Now after 13 years, the mother watched Rahul to have his moment when he made a moving speech at the Jaipur AICC session on Sunday. It was here the Congress baton has changed from Sonia Gandhi to Rahul Gandhi. There is jubilation in the party about the Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi at last taking on more responsibilities and positioning himself as the prime ministerial candidate in waiting.

Now that Rahul has been made the vice president of the party, which is officially number two in the organization, there are lots of expectations from the Congress party. No doubt Rahul has taken over with a lot of good potentials. If one goes by his speech at the AICC Jaipur session, Rahul is impatient to change the system. His speech reminded one of Obama’s “Yes, we can” slogan. He talked of how to use power, how to develop leadership at the state level and how to eradicate corruption and many other things. An ordinary Congress worker was enthused by the tone and tenor of his emotional and well-delivered speech on Sunday and the audience enjoyed his punches against the establishment as they would when the hero bashes the villain in a movie.

Rahul starts with a clean slate and a lot of goodwill even among the public. Although he had campaigned well for the party earlier, it was the failure of the party to translate the crowds into votes. In his speeches he comes through as a sincere young man who voices the views of the disgruntled public. He speaks like the leader of opposition in the Congress party. The question is how is he going to change the system? Did not his father Rajiv Gandhi in the 1985 AICC centenary session in Mumbai talk of the power brokers? Later, he was frustrated that the system would not allow him to get rid of them.

However, Rahul’s critics point out his uninspiring track record so far as he failed to swing the party to power in UP and Bihar elections. He had also shown no inclination to seize the moment when opportunities came his way. His experiments with the Youth Congress and the NSUI have not shown much improvement. All his travels to sit and eat with the poor are yet to pay dividends. Rajiv Gandhi dreamt of India’s bigger role in the 21st century, but what is Rahul’s vision for India’s contribution to the world?

The challenges before Rahul Gandhi are formidable. He has taken on a 24/7 job. The Congress is unable to connect with the people and has ignored the demands of the middle class. First of all, he can no longer keep aloof from day to day politics, as he has to acknowledge responsibility. He has to be more accessible, more open and more accountable in view of his number two position.

Secondly, he has to build his new team to face the 2014 elections. His elevation signifies a generational change and he has to be careful not to tread on the footsteps of the older Congressmen. Already there is a feeling that the old timers are neglected.

Thirdly, Rahul has been already been made the chairman of the election coordination committee for the next Lok Sabha elections. The year 2013 will see elections to nine state assembly polls. In states like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Delhi, there is direct fight between the Congress and the BJP. The immediate test will be in Karnataka, where the Congress prospects are bright. So at the time of ticket distribution, ‘winnability’ should be major criteria apart from caste considerations.

Fourthly, the Jaipur session indicated that the party is targeting two big sections – youth and women. While women empowerment has been focused, there are no specific schemes for the youth so far. Rahul will have to come up with some imaginative schemes on both counts to get results.

Fifthly, Sonia Gandhi and other leaders talked about alliances in the Jaipur session. It was well known that Rahul Gandhi was in favor of the Congress going for it alone and experimented this in UP, Bihar and Gujarat. His efforts failed with the result the party is now looking for allies. So Rahul, as the new VP also has to participate in this exercise keeping aside his differences.

Sixthly, the Jaipur session has made it amply clear that there is no more debate about the economic reforms in the party as it has come to stay. Sonia Gandhi backed the government fully in this regard. He had already begun this with his speech at the Ramlila maidan last month at the Congress rally. As Vice President, it is up Rahul to ensure that the party supports the government fully in all its decisions.

The last but not least is the problem of fighting the anti-incumbency factor. The UPA is in power already for two terms and is now aiming for the third term. What are his plans to fight this factor? How is he going to explain about the price rise, scams and inflation, which affect the common man?

Politics is perception and so far Rahul has projected himself as a reluctant politician. Now the time has come to be aggressive to bring the party to power. The Jaipur meeting went according to script. If Modi becomes the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Rahul has to build his own brand to counter Modi who is a master in marketing himself. Ultimately it may be the fight between the two brands — Rahul versus Modi. (IPA Service)