Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra arrive at Rae Bareli. (PTI Photo)
I remember visiting Amethi for the first time in 2007, curious with a capital C, to see the legendary Gandhi family rampart. I was more excited to go there than Amsterdam perhaps, being a chronic romantic of India’s fascinating political odyssey, particularly the bumpy ride of the Indian National Congress party. Rajiv Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi had all represented that sleepy non-descript former princely state of Amethi. Neighbouring Rae Bareli had similarly hosted the celebrated luminaries of Congress, Feroze Gandhi and Indira Gandhi. The week I spent there was an unforgettable experience, also substantially elevated by the best aloo gobi I had ever eaten, in an obscure hotel attached to a local state transport bus stand.
Seventeen years later, Amethi (and Rae Bareli) continue to be an intriguing subchapter of the Indian political topography. Frankly, the public and media interest in them is understandable. Because they get interwoven into the larger issues underlying them: What will happen in the 2024 general elections?
Gandhis in Amethi — the will they, won’t they of 2024
Will they or won’t they? Television channels were agog with excitement last evening, as they were joined by dripping-with-sarcasm BJP spokespersons, nervous Congress workers and supporters, and several solicitous political junkies speculating on whether Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would contest from the parliamentary constituencies of Amethi and Rae Bareli respectively. In a smart act demonstrating political astuteness, the normally bland Congress seized the political narrative by keeping the suspense fuelled and fired up. The brother-sister duo usurped prime-time headlines yet again on the same hackneyed second-guessing game which had plagued the prime-time discourse ever since Wayanad had become Rahul’s first destination.
The defeat of Rahul Gandhi from Amethi in the 2019 elections was stunning; an extraordinary jaw-dropper to put it mildly. The BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made an unambiguous and unprecedented proclamation: “Congress-mukt Bharat” (an India without the Congress ); its visceral disdain and almost undisguised animus for the Grand Old Party was red-hot ablaze for all to see. Defeating the Gandhis electorally or humiliating them at the slightest pretext was a crucial component of the grand scheme of obliteration of the party born in 1885. Rahul and the Congress astoundingly underestimated how much their personal mortification meant to their principal nemesis, Narendra Modi. Modi has a take-no-prisoners attitude — he is a ruthless adversary.
The BJP assiduously prepared itself for the final assault. 2014 was treated as a semifinal, and in Smriti Irani they had found a popular personality who was frequently fielded by the party for a belligerent fusillade against the Gandhis — Rahul, in particular. Even Irani’s worst critics will have to concede that she has a remarkable command over her political expressions and can be a hard-as-nails debater in wordplay (I have sparred with her several times, and therefore should know).
An anti-climactic announcement
Every election has its own dancing trajectory, its unpredictable swings. Political pundits who had predicted a done-and-dusted result on June 4 are busy rebooting their spreadsheets; psephologists appear ultra-circumspect. The Prime Minister himself has quietly abandoned ambitions of a 370 crossover. We are in the middle of a summer duel with a popular allegory. The 2024 elections have become like a David vs Goliath battle — an under-resourced, beleaguered and bruised Opposition is putting up a valiant fight against the ferocious might of an authoritarian juggernaut which has deployed questionable means to annihilate it. Amethi and Rae Bareli are crucial elements in the fabled story.
Thus, after all the breathtaking suspended animation, the final choice of Rahul Gandhi from Rae Bareli is a tad underwhelming. Irani has got bragging rights; Rahul copped out of a contest — this is what she will repeat ad nauseum. Kishori Lal Sharma is at best a brilliant Man Friday for the Gandhi family. Thrusting him as a LS candidate from a prestigious stronghold in a do-or-die election with major sweepstakes is prodigiously baffling. Priyanka’s reluctance to bite the bullet is equally nonplussing — she has gingerly nursed her mother’s bastion over decades.
If the Gandhi siblings had jumped in together, it would have provided a huge force multiplier for the INDIA bloc, besides the party itself. It was a risk worth taking. The challenger must take the bull by the horns. Playing safe in politics is like hoping to win a skating competition wearing a pair of stilettos.
A crisis of Congress’ making
But the Gandhis have no one to blame but themselves for the prolonged obsolescence from mainstream Uttar Pradesh politics since 1989. The Congress party has no excuse whatsoever for being reduced to a ludicrous sideshow in a state that it dominated right till the mid-1980s before a cataclysmic capitulation in the aftermath of the Mandir-Mandal hurricane. But does it still take 35 years for a political resurrection? The party’s inability to rebuild its once insuperable goodwill will still have to be fixed, irrespective of the outcome.
The last time I was in Amethi, I remember it was a cold winter evening, and the sun was in a frantic hurry to bid adieu. But the spirits of the hundreds of Congress workers from the constituencies of Amethi and Rae Bareli soared high, unconquerable, resolute, passionate. I have seen many public gatherings and political events, but the selfless commitment and palpable affection towards the Gandhi family were infectious, quite unparalleled, to be honest.
We sang ‘Hum honge kamyaab ek din’ in a joyous loud chorus, a toothless veteran joining the strapping young man in friendly banter, a senior upper-caste office-bearer held hands with a middle-aged Muslim worker, each trying to outdo the other in their melodious pursuits. By the time we finished our week-long programme that evening, the lights were out and interspersed across several small homes and shops in that quiet neighbourhood, but I still heard many huddled together and continue with their collective singing of ‘Hum honge kamyaab’ as they walked back triumphantly to their tents. In a few weeks from now, Rahul Gandhi will be hoping for the same.
The writer is a former spokesperson of the Congress party
