Congress scion Rahul Gandhi has embarked on a 3,500 km long ‘Bharat Jodo’ yatra with the aim to rejuvenate the party which conceded two consecutive general elections and numerous Assembly polls since 2014. It is now a make or break situation for Rahul, who has so far failed to leave a mark on Indian politics despite being handed the leadership of the party on a platter. Surely, during the yatra Rahul will leave no stone unturned to project himself as an alternative to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But the million dollar question is whether the Indian electorate will trust a leader who has already earned the dubious distinction of being inconsistent in his approach towards politics. Rahul Gandhi’s biggest challenge will be to show maturity in-order to win the trust of the people. It’s a difficult task considering the fact that not only his political opponents, but also leaders from his own party have raised a number of embarrassing questions about his ability to lead the party at this crucial juncture, when the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) juggernaut appears to be unstoppable.
The exodus of several senior Congress leaders during the last few years alleging inept handling of party affairs by Rahul has put him in further trouble. A person who cannot keep his party united is clearly unfit to rule a diverse country like India, opines his political opponents. Quite alarmingly for Rahul Gandhi, a large section of the electorate have also started to believe that he is not competent enough to lead the nation. So, Rahul will have to do something extraordinary to turn the tide in his favour as he is facing stiff resistance from both detractors and opponents. Things have not changed much even after the yatra began as it is in the news for all the wrong reasons. More than the political agenda of Rahul Gandhi, the expensive T-shirt that he was wearing and his meeting with a religious leader are dominating media headlines, which is not good advertisement for a person desperately in need of an image makeover.
Also, questions can be raised about the timing of Rahul’s yatra as the morale of party workers are presently very low. The party organisation is in turmoil as it has been functioning without a full-time president since 2019. Further, there is a severe crunch of leaders with grass root connection in the party. At such a crucial period Rahul could have devoted more time towards strengthening the party rather than charting his own course. His effort to rise in popularity by ignoring the organisational crisis will not aid in making the Congress healthy. If Rahul is truly interested in helping the party regain lost ground, he should first and foremost make every effort to strengthen the party organisation.