Ayushman Jamwal

There’s a fire in the belly of Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi.

After his vendetta charge against the Narendra Modi government after the Delhi High court ruling in the National Herald case, the Congress leader has heaped more charges against the Centre in his campaign to ‘expose’ how the NDA government is trying to ‘spread intolerance’ and ‘eliminate the Opposition’. He is the head of the Congress’ spear to disrupt Parliament, as even the Winter session is headed for a washout, with key legislation still pending.

With 44 MPs in the Lok Sabha and a fresh win in Bihar and Gujarat, the Congress has everything to gain and nothing to lose in this political fight with the NDA. However, it seems that no internal discussion or deliberation has gone into framing Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Angry Young Man’ avatar. The Congress leader has embraced his role as heir apparent, attacking the Modi government on issues he deems fit as justification for derailing Parliament. But Rahul has left his party’s leaders in a fix, as day after day they struggle to devise their own strategies to defend him in the media.

Rahul Gandhi recently claimed he was stopped by the RSS from entering a temple in Assam, a charge his own party’s minister in the state denied. Assam Irrigation Minister Chandan Sarkar, who organized Rahul’s Assam trip, told the media that Rahul in fact didn’t have time to conduct the mandatory rituals before entering the temple. When questioned on the case, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said, “I am not an official spokesperson of the Congress, I have not been briefed on the Assam case.”

Rahul Gandhi recently claimed that Modi snubbed Kerala CM Oomen Chandy, after he was asked not to attend an event organized by the SNDP Yogam in Kollam where the PM was scheduled to speak. Rahul claims SNDP Yogam was directed by the Centre not to invite Chandy.

However, the media reported on a letter from the Kerala CM’s office addressed to the PMO stating that Chandy would be unable to attend the event. Even after Home Minister Rajnath Singh clarified the issue in Parliament, when questioned on the charge, Congress spokesperson Tom Vadakkan still made the argument that the PMO conspired against the Kerala CM but added, “We are not conspirators who would collect a file full of proof.”

After Rahul Gandhi’s political vendetta charge over the National Herald case, the Congress strategy championed by ex-Finance minister P Chidambaram was to argue that the Centre re-opened a case closed by the Enforcement Directorate.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley clarified that no case was ever opened by the Enforcement Directorate. Reacting to Jaitley, in an interview Congress leader Kapil Sibal said, “We don’t know if an ED case was closed or opened, only the files will show that,” adding, “Can’t we assume that the National Herald issue is being directed by the government?” Sibal even went to the extent of saying that Rahul Gandhi’s vendetta charge was actually in reaction to Prime Minister Modi’s statement of ‘Congress mukt Bharat’, something he said before he became Prime minister almost 2 years ago.

Rahul’s new line of attack is flimsy and much weaker than his earlier strikes at the Modi government. The campaign over the Land Bill and ‘intolerance’ were stronger as farmer groups, writers, scientists and other intellectuals backed the Congress’ charge. Rahul Gandhi could draw legitimacy from their protest to counter the Modi government inside and outside Parliament. However, in its new line of attack involving National Herald and other cases, the Congress is isolated.

The party’s obstructionist stance in Parliament is gaining a far more sinister image, as its leaders are failing to justify and even divert attention from the sycophantic ring-fencing around the Gandhi family, especially when the ‘Yuvraj’ is making it such a challenge.

Rahul Gandhi has literally become an angry bull in a china shop, storming ahead while his party leaders look dazed and confused in the wake of his charge. It seems he was more of an asset to the party when he was incognito.

Disclaimer:The views expressed above are the author’s own