Rahul Gandhi would be successful in his efforts to strengthen Congress in UP

The state of Uttar Pradesh was once the strong hold of the Congress. But after the Mandal commission, Babri Masjid demolition, emergence of caste politics, the Congress suffered set back. The communally inclined B.J.P. played its Hindu card very cunningly and had the gullible public eating out of its hand. The dye had been cast and in one master stroke, the BJP wrested UP out of Congress’ hands. The rise of the so called socialists under Mulayam Singh Yadav added salt to injury and the BSP under Kanshi Ram, made its presence felt. The Congress lost out for refraining from cast and minority baiting methods. Ironically, by sticking to its secular credentials, the Congress hit its nadir in UP waters and was almost reduced to the status of ‘also played’.

The Congress Party was stirred from its inertia by the young and dynamic Rahul Gandhi who took upon himself to rejuvenate the party. He, singlehandedly, went about repairing the damage. He undertook extensive tours of the state. The young Congress leader tried to work at the grassroots level. His forays into the U.P. hinterland were aimed at exposing the misdeeds of the Mayawati regime. People sat back and pondered over the simplistic ways of Rahul Gandhi. But the faction ridden leadership failed to close ranks though the writing was on the wall.

If his frequent visits to U.P. set the alarm bells ringing, it, nevertheless, failed to match the guiles of Mayawati and battle hardened Mulayam Singh Yadav whose son, Akhilesh joined the bandwagon to damage Congress’ hopes. Being steeped to the marrow of his bones with propriety and fair play, Rahul refused to make hollow election eve promises like providing millions of laptops and computers to students. Secular to the core, he did not play the minority card. Little did he realize that the water in the Ganges had got murkier and people had got used to the lure of the freebies. The end result was catastrophic and Congress failed to score a reasonable number of seats.

Rahul Gandhi has a vision but the vision needs to be made understood to the UPite who seems to have been mesmerized by the sloganeering and swearing of the SP and BSP brass with B.J.P. having lost the plot completely. Rahul Gandhi needs to be reminded that no one ever could slash through an iron sheet with a wooden blade, howsoever sharp the edge. The quality of the willow does not matter in gully cricket. Eye for eye would serve to send the right signals. By emulating Rahul’s example, the UP youth, students in particular, would be able to wean away from mediocrity and have better eye contact with their counterparts in the metros. The lure of laptops will not take them far. In the next round, Rahul Gandhi will have matured fully to take the bull by its horns so that the biggest state of the country is saved the blushes and its tremendous potential is realised by its inhabitants who seem to be oblivious of its ancient glory and are in deep slumber.

This article is posted by pressbrief.in