To be fair to Rahul Gandhi he should have visited the areas much earlier and consoled the victims. Rahul Gandhi visiting the riot affected areas would have put immense pressure on the Union government and have prompted the government to become more pro active. Now it is quite late and how far he would be able to assuage their withered psyche is not clear.

Besides an early visit would have had most positive impact on the Congress rank and file. It would not only have enthused the Congress workers to identify with the victims, but this step would have invigorated the rank and file across the country to take the BJP head on. A positive message that party means business would have gone to the down level.

But unfortunately he was missing in the action. His absence sent a very confusing message. People nursed the view that Congress was not interested in confronting the BJP. The Congress from the beginning has been behaving like a delinquent. True enough the Congress would have suffered a huge loss of face and image if the interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi would not have issued her much appreciated statement demanding resignation of Amit Shah.

Rahul’s silence despite protests across India that has severely damaged Narendra Modi’s image internationally and nationally has been quite intriguing. It is irony that despite receiving severe battering in the wake of citizen protest and being held responsible for the current massacre Modi continues to the credible leader.

After Rahul Gandhi was installed as the chief of the Congress, an impression was created that here was a young leader who would replace Modi. Rahul succeeded to some extent. But his erratic style of working and targeting Modi on trivial issues did not help him. In fact he was presented by the BJP as the most immature leader. The BJP leaders succeeded in a creating an impression in the people that Rahul was a young boy who does not understand the intricacies of politics.

No doubt none else but the Congress has to bear the blame for this. The way it abandoned its responsibility has been shocking. AS a matter of fact the Congress should have taken the move to bring secular faces and organisations under one umbrella. The congress should have fought this onslaught on Modi-Shah combine. In this backdrop the party went to the Lok Sabha and the rest is history. Rahul himself confessed that he did not receive any support from the leaders. This speaks loud od the non –acceptance of Rahul as the party chief.

Rahul’s resignation simply portrayed his idealist approach and bane of mind which did not suit to the working culture of Congress. I wonder why his political advisors have not told him that his nursing the hurt ego will not benefit either him or to the party. He also must not be under impression that his occasional forays would keep alive the Congress. Sonia Gandhi has not been keeping good health for some years. It is right time she should not be burdened too much. Rahul must come out of his self-imposed shell.

Rahul ought to analyse that why the BJP leaders prefer to target him more than his mother Sonia Gandhi. BJP has been responsive to charges and allegations levelled by Sonia but at the same time they ignore his accusations. He should listen carefully to what his detractors have been saying. Recently in the wake of Delhi riot she sought the resignation of Amit Shah. Modi was quick to reply. But they did not react to Rahul’s tweet.

His late visit to the riot hit areas also implies that his advisers and colleagues have not acquainted him of the sentiments and feelings of the victim people. They have not been briefing him of the peoples’ aspirations and their expectations from him. Peoples’ hope turned into despair. They felt disillusioned with his performance. The people were forced to frame this perception as he could not articulate the people’s frustration and anger towards Modi and his government. On his part Modi and his saffron aides tried to project him as an immature young leader who is not taken seriously by them.

Rahul should also seriously look at the initiatives of the younger people, particularly the girls and women. It is the first serious revolt against the Modi government’s policies. It is being led by young people who use the Indian Constitution as the symbol of their protest and who sing the national anthem at public gatherings to ensure that nobody charges them with being ‘anti-national’.

He must have taken seriously the growth of a democratic movement without the support of any political party. This strategy of the movement was chalked out by the dadis and young girls and it has been so effective that the BJP was forced to be on defensive.

Shashi Tharoor along with Manu Singhvi and couple of senior leaders have raised the issue of somebody else becoming the party President. It manifests their frustration and also to some extent desperation. These leaders want to take the BJP head on but their hopes get shattered when the leader is found to be indifferent.

Tharoor said it is high time the party find a new president to “fill the vacuum”. He said “We must articulate a vision for the future that embraces the aspirations of India’s majority — the young”. It is a fact that Congress is indispensable for India. Dithering on not taking the BJP head on will send the wrong message of Congress being unable to give the country an alternative unifying vision to the divisive policies of the BJP government. A wrong image will drive push away the people from the party.

These Congress leaders are right in their assessment that the primary reason for not finding a new president is “understandable, given the special place that Rahul enjoys in the hearts of the Congress workers”. Disquiet is growing within the Congress over the leadership’s reluctance to shed its inertia in addressing organisational challenges. There is imperative need for revival of Congress, but the major question that haunts the leaders is how could it be accomplished.

The confusion that haunts the party on the issue of leadership issue has been mainly aggravated by the BJP by raising the issue of Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. It is not a new element. This has been there for decades. But the old Congress leaders did not give much credence to it as it is being given. Now The Congress has been caught in the quagmire of this issue.

In the process of giving prominence to his ego, Rahul was immensely harming the Congress. Escaping from the war field is the most cowardice act. Rahul may have been facing problems with dominance of some corrupt and lack the quality of leadership. But he has to undertake the task of rebuilding the party with their help. He cannot produce idealist at this stage. By the time the idealists will mature the party would be dissipated.

He has to be pragmatic and practice real politics. Through this he while can side-line the corrupt leader and promote the idealist young faces, he at same time rebuild and effectively lead the party. His confusion in running the party has in fact been responsible for his utter failure in opposing the Modi government and BJP. Time is running out. He has to take the final decision. (IPA Service)