Almost three decades ago, as a young kid it was a moment etched in my memory to get a glimpse of the then Prime Minister of India – Rajiv Gandhi – standing on top of a building which was far away from the helipad prepared for the late Prime Minister’s chopper to land!
Years passed; Prime Ministers changed! While I adore leaders like P V Narasimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee for the manner in which they led this great country; disliked leaders like V P Singh and Deve Gowda who I strongly feel had a negative impact on the future of India.
In 2004 when Rahul Gandhi became a Member of Parliament, likely many even I felt – here comes the future of India. This young, then 33-year-lad was being looked upon as the future Prime Minister who would put India on the path to greatness! After spending first term in learning, it was expected that Rahul Gandhi would take much aggressive stance in his approach. Elected to Parliament again in 2009, Rahul Gandhi showed great promise with his ‘Kalavati speech’ on the floor of Lok Sabha the same year. It was a great moment when Rahul Gandhi highlighted the plight of the widow and silenced the opposition who attempted a laugh.
After intense training from stalwarts of 150-year-old political outfit, Rahul Gandhi was expected to deliver miracles! But what followed was a huge disappointment! The scion of the grand old party of Indian politics failed miserably at each instance when he was expected to deliver.
Rahul Gandhi opted to stick to Party and not enter in order to strengthen the organization; he failed to stand up and take a Cabinet berth to show his ability to administer; biggest disaster came in when he opposed Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s decision! Failure after failure has only hurt the image of Rahul Gandhi.
Maybe these was the reason for him not step forward and take the challenge thrown at him and Congress Party by Narendra Modi. Hiding behind the Congress Party policy of not naming Prime Minister candidate before the elections, Rahul Gandhi lost an opportunity to prove to the world that he is not running away from responsibility.
Now that Congress Party has suffered its worst poll debacle in the history of Indian elections, Rahul Gandhi still had his last chance to become Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and work towards rebuilding Congress Party from its nadir! Instead Rahul Gandhi behaved like a rich spoil brat and chose to travel abroad time and again.
One thing is evident from these; Rahul Gandhi is not a serious politician! It is good for Congress Party if they realize this sooner than later and not remain in denial mood.
Congress Party should soon come out of Gandhi-Nehru family tangle and give reins to the younger generation who will be able to take the party forward. We do not wish to see Congress Party die completely and would really want them to play the role of an able Opposition. Because in Democracy a strong opposition is as important as a stronger Government!
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