Zero Rahul effect in Karnataka: Lacklustre Gandhi disappoints leaders

When Kannada cine star-turned-politician Ramya (Divya Spandana), the sitting MP from Mandya, originally a Janata Dal-Secular bastion, rushed to New Delhi two weeks ago reportedly to bring to the notice of Congress scion Rahul Gandhi the skirmishes among the local leaders, there was little that he could do to restore order in the Karnataka unit of the party. Even now, Ramya continues to fight dissidence within the Mandya District Congress Committee every day. Two days ago, she had to suspend her campaign after factions within the Congress clashed on the streets. Unlike the ‘Modi wave’, which is prevalent in the BJP strongholds, the Rahul Gandhi effect is hardly being felt in Congress citadels, let alone in other parts of the state. [caption id=“attachment_1470377” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  PTI[/caption] To make matters worse, the Congress leaders, including seniors and veterans, are fighting among themselves to such an extent that Rahul Gandhi has been forced to remain a mute witness. Yes, the Congress claims that it too has set a target of 20 seats in the parliamentary polls like the BJP, but Rahul Gandhi too knows that this is just wishful thinking. In the last two months, Rahul has visited Karnataka thrice, and except for one interaction with youths in Bangalore, his campaign has been lacklustre, with Congress leaders themselves expressing disappointment in private over his speeches and message. Till date, his speeches in Karnataka have been laced with attacks against the BJP on issues relating to corruption, nepotism, illegal mining and Narendra Modi. However, these were the same issues that the Congress projected during the last assembly elections (2013) to capture power in Karnataka. Those topics now appear stale for the voters, who are being swept by the ‘Modi wave’. Even during his speech on Monday in Bangalore South, Rahul questioned Modi’s wisdom in readmitting former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, who is facing multiple charges ranging from corruption to misuse of official power. “You (Modi) go everywhere talking about nipping corruption. You come to Karnataka too and state’s former CM Yeddyurappa stands next to you, but you don’t think of corruption. Why?” But this line of argument seems to have come a bit late from the Congress leader and at times does not have a defence. For, whenever Rahul questions the return of Yeddyurappa to the BJP, his detractors immediately point to the induction of Congress leaders DK Shivakumar and R Roshan Baig, who are facing court cases, into the Karnataka Cabinet. Many feel that Rahul’s overall campaign strategy could have been more effective in Karnataka, particularly when the BJP suffered so many pitfalls during its five-year-rule in the state. Congress leaders admit that they hardly stand a chance because of the ‘Modi wave’ and the lack of unity among themselves. While chief minister Siddaramaiah has plunged into campaigning in southern Karnataka, senior leaders Mallikarjuna Kharge, M Veerappa Moily and N Dharam Singh seem content in campaigning in their respective constituencies. Rahul too is aware that the divide between the original Congressmen and the ‘migrants’ led by Siddaramaiah and erstwhile Janata Parivar leaders, may impact the prospects of the party’s candidates in the polls. Consequently, he has been careful in visiting the constituencies for campaigning. There has been speculation that Rahul is keen on the victory of his six favourite candidates – Nandan Nilekani (Bangalore South); Rizwan Arshad (Bangalore Central); C Narayanaswamy (Bangalore North); Ramya (Mandya); Lakshmi Hebbalkar (Belgaum) and Prashanth Deshpande (Uttara Kannada) and that he is showing special interest in them. The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee leaders also point out that Rahul has deputed central observers to ensure that campaigning in the six constituencies by the party is effective. Whether the Congress improves its tally in this general election or Rahul’s ‘focus candidates’ will have a smooth run is not known because two of the six candidates are facing serious dissidence activities. Not even the state Congress leaders could stem this dissidence let alone Rahul’s intervention. In spite of the ‘Rahul Gandhi’ effect, Nandan Nilekani and Ramya had to drag the former CM SM Krishna out of his self-imposed political wilderness to campaign for them. With so much confusion and animosity prevailing in the Congress in Karnataka, there is hardly anything that a Rahul Gandhi can do to bolster the party’s prospects.