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Rahul Gandhi says what is on his mind, which may not be the most prudent thing. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the astute neta, however, offers hope to Congress colleagues
Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi during their speeches. (PTI)
Was opposition leader Rahul Gandhi’s speech in the Lok Sabha during the Constitution debate on Saturday a perfect example of a missed opportunity?
Was the speech of his sister and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra a day ago a promise of better times and opportunities for the Congress in the Lok Sabha?
THE MISSES BY RAHUL GANDHI
First, by attacking Veer Savarkar, he served ammunition to Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders on a platter and also embarrassed his Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies such as Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
They had advised Gandhi not to attack Savarkar as it would hurt them during the Maharashtra elections. Gandhi had halted it, but the PM had warned that once the elections were over, he would attack, which he did. More importantly, during the elections, the BJP and Eknath Shinde’s Sena had told the voters that Gandhi and Congress were against Savarkar.
At a time when the Congress is facing flak from its allies and Gandhi is being overlooked as leader of the opposition’s Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc, this scant regard for his allies’ feelings will make things worse for him and the Congress.
Many Congress leaders feel that Gandhi must not venture into areas which are the strong points of the BJP. Last time, he had mentioned ‘Abhay mudra’. It had earned him the scorn of being a fake and ‘chunaavi’ Hindu.
His reference to Eklavya and ‘tapasya’ has once again not only earned memes, but also attacks from the BJP.
PRIYANKA GANDHI VADRA’S IMPRESSIVE DEBUT
Vadra’s debut speech, many felt, was just the right one. Low key, firm not shrill, following the script of her brother, but perhaps less controversial. She had her moments when she took a barb at BJP’s Rajnath Singh over his “mohabbat ki dukaan” comment. Or her reference to the BJP being “a washing machine”.
Tempered with smiles and casual counters, Vadra won more points than Gandhi, who many felt was repetitive and didn’t look in control of his speech.
Gandhi is never known to be a conventional politician. He says what is on his mind, which may not be the most prudent thing to do. Vadra, the astute neta, however, offers hope to her party colleagues that she will ensure that the Congress is not caught on the wrong foot.
