(Pawan Khera is a political analyst with the Congress party.)On the eve of the Mazdoor Kisan Khet rally, called to protest against the proposed dilution of the Land Acquisition Act, Rahul Gandhi met representatives of farmers' groups from Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.
His first public appearance since he returned from his much talked about sabbatical, this can also be called his expression of intent on the kind of issues he would like the Congress to put its weight behind.
The narrative around him and his sabbatical dominated media space for long. The Congress party had issued a statement announcing approval of his leave of absence. It is said that the best way to keep a secret in Delhi is to go public with it. In the case of Rahul Gandhi however, the level of curiosity crossed all intelligent limits with a hyper-speculative media hounding the party's spokespersons demanding to know where he was and what was he doing. As if this detail was even relevant.
The flippant narrative reflects the kind of issues that interest our newsrooms and television studios.
The government at the Centre changed in May 2014. India is now going through a regime change. This change reflects itself in the manner in which the state and its sponsored non-state actors interfere in what we eat, what we watch in multiplexes, what we read in text books, how we dress up, who we marry and how many children should we as Hindus, Muslims and Christians give birth to. The nation has every reason to be anxious about the future of, and impatient with the current status of the leading opposition party - the Indian National Congress. The party itself is going through a generational transition at several levels - having witnessed its worst ever performance in the electoral history of India. These are not normal times. Times like these throw more questions than answers.
Those who are labeling demands for Sonia Gandhi to continue as Congress President as a "mutiny" against Rahul Gandhi are victims of the Narendra Modi kindergarten of thought - where there can only be one leader at the top.
It is surprising that even an innocent expression of confidence in Sonia Gandhi is twisted as a no confidence motion against Rahul Gandhi. Praise for Sonia Gandhi does not at all mean criticism for Rahul Gandhi - one has worked hard to earn the praise while the other is yet to be in a position where he can prove his mettle.
There certainly are different voices in the party representing different age groups, experiences and visions. Different voices do not reflect differences; they only reflect good health of an organization. Just because no one dares to voice a different opinion other than the Prime Minister's, does not mean Narendra Modi has an all-round acceptance.
The moment a political party forms the government, the responsibility of upholding democratic imperatives gets transferred to the opposition. Rahul Gandhi is not only the voice of those who did not vote for this government but also of those who did not vote for the Congress. Just as, once elected, the Prime Minister is the Prime Minister of every single Indian, so is true for the leaders of the main opposition party. His task is cut out neat and clear - to ensure the voices of all those he represents reach the government and his own voice reaches those he hopes to represent.
Over the past couple of years, in the run-up to the elections we witnessed a very obvious display of ambition wrapped in ostentatious packaging and articulated in brassy rhetoric. The vast aspirational population of the country was treated as a consumer and politics reduced to a transaction. The country is now realizing that those who had claimed to have all the answers do not even know the right questions. Rahul Gandhi has been honest about not knowing the answers. He asks the right questions though.
We live in a land of wide disparities and mind-boggling contradictions. India cannot survive if its rulers operate in the either-or spectrum - either industry or agriculture; either rich or poor; either environment or development; either state or civil society; either Hindus or minorities; either me or us. The Congress Party under Rahul Gandhi needs to put the moral compass of our politics back to normal.
The present government headed by Mr Narendra Modi has been liberal in handing out issues to the opposition inside and outside of Parliament. Dilution of the Land Acquisition Act, weakening of the RTI, subverting PIL activism, infringement of citizens' right to pursue different lifestyles, polarization, both communal and economic, are factors that have the potential to damage the core of India's self-image. The performance of both, the government and the opposition constantly gets scrutinized by the voter.
While the UPA was in power, as one of the important leaders of the Congress Party, Rahul Gandhi made interesting interventions which had far reaching consequences on rural wages, tribal rights, debarring those convicted from contesting elections, and a judicious land acquisition law.
When will Rahul Gandhi become the Congress President is an irrelevant debate. He has a historical role to play in shaping the future of the Congress Party and India. Rahul Gandhi needs to be judged by his performance as one of the most important leaders of the opposition, not by what he wears, where he travels, how he meditates and what he eats. A leader is judged by the position he or she takes on critical issues and not by the position he or she occupies. Rahul Gandhi should be judged on the basis of his position on the issues thrown up by the government of the day.
With his personalized pinstriped suit, fake LV shawl and ramp walk diplomacy, though he makes it difficult for us, the country is also waiting to judge Mr Narendra Modi with the same yardstick.
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