What the Rajasthan rout tells Rahul: Dump failed leaders, sycophants

Rahul Gandhi’s father was once called Mr 10 percent by VP Singh. Like a true inheritor of family legacy, Rahul has also earned his father’s name by virtue of his party’s victory in exactly 10 percent seats of Rajasthan and Delhi.

The lesson from Rajasthan and Delhi is that people have now stopped laughing at Rahul and Congress. From a subject of scorn, derision and Pappu jokes, Rahul is turning into an object of voter apathy. If he were to ask voters what they think of him, the answer is likely to be they don’t even think of him.

Losing 90 per cent seats in both these states indicates the Congress and its leader are on the verge of becoming irrelevant. Finding a new leader is the only hope against a ruthless rout; leave alone a win in 2014. Since this is not going to happen, the Congress can at least look at the other messages from people to survive till and regroup for life beyond 2014.

They don’t need to go beyond Rajasthan. Here is what Rajasthan is telling Congress.

1. Rebuild states around a charismatic leader: With the benefit of hindsight, it can be bluntly said that Ashok Gehlot was the party’s biggest enemy in Rajasthan. He had no charisma, no mass appeal; his politics was conservative and parochial and he was caught in an image he found endearing but the people considered just a facade. Little wonder, he failed miserably against Vasundhara Raje who is considered the exact opposite of Gehlot.

2. Don’t invest in failed leaders: Voters had rejected Gehlot decisively in 2003, when his party came down from 152 to 56 seats. But the Congress persisted with him. The 2013 results show that each time the Congress brings back a failed leader, people throw him out with greater vengeance.

State Congress chief Chandrabhan lost his deposit, one of his predecessors BD Kalla lost his second consecutive election, tourism minister Bina Kak lost by over 30,000 votes, heavyweight minister Shanti Dhariwal was humiliated in Kota. All of them, and many others, have something in common: They had lost more than twice in the past.

Had the Congress rejected them earlier, it would have had the opportunity to breed new leaders. But now its entire leadership stands destroyed. It is time to retire them forever.

3. Don’t breed sycophants: Gehlot’s popularity ratings were dismal. But he survived for decades because of his ability to work the levers of the 10 Janpath systems. Everytime he was put down by people, Gehlot sprang back. His connections within the system were like a spongy mat cushioning the fall and propelling him back.

Gehlot not only survived in spite of his limitations, he also cultivated a culture that rewarded mediocrity and punished and conspired against merit. The results are obvious; today the Congress has no credible leader left in state politics.

4. Practise what you preach: To quote a Siddhuism, the Congress hen made so much noise during the ticket-distribution process that everybody thought it would deliver an elephant. But out came a rogues’ gallery.

Policies were framed, principles were espoused, lectures on probity and integrity were delivered, detailed interviews were conducted and the high moral ground was occupied. But who were the candidates finally? Some of them were wives, mothers and brothers of MLAs rotting in jails for murder and sex crimes and relatives of discards from previous elections. Voters punished this sham by defeating all of them.

5. Forget Goebbels: The government spent a fortune on advertising the government’s achievements, both imagined and real. Crores were given to TV channels and media houses for playing the government propaganda in spool. Did it work?

A few days before elections, Gehlot issued an ad calling the proposed refinery in Pachpadra, Barmer, his star campaigner. The Congress lost by a huge margin in not only Pachpadra but six out of the seven constituencies in Barmer. The message is clear: Too much propaganda irritates people if the claims are not backed by a solid performance.

Are the loud-mouth spokespersons of the Congress listening?