Who says writing doesn’t pay? “As far as politicians go, he doesn’t seem to get the pulse of politics,” Aarthi Ramachandran, author of Decoding Rahul, told the New York Times. The real problem, however, is that Rahul doesn’t get Indian politics, period. He wants answers from his party members, but invariably asks the wrong questions, as he did in Uttar Pradesh: “While he interviewed aspirants for [party tickets in] the Assembly elections, candidates were surprised that Rahul didn’t ask them the usual caste-based questions. Instead a ticket aspirant from Nawabganj was asked if he knew the number of mobile users in his constituency.” [India Today link not available online] It sounds oh-so-modern and technocratic — except esoteric knowledge of mobile usage has zero relationship to a person’s ability to secure votes, and in Nawabganj, no less. As DNA has noted before of Rahul’s corporate wonk style, “Politics is unlike business; data alone cannot solve the complex equation of a variety of disparate elements, including personal charisma, building relationships, finding compromises, and disbursing patronage. Businesses don’t contest elections; that too in India, the most diverse of nations.” Media reports again also ascribe this data collection initiative to his “corporate style of governance”. But as a witty colleague remarked, “It sounds more like a return to babudom.” That is likely why a senior Maharashtra minister told Indian Express, “The 20-point questionnaire came as a shock. Now, we feel as if we are being made to sit for the UPSC examination.” According to The Hindu, “[A]ll State chiefs will have to submit reports in a prescribed format in consultation with the CLP leaders/Chief Ministers and general secretaries in-charge every three months to Mr. Gandhi.” No word yet if the forms have to be submitted in triplicate, on government stamp paper, and authenticated by a notary public. It’s exactly what the doddering Congress party needs: reams and reams of paperwork to skyrocket it into the 21st century. Somewhere in the forest, a tree quietly weeps.