Priyanka’s dignified presence and personality during her
father’s funeral had captured the nation’s imagination. Her resemblance to
grandmother Indira Gandhi was striking. Everyone who saw her at that time
(which was the entire nation) believed that she would enter politics
immediately. Her marriage was a surprise topped by her choice to recede into
the background. And that is where she has chosen to stay despite frequent
speculations about her playing a larger, more active and a more public role in
national politics.
But changes seem to be afoot. As per The Times of India,
Priyanka Gandhi was keen to contest against Narendra Modi in Varanasi. In an
excellent lead article, the newspaper covered all angles around why she wanted
to contest; why she was deterred and stopped from contesting and what her
candidature would have meant. (Read the piece @ http://lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/getpage.aspx?publabel=TOI&city=Mumbai)
What is interesting to note is:
- By keeping away from active politics, Priyanka Gandhi’s stature in the Indian National Congress has become much, much larger than life. This is the third time that post-Rajiv Gandhi Congress has attributed God-like powers to members of the Nehru-Gandhi family.
First Sonia Gandhi gained this
status that had led experienced members of Congress appeal to her to lead them.
She proved herself with the 2004 win. When she refused the Prime Ministerial
post (it is alleged that she didn’t as much refuse the post as she was
ineligible – she still had an Italian passport and hadn’t accepted Indian
citizenship. Ah! The irony of the situation if this indeed was the fact –
Congress with all its experience and career politicians had to get a foreigner
to lead and rule them to rule the country!)
Then all hopes got pinned on
Rahul Gandhi. No other person has had the delight of a ruling Party waiting
with bated breath for his foray into politics. No other person with zero
experience in politics and poor performance during his tenure has had the Prime
Minister of the country going on record to say that he (the Prime Minister)
would be happy to serve under him (the newbie – in this case Rahul Gandhi).
Allegedly, neither Rahul’s
leadership nor the Congress election campaign featuring him have been inspiring.
So now Priyanka is the Congress messiah.
- If indeed Priyanka was keen on contesting from Varanasi, she displays immense confidence, guts and fearlessness.
Confidence: Priyanka couldn’t be
immune to the Modi wave sweeping the country (despite the official Congress
stance of denying and questioning it) but she believes that she has enough
charisma, pull and power to curtail the Modi tsunami. If not winning she believes
that she would fight a good fight. This is amazing and appreciable confidence
especially since other Congress members – popular, experienced veterans – have
been fighting shy of accepting the responsibility of going up against Modi.
Guts: As mentioned earlier (and
in the piece in The Times of India) Congress has been having a hard time
finding someone willing to contest from Varanasi for the fear of drowning under
the Modi wave. Priyanka Gandhi seems to be the only person with mettle in the
entire Party for wanting to go into the battlefield.
Fearlessness: This is possibly
the most important quality that Priyanka’s willingness to contest displays. She
shows that she doesn’t fear failure. The possibility of her losing would have
been very real – but she was ready to take the plunge. It is truly admirable
for a high-profile person to risk public failure to stick to their beliefs.
- Either Priyanka is incredibly naive or hopelessly clueless about the damage that Congress has wrought in India in the past decade if she actually believes that Congress stands for any sort of ideals.
Be as that might, the fact is
that by expressing her willingness to take on Modi as her maiden step into
public as a politician, Priyanka has probably increased her value within Congress
by about a hundred times. She has become a combination of a rambaan ilaaj and bhramastra for the Party.