Rahul Gandhi’s Legacy Will be Championing the Right Causes

The noise of democracy isn’t frightening; its emptiness is. Remove Rahul Gandhi from the scene and you can see the empty structure. 

 Rahul Gandhi has, by now, championed most of the causes that have kept the noise up on key issues plaguing our democracy. In his attempt to change the political discourse from Hindutva to the issues that matter, he has been singular. From the caste census, to the attack on Gautam Adani, to the attack on crony capitalism, to the campaign against Chinese intrusion and Agniveer, and now, electoral transparency, Gandhi has been key to pinning down India's worries.  

There were doubtless many other leaders resisting the Narendra Modi regime in different parts of the country but the pivot around which the oppositional politics stood was the much maligned young inheritor of Jawaharlal Nehru’s illustrious legacy.

Today, when Rahul Gandhi is leading the ‘vote chori’ campaign against the unfair means allegedly deployed to win elections, what is difficult to ignore is the undeniable fact that he was the most emphatic voice in the country on institutional capture, a malaise that was doomed to weaken India’s democracy. To raise a movement against the Election Commission of India is not an ordinary decision, but this climax hasn’t come out of blue. Gandhi has constantly expressed concerns about the role of institutions and warned the country about the disastrous consequences. He has also worked hard to gather evidence before embarking on this journey.

The continuity in his politics is clearly visible. After the 2019 parliamentary election, when simplistic theories about the Pulwama-Balakot narrative snatching the election from the opposition were propagated and accepted, Gandhi unambiguously said the election was not fair and explained how he saw a sinister threat to democracy which could be as terrifying as rendering the electoral processes as mere ritual. In his resignation letter as the Congress president, he wrote, “We didn’t fight a political party in the 2019 election. Rather, we fought the entire machinery of the Indian state, every institution of which was marshalled against the Opposition. It is now crystal clear that our once cherished institutional neutrality no longer exists in India. The stated objective of the RSS, the capture of our country’s institutional structure, is now complete. Our democracy has been fundamentally weakened. There is a real danger that from now on, elections will go from being a determinant of India’s future to a mere ritual.”

He added: “A free and fair election requires the neutrality of a country’s institutions; an election cannot be fair without arbiters – a free press, an independent judiciary, and a transparent Election Commission that is objective and neutral. Nor can an election be free if one party has a complete monopoly on financial resources.”

This wasn’t an emotional outburst after losing a critical election. He consciously sustained this discourse at interactions with students and intellectuals at national and international forums and at press conferences. It is learnt that his party colleagues from several states pressured him to take up the EVM issue in a big way, but he refrained from doing that in the absence of credible evidence. He kept expressing suspicions, even after winning in some states, but asked his colleagues to gather proof. It was almost impossible to provide concrete proof even as technical experts kept showing how EVMs can be manipulated.

The loss in Haryana jolted the Congress, followed by the totally unexpected rout in Maharashtra. Some of these results defied predictions by pollsters who usually tend to hype up BJP’s prospects. By that time, noise about EVM manipulation reached its crescendo as some activists tried to explore the truth. The Election Commission’s reluctance to cooperate with them and alter rules to make the processes less transparent heightened anxieties among political parties. There were tell-tale signs of selective exclusion of voters in the Uttar Pradesh bypolls, apart from visual evidence of physical obstructions stopping Muslim voters from casting their votes. An examination of electoral rolls in Maharashtra convinced the Congress that a methodical loot was going on and Gandhi decided to take the plunge. He wrote an article about Maharashtra election being stolen from the opposition alliance, following it up with an explosive revelation about fake voters in a Karnataka seat.

This was a gigantic exercise involving a large number of people who worked for six months to unearth follies and mischiefs. Gandhi ordered similar scrutiny of electoral rolls in 40 more parliamentary constituencies while demanding machine-readable electoral rolls from the Election Commission, which would have made the exercise easier. It is inexplicable why the Prime Minister himself did not seek a thorough analysis of electoral rolls in the face of a national outcry and the Election Commission also chose to deride and intimidate the Leader of Opposition. The intent, clearly was to hide, not to stamp out suspicions from people’s mind. This led Gandhi to directly reach out to the people. The Voter Adhikar Yatra in Bihar demonstrates how the people still do believe in their right to vote. Ironically, institutions like executive, judiciary and the media have not treated this grave crisis with alacrity, giving legitimacy to Gandhi's insinuation that the opposition was fighting against the full might of Indian state.

Also read: Will the Election Commission Wake Up After Rahul Gandhi Presents Evidence of Poll Fraud?

Gandhi has indeed taken up a big challenge. He disclosed how his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra warned him against “playing with fire” but he philosophically dismissed the threat by saying that everybody will ultimately be consumed by fire. 

He had used the clarion call – chowkidar chor hai or the watchman is the thief – after the Rafale deal. The decision to undertake the Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir was no lesser risk. To cover over 4000 km by foot, with millions of people in a crowd, was a choice that created a ray of hope for the people about the possibility of putting up an effective resistance to the Modi regime. To visualise a grand opposition alliance – INDIA – to stop Modi from winning 400 seats would not have been possible without the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Gandhi's obsessive push on caste census brought in a paradigm shift in Indian politics. It is an undeniable truth that many Congress leaders, including spokespersons, did not feel passionately about caste discrimination and were reluctant to embrace this campaign. But Gandhi made it an integral part of his campaign on the theme of justice. The five pillars of the campaign were – justice for youth, women, farmers, workers and representation. His powerful thrust on crony capitalism and rising economic inequality became a critical factor in exposing Modi. No other senior leader supported his fierce attack on Gautam Adani. Today, it is because of Adani that Modi looks fettered and stuck, particularly in some foreign countries. He also led the campaign against Chinese intrusion and Agniveer, severely hurting Modi’s image.

Last, but not the least, is Gandhi's uncompromising ideological stance on RSS and BJP. He had the courage to confront the Sangh Parivar on the meaning and purpose of Hindutva. After Nehru, no Congress leader has demonstrated such ideological clarity and commitment. Despite knowing that Modi has created a huge support base by merging politics and religion, he has showed the sagacity and courage of keeping off majoritarian instincts. Unlike other leaders, he ventured into the sensitive zone of distinguishing between Hindutva and Hinduism, daring the Sangh Parivar to a public debate with him on these issues.

Many argued that Gandhi had changed after the Bharat Jodo Yatra. They saw the transformation of a “pappu” into an effective politician. Gandhi didn’t change, I would argue. People saw him better. His core belief – that politics can’t be delinked from ethics and morality; and only love and compassion can rebuild India – is the same from the very outset.

Had the Congress won the 2019 general election, the ‘pappu’ narrative would have evaporated much before the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Personalities are often judged in terms of triumph and failure. The ‘vote chori’ campaign might have given the nation something to think about triumph and failure.

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