By Sarwar Kashani
New Delhi, Apr 26 (EFE).- In his nearly two-decade political career, Rahul Gandhi, the scion of India’s once pre-eminent Nehru-Gandhi family, has faced more electoral setbacks than successes.
However, that hasn’t dissuaded the 53-year-old Cambridge graduate from leading one of India’s most challenging political campaigns – that is to unseat Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Gandhi, wearing a well-salted beard, is at the forefront of a loosely united opposition effort to prevent Modi, a highly popular Hindu nationalist figure with alleged authoritarian tendencies, from securing a record third term in office.
His electoral fortune was sealed on Friday as millions of Indians voted in the second round of the multiphase elections, with all eyes focused on the outcome from the southern battleground, considered a stronghold for the anti-Modi opposition, as against the north – where the prime minister holds a seemingly invincible dominance.
Once labeled a reluctant politician due to his late entry into politics in 2004 at the age of 34, Gandhi, the leader of the Indian National Congress (INC), is seeking re-election to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament, from the Wayanad constituency in the coastal state of Kerala.
Kerala stands out as one of the few Indian states that has never elected a candidate from Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Gandhi’s electoral journey has been marked by more lows than highs. He led the Congress party to its worst-ever poll debacle in 2014, securing only 44 seats out of 545.
In the 2019 elections, he was forced to shift from Amethi, a parliamentary constituency in northern Uttar Pradesh long held by his family, to the safer bet of Wayanad.
He contested from two constituencies, losing the Amethi seat to a female TV actor-turned-politician. The constituency was once represented by his mother Sonia and before that, by his father, Rajiv, assassinated by a Tamil guerrilla suicide bomber when Gandhi was 21.
As he charted a course to salvage what remained of the Grand Old Party’s pride, the Congress suffered another defeat – credited to Modi, who has adeptly expanded his voter base, subtly recasting India as a Hindu nation, with its minorities, particularly Muslims, living on the margins.
The 140-year-old party came a distant second with 52 seats compared to BJP’s 303 out of 543 in the now outgoing legislature.
More electoral setbacks followed, with the Congress party facing one fiasco after another in regional elections, barring the South.
But Gandhi, who initially appeared ambivalent about inheriting the political profession before fully embracing it, refused to be defeated despite calls from within and outside the party to step aside and make way for a non-Gandhi leadership.
While he currently doesn’t hold the formal position of heading the opposition party, he is its de facto leader, spearheading the battle against what he perceives as a threat to democracy under Modi’s rule.
Although he has been mocked by opposition politicians, particularly from the BJP, dismissing him as a “Pappu,” the Hindi word for “a cute bumbler,” owing to his drab image and the lack of oratory or political skills, Gandhi has weathered the criticism, demonstrating resilience and determination.
He has undertaken extensive political outreach efforts, including two long marches connecting various parts of India, as part of his strategy to counter the BJP’s divisive politics.
Gandhi took out two expeditions – the Bharat Jodo Yatra (the United India March) and Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra (the Unite India March for Justice) in 2022 and this year respectively – in preparation for the current general elections.
The politician did not say explicitly that the marches were part of his strategy to stop a seemingly immovable Modi from securing a third straight term in parliamentary elections. Instead, he says the “yatra,” as in a religious pilgrimage, was to call for justice and spread love in a country beset with hate cast by the BJP and its lust for power.
Despite the efforts, Gandhi struggles to gain widespread acceptance as a viable political alternative to Modi.
Pre-vote surveys heavily favor Modi, placing Gandhi at a considerable distance behind. While some experts suggest that aligning more closely with the BJP’s Hindu nationalist ideology could enhance Gandhi’s electoral prospects, he remains committed to upholding the secular principles of India’s constitution.
Embodying his failures as well as triumphs, Gandhi continues to rally against what he describes as divisive politics of hate. EFE
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