Rahul Gandhi today stepped down from the post of Congress President. With no other Gandhi currently in sight to take over his responsibility, it seems like the action has marked an end of an era, bringing the grand old party again to the age of a Non-Gandhi leadership after 21 years.
UPA chairman Sonia Gandhi was made Congress President in 1998 and she held the wheel for about 19 years till 2017. Comparatively, her son Rahul Gandhi steered the party for only two years. Be it two, Rahul Gandhi’s leadership was a memorable one.
Rahul Gandhi was promoted from the Vice President post to President of the Indian National Congress on 16th of December, 2017.
When Rahul Gandhi took over, the grand old party was not doing its best. They had a massive defeat in the 2014 General Elections, and they were losing control of the states.
Demonetisation to GST: Rahul Gandhi main campaign points
Congress did not have to dig in to find issues with the economy. They were right in front of them. The Modi government had just announced demonetisation of ₹500 and ₹1000 notes on 8th of November, 2016, disrupting people’s peaceful schedules.
Rahul Gandhi consistently pointed out flaws in the action. In one move, Gandhi even went as far ahead as standing in an ATM queue to withdraw money. However, the majority of the people were convinced of the success of demonetisation, the campaign did not leave a mark on the mass.
That’s when the BJP threw another ball in the net: GST.
By the time GST was announced, Rahul Gandhi had ensured people looked at him as a leader. Rahul raised competent questions on the Goods and Services Tax, which led the BJP to lower the tax slabs. This made a favourable effect on the Gujarat elections. Though they did not win, they managed to bring down BJP’s vote tally.
Karnataka State Elections
Before the Karnataka State elections on 12th May, Congress had seen its defeat in Eastern states of Tripura and Nagaland. They even lost their government in Meghalaya, in alliance with the UDF.
The Karnataka elections saw a hung assembly, however, Congress managed to form a government with the regional party JD(S) and declared HD Kumaraswamy as the Chief Minister of Karnataka. This coalition government is still hung by a hook, with BJP eager to form the government the minute the existing one fails.
Winning in Hindi heartland states
The anticipation of a Congress wave increased after Rahul Gandhi’s campaigning against the ruling BJP hit the bullseye. From farm loan waivers to poverty, Congress was back in the game, winning in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. And all these states had been a BJP stronghold for 15 years.
It was during his campaign for the Rajasthan assembly election in December that Rahul Gandhi coined the “chowkidar chor hai” (the watchman is a thief) slogan to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had sought votes in 2014 Lok Sabha election calling himself a “chowkidar”.
This slogan got extensively used in the last elections of his leadership- the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The “Pappu” narrative, by this time, had faded from the minds of people
The 2019 Lok Sabha Elections
The “Chowkidaar Chor Hai” slogan was massively used by Rahul Gandhi in his electoral rallies. It had such a huge impact that the saffron party was forced to come up with a counter-slogan of “Main Bhi Chowkidaar”. Rahul Gandhi even opposed the French aviation Dassault’s Rafale aircraft purchases by the government. The Supreme Court however upheld the Indo-French deal.
The Congress party also came up with the NYAY scheme. The scheme promised that 72000 rupees per year to people below poverty line.
Under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi the Congress fought 2019 Lok Sabha elections but stopped short of making impact on the masses.
Rahul Gandhi and alliances:
Rahul Gandhi failed to make a successful alliance in UP with the Samajwadi Party as well as in Delhi with the AAP.
Rahul Gandhi made a last-ditch effort to infuse some life in the Congress’s evaporated organisation in Uttar Pradesh by bringing Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the forefront making her in-charge of East UP. But the move failed to create any magic on the ballot box. The party saw its worst ever performance in the largest state with Rahul Gandhi even losing his own home turf-Amethi.
Rahul Gandhi’s selection of Wayanad as a second constituency was seen as a smart political move. Now the entry of Congress in Kerala has shadowed the ruling CPI(M).
Today in his letter Rahul Gandhi said “I stood alone at times, but extremely proud of it. ”
His decision of quitting Congress chief position was not supported by many but he is adamant. His resignation has now formally paved a way for a non-Gandhi Congress President’s election-first time in last two decades.
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