#dnaEdit: Looking for Rahul

Among the many reasons for the Opposition stalling Parliament in recent months, Monday’s walkout by the Congress over the alleged snooping attempts on vice president Rahul Gandhi would arguably be the weakest. The Congress’ insistence that the presence and visits of Delhi police personnel at Rahul Gandhi’s residence on three occasions amounted to snooping is baffling, to say the least. Even by Delhi police standards, it is ludicrous to suggest that its personnel have the capability to spy on Rahul under the vigilant eye of the Special Protection Group, which mounts round-the-clock surveillance of the residence. The government revealed that the proforma which upset the Congress — posing inane questions like hair and eye colour of Gandhi, his clothes and shoes, and details of friends and associates — was a Congress creation and that many leaders irrespective of political affiliations have been profiled in this format. It can be reasonably argued that with specialised wings like the Intelligence Bureau at its disposal, the government does not need to resort to such crude methods of “snooping” by the Delhi police. Finance minister Arun Jaitley was not exaggerating when he said the Congress was attempting to make a mountain out of a molehill.

Long accustomed to rallying the party around the Nehru-Gandhi family, it is not surprising that Congress leaders zeroed in on the issue to corner the government. Attempts have even been made to draw a parallel to the alleged snooping on Rajiv by the Chandrashekhar government in 1991 and the subsequent political fallout. But the scepticism with which the alleged affront to the first family has been greeted should tell the Congress that its misplaced campaign is not fetching political results. The attempt to stoke outrage — though weak — may even have succeeded had Rahul had the good sense to be present in Parliament. To dignify an absentee leader in this manner — especially when the crucial and controversial Land Acquisition bill is before Parliament — makes little political sense. Such mindless deification further stultifies the second-rung leadership and reveals the Congress as a party without inspiration or conviction.

By any standards, the burning issue of Monday was the attack on Christian institutions in West Bengal and Haryana. After having already raised the snooping issue on Saturday, the Congress should have changed track in the Rajya Sabha on Monday. A 71-year-old nun was gang-raped at a missionary school and an under-construction church was demolished. It was left to CPI leader D Raja to raise the issue after the Congress walked out of the upper House over the so-called snooping incident. Despite the Congress’s desperation to corner the government on any and every controversy, the failure to leverage the right issues signifies the leadership vacuum at the top.

Even the cooperation with the BJP to pass the Insurance Bill in the Rajya Sabha on Friday was decided only after last-minute consultations. Even as the parliamentary party is taking its time to reorient itself to the changed realities, revamping the organisation happens to be the more daunting task. For three days, the Youth Congress was on a padayatra from Bhatta Parsaul to Delhi. The march, however, hardly received any attention until the police charged the protestors with lathis and water cannons in central Delhi on Monday. The padayatra could have been an occasion for Rahul Gandhi to lead and reiterate his solidarity with farmers. 

Rather than take up inconsequential issues like snooping, the Congress should seriously get down to the task of rebuilding the party. As of now, Rahul appears to be more a liability than an asset for the Congress.