NEW DELHI: Being peripatetic is a virtue for any politician. But Rahul Gandhi’s frequent absences have made even his party colleagues nervous, timed as they are when political fates are on the brink. Many of them are now saying that despite his right to privacy he should be more discreet with his timing.
His latest jaunt was to Italy last week when results for three north-eastern states — Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland— were expected.
Social media roasted Rahul for going AWOL even as the Congress drew a blank in Tripura and Nagaland and the party’s managers were outsmarted by the BJP strategists who were able to cobble an alliance government in Meghalaya. The Congress had emerged the single largest party with 21 of the 60 lawmakers while the BJP just had two.
On March 1, Rahul tweeted that he was flying to Italy to meet his 90-year-old grandmother. His mother and former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi defended Rahul.
“Yes, he went to see his grandmother, but he went there after doing complete electioneering. When he went, electioneering was over. It was for a period of three-four days when you wait for election results,” Sonia said at a media event on Friday.
Others demur. “Rahul Gandhi needs to take a cue from cricket. In cricket, if you want the ball to race to the boundary, timing is essential. Apart from drawing criticism, the Italy visit gave the BJP ammo to attack him. Earlier it was ‘naani yaad dila denge’ and then it became ‘naani khud yaad aa gayi’,” political analyst and author of the book Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times, Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay said.
Mukhopadhyay was referring to a time when the late Rajiv Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi’s father, had used the Hindi colloquialism for his Opposition.
Foreign sojourns
Roman holiday: Rahul flew to Italy to meet his grandmother on March 1 when results of Assembly polls in Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalya were to come March 3 and the second half of Budget session was to start March 5, where Congress planned to corner the government over the mega bank fraud.
Mysterious absence: His 56-day sabbatical in 2015, when Congress was protesting the land acquisition Bill, raised eyebrows.
Vanishing act: Later that year, Rahul flew abroad during Bihar elections while party spokespersons struggled to answer media queries regarding his destination, though later it turned out that he had attended a Charlie Rose conference in US.
Dent to image: In December 2016, Rahul again flew abroad to celebrate the New Year instead of leading the onslaught against the government’s demonetisation decision.
Escape route: In 2017, as Sonia Gandhi rallied the Opposition to put up a strong presidential candidate against the NDA nominee, Rahul flew abroad leaving the heat and dust of Indian politics behind.
Family first: In March 2017, soon after the Congress was wiped out in the UP polls, he flew abroad to join Sonia in the US where she was undergoing a check-up.
He was threatening to give the Opposition such a walloping that they would “remember their grandmother.”
“He (Rahul) was aware which way the results would go in the three states. He should have been here standing with the demoralised workers,” added Mukhopadhyay.
Those who defend Rahul Gandhi do so not only on grounds of privacy but also argue that “in the age of technology it did not matter much as he was always available through phone or internet in case of any urgency.”
Critics agree with the point but say that when he is competing against the duo of PM Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, who were 24 X 7 politicians, it was important for him to be seen by voters.
“It is very clear that the visit was ill-timed but to make personal attacks over it is not called for. He has a private life too and people should respect his privacy. This said, he is also the Congress president and should stand by his people during tough times. In his mind, he might be serious about politics but there is no better time than this to show it to his leaders and also his rivals,” said Jai Mrug, director, Voter Mood Research.
Jamia Millia professor Nisar-ul Haq says “Publicity-hungry politicians are the real problem. This in turn increases public expectation from them.”
CPI-M Lok Sabha member MB Rajesh, who is of Rahul Gandhi’s generation, occasionally chats with him during Parliament sessions, couldn’t care less. “It is for the Congress to evaluate him, why should I bother?” he shrugs.
“If he mends his ways before the 2019 polls, all is not lost,” Mukhopadhyay added.