Who is Mr Rahul Gandhi?
He is a 53-year-old political leader from the Indian National Congress (INC), and an elected Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Wayanad, Kerala.
He is a Nepo baby from the Gandhi Family, the grandson of one of the strongest Prime Ministers of India- Ms Indira Gandhi. He directly contested general elections from his father, former Prime Minister of India Mr Rajiv Gandhi’s seat Amethi in 2009 and stayed till 2019 before losing his Amethi seat to Smriti Irani, by a margin of 55,120 votes in general elections 2019. He had also contested from Waynad in 2019, and successfully won the seat.
Understanding Moral Victory
Mr Rahul Gandhi led his Congress party in the fight against the BJP-led NDA, both in the 2014 and 2019 general elections. Under his leadership his party improved its performance in 2019 by winning 52 seats out of 542, 8 more seats than in 2014. Though his party failed to get the leader of the opposition post as it couldn’t get 10% of the seats, the improvement in seats was always there.
He is a leader who after boosting his party’s public vote share from 19.3% to 19.5% from 2014 to 2019 is now eyeing further improvement in the 2023 general elections. The Waynad MP winks, hugs and showers flying kisses in the Indian parliament, and it looks like it is a strategy for improving public trust for the 2023 general elections.
Trying to Develop Connect with People
He led a people-to-connect campaign named Bharat Jodo Yatra, which started on 7 Sep 2022, and travelled 4,080 kilometres across 12 states and Union territories. But it looks like he had a vision to connect with even the judiciary, much earlier in 2019, with remarks, “Why do all these thieves have the name Modi?” He was convicted by Gujarat High Court with 2 years imprisonment, but that decision was stayed in the Supreme Court of India.
He tried to connect with people, but the people of Gujarat felt disconnected, so his party lost in the Gujarat Assembly elections held in December 2022.
What is the Offering?
Indians in Amethi have experienced his model of development and felt he is not the best for them. Now Waynad is experiencing his work. Indians from across states are looking at his behaviour and work. His public connect yatra is also planned during this election season. Corruption scandals and defamation cases are plenty on him.
The results matter to anyone and the Indian public will decide on whether he is a reliable leader, fire extinguisher or fire igniter.