But somehow, and I speak for myself alone, Rahul failed to translate this projection into reality.
Past few days we have seen many lengthy articles and analyses on the two big 'sons' of Indian politics. With all kind of similarities and differences that Rahul and Akhilesh possess. Truth is, and I must admit it, that until this election I had very little knowledge as to who is Akhilesh Yadav. I knew he is Mulayam Singh Yadav's son, sadly, that was the only "identity" he had in my mind.
It's a shame, I admit, specially after studying politics for 5 years (almost!).
The point I am trying to make is that Rahul Gandhi was looked upon as someone who will prove himself to be a mass leader, or as some believe a 'youth' leader. He was supposed to be a magnetic force that was drawing crowds, because he was one of them. But there was a little something that was missing.
The fact that we had been looking for a reason to call him a mass leader is self-explanatory. A leader shines, he is visible in a crowd, he is heard in a noise. And Rahul unfortunately, despite being all that, just lacked that one quality. Difficult to point out what but he failed to have a lasting impact. The kind of impact that probably Omar Abdullah had when he made that speech in Parliament in 2008 during his trust vote. Or the kind of 'let-the-work-do-the-talking' attitude that Sachin Pilot has. And it would be unfair to compare Rahul with anyone else but his contemporaries.
Akhilesh, on the other hand, inspite of being invisible on the national political sphere, comes across sorted. He seemed focussed, he had a plan and followed it too. And the result is out in front of all of us.
While addressing the press, he had short, crisp yet all apt answers to give. Without any use of big political words, without sounding too excited, he calmly answered all the media questions and exclamations. He even played his party's victory down, Akhilesh said, "Earlier we were losing and others were celebrating. Now we are winning and others are not. This is how politics is." He had a certain Dhoni-like demeanour. He smiled, spoke his mind, and made his point without having to shout from the rooftops.
Persona of a leader, a sorted mind, a casual yet dignified response to a resounding victory.
Many have been saying that Akhilesh is responsible for bringing Samajwadi Party back on the political map. True, as it appears to be, but this is just the first step. What lies ahead is the real test. Will Akhilesh be able to sustain the air he has created? Will he be able to prove himself in practicality?
Because, after all, politics is a lot more than just a promising speech and a politician has to be a lot more than just an articulate speaker. Both Rahul and Akhilesh have made promising speeches but time remains litmus to what lies ahead in their political careers. For now, Akhilesh seems to be a little ahead of Rahul. But one election cannot determine what a politician's career is going to be.
We are yet to see if Akhilesh will be able to translate his dignity in India's sphere of politics. Because in politics, campaigning and really doing the work are two very different ball games.
I think and I believe that journalism is the safest profession in India, no accountability with luxury of unlimited authority. One can form any opinion which could be bereft of logic, truth & facts yet being in limelight are the beauty of journalism.
ReplyDeleteI just want to draw a contrast between journalism as a profession and a civil engineer. If a civil engineer is inaccurate in his calculations with the expected precision while designing any fly-over or Railway bridge, it may cost his job, reputation and livelihood but journalist is free from all these obligations.
I form an opinion that Rahul Gandhi is leader of tomorrow, connects to the youth of the country and no looking back on my this opinion until he fails and the moment he fails to perform and proved my opinion wrong, I will say that I am ashamed of my opinion but unfortunately the civil engineer can’t say the same. The mistake of civil engineer is irreversible but not of journalist. That immunity, only journalist and media enjoys.
Rahul Gandhi doesn’t represent the youth, but section of media and sycophant journalists are hell-bent to believe so. When I say so, I have reasons to say so. In recently held Delhi University student union elections, NSUI, which Rahul Gandhi is supposed to rejuvenate and revive had dismal performance and all the important posts were won by ABVP. This mood of youth was never being noticed by the sycophant media and section of media keeps writing about Rahul Gandhi as youth icon and keeps discussing him as important factor in UP elections. The another evidence, which goes against Rahul Gandhi is Bihar elections held in last year, where those Congress candidates won where Rahul or Sonia Gandhi couldn’t visit and opposition parties called it negative strike rate.
You did not know about Akhilesh Yadav because you never tried to know him. Till last week, you were fascinated with the lost prince and that bias was visible all around.
Please don’t misconstrue that I am gloating the failure of Rahul G in UP elections, rather I am sympathetic to him. I think, sycophant media is the greatest enemy of Rahul G, who never tried to make his aware of the ground reality and real nerve of the people. Unfortunately, the lost prince would have also started endorsing your belief. This has taken him away from common man and his expectations. In the pursuit of sycophancy and disdain for BJP the principle opposition party, media has masked Rahul G from the people. Now, you’ve all praises for Akhilesh Yadav but don’t forget you were keep pedaling the same admiration for Rahul G also.
In the least, I have intention to paint all the media and journalists with the same brush. I personally have lot of respect for journalist like Chitra Subramaniam of Indian Express, who first broke the story of Bofors scandal in 1987. But unfortunately, now it is hard to find the Chitra Subramaniam around us and the 2G scam was never been the lead story for many days for print and electronic media. Contrary to this, journalists were involved in facilitating tainted A Raja to be the telecom minister, known to us from infamous Radia Tapes.