The Lok Sabha Election 2024 has been a long-drawn-out affair, and it is now almost time for its conclusion. Even though the ‘400 Par’ narrative that has gained more attention in recent time has been penned down on how this Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s slogan is for an opposition takedown, here lies the question: where is Rahul Gandhi? What makes this poll different for him from the year before 2019?
The answer to both cases is no, as in the case of the Congress party, which has centered its campaigns on Rahul Gandhi. The difference is that in 2019, Rahul Gandhi was also the president of the party. He was privileged to exercise authority and jury as well.
Now he has the key minus the lock, the power minus the responsibility. Currently, the Congress President is not him but Mallikarjun Charge instead. One possesses the ability to do it, and the other has the duty to do it.
In the 2019 general elections, when the results started trickling and it was clear that the Congress had lost, the Rafale and ‘chowkidar chord Hai’ narratives of Rahul Gandhi had collapsed.
Rahul Gandhi, in detail, summed up that it was apparent he received scant support from his party on the ‘chowkidar chord Hai’ campaign, but he was sure that he had to take the bullet head on and resign, which he did.
While he went independent from the party post, the party was still not free from it. Those in Congress came to understand and develop an appreciation that since Sonia Gandhi is not likely to carry forward for long, Rahul Gandhi must be brought back.
The issue was that Rahul initially was very vocal about the fact that he would not fight for the presidential poll. But the leaders who drew their power and energy from Rahul Gandhi understood only too well that they had to make him the focal point. That is why it is only Rahul, being the head, who has the last say in the party, even if Charge is the president of the party.
