(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) As former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney begins to pull decisively ahead of his opponents in the race for the Republican nomination for US Presidency, analysts are finding him analogous to the Gandhi scion, Rahul.
The fact that neither has achieved prominence on their own merit but through sheer lottery of birth seems to be the biggest commonality between the duo. Both jumped the queue because of what their forebears did. Romney's father was a three-term governor of the state of Michigan and ran for President himself in 1968; Gandhi has the putative Nehru-Gandhi legacy providing traction to his candidature as future PM.
However, that's where the similarity ends. Because while Romney's campaign has been quite successful, and he himself has a credible record as an administrator, Rahul has no governance record to speak of. His performance in the recent Uttar Pradesh assembly elections too, was also a miserable flop. The Congress' dismal tally of 28 seats out of 80 in the Hindi heartland-after Rahul addressed a whopping 218 election rallies in 48 days-can hardly be flaunted as electoral success. So was the electoral debacle a rejection of the 'yuvraj' or 'prince' as he's jeeringly referred to by his opponents? Or is it unfair to pin the entire blame on the lad given the fact that the Congress is looking at a long-term rehabilitation of its fortunes in the state where it hasn't been in power in 22 years?
While the electoral verdict may not be an outright dismissal of Rahul, given India's enduring enamor for dynasties, it sure is a sign of people's staggering disenchantment with the Gandhis. This sentiment portends ill for thee Congress as the year of the vote looms in 2014. Besides, it hasn't yet sunk in for the party that it is expending far too much political capital and time on Rahul baba's career and not enough on governing the country.
In that sense, the election in the Hindi heartland has been a political bellwether for the prime ministerial hopeful. He was keen to consolidate his own authority, and that of the ruling UPA dispensation, on the wave of an electoral victory. But the elections upended his apple cart.
Had Rahul performed well and brought the Congress party to a position of eminence in UP, there would have been a clamor to make him premier. However, one good seems to have emerged after his poor showing. Manmohan Singh's seat seems safe. Simply because Sonia Gandhi has no one else to turn to.
But will the results dampen Rahul's chances of making a stab at the premier's position in 2014? Perhaps, not. Of course, his path would've been smoother had he engineered a landslide victory for the Congress. So though his inability to cut a swathe in UP will definitely postpone his career prospects, they won't be hampered. Besides, he still has time to make a mark on the national scene given the bankruptcy of viable alternatives to lead the party in the 2014 general elections.
However, serious concerns remain about his leadership skills. It is one thing to sup with the poor in their humble abodes and run a country of 1.2 billion. Gandhi has scarcely aired his views on matters of national import. When did he last hold forth on economic growth or women's empowerment? Does anybody know about his opinion on creating newer opportunities for India's young? Has he detailed his policy agenda about helping the poor and delivering social justice?
Rahul's performance as a political leader seems all the more underwhelming given his privileged background. He faces no internal challenges. Fawning Congressmen are ever so eager to create a buffer zone around him each time he fails by blaming it on 'organisational lapses' and lack of grassroots mobilisation.
Perhaps expectations from the Gandhi progeny are a result of one falling victim to a well-orchestrated image-building exercise to project him as a national leader. Ergo, the very strategy crafted by his party men to project him as a national leader is backfiring.
The humbled son said that the UP defeat was a "good lesson" for him. "I led from the front in UP and the blame is entirely mine,'' he said emphasising his party's need to "strengthen its organisational structure".
However, a simple acknowledgment of his party's failure will not cut it. Nor will sporadically gate crashing into poor people's huts. Gandhi will need a solid introspection and a recalibration of his entire campawwign if he's eyeing 7, Race Course Road.
Neeta Lal is a New Delhi-based journalist
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