Rahul, Modi and Gorbachev

Speaking on “Net neutrality” in the Lok Sabha on April 22, Rahul Gandhi, vice-president of the Congress, prefaced his intervention with a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He referred to the Time magazine feature on those the publication’s editors regarded as the world’s “100 most influential people”. Mr Modi was part of the list; a short profile of his appeared in the magazine and was written by US President Barack Obama.

Mr Gandhi singled out this profile for special mention. He said such praise for an Indian Prime Minister by an American President was unprecedented. He likened it to the praise of previous American Presidents for Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union.

Mr Gorbachev, Mr Gandhi said was applauded by the Americans because “he helped them”. The implication was obvious. Mr Gandhi was seeking to box in
Mr Modi as a pro-American, pro-capitalist, pro-rich politician, in contrast to the left-wing positioning of the Congress that he and his mother lead.

The attempt was clumsy and the Gorbachev reference was soon forgotten. It was also deliberately ignorant of history and context. Many Indian Prime Ministers have been seen in very favourable light by past generations of American Presidents. Jawaharlal Nehru, though more comfortable with the Old World of Europe than the New World of America, was nevertheless a statesman-like figure whom younger men, such as John F. Kennedy, looked up to.

In 1985, when Rajiv Gandhi visited Washington, DC, he was feted by the Ronald Reagan establishment as a young leader who could set India on a new economic and strategic course. Indeed, the optimism then was not very different from that which Mr Modi has generated in his first year. In his decade in office, particularly the first half, Manmohan Singh won handsome praise from President George W. Bush and then Mr Obama.

The Rajiv-Manmohan precedent is worth pondering. In both cases, much more than an individual, it was an Indian Prime Minister who held hope of integrating India’s economy with that of the world and won American praise. This is true for Mr Modi as well, as is the incremental factor that his life story — the son of a humble tea seller rising well above his station and winning a national mandate in the world’s most competitive democracy — has triggered an additional degree of admiration for him and for India as a country.

Such praise is contextual and achievement-specific. When Rajiv Gandhi and Dr Singh failed to live up to that early promise, American — or international — interest in them ebbed. If by say 2017 (and that is a random date) Mr Modi has not fixed the Indian economy and begun seriously delivering on his mandate, Time magazine will find it that much harder to get an American President to write a piece extolling him. On the other hand, if Mr Modi has done well enough by then, he could be on course for re-election. One way or the other, Indian voters will judge him. It will have little to do with whether the American President praises him or dislikes him.

As such, Mr Gandhi’s awkward attempt to tap into some hidden but allegedly substantial reserves of America-scepticism in mainstream Indian society would appear to be strange. If nothing else, the 2009 Lok Sabha election, which the Congress won despite being accused of being pro-American, should have taught Mr Gandhi a few lessons.

Yet, perhaps the most intriguing part of Mr Gandhi’s brief comment was his use of the Gorbachev analogy. The United States has had many favourites among global leaders. These have ranged from controversial dictators (Zia-ul-Haq, Augusto Pinochet) to economic modernisers (Lee Kuan Yew) to champions of liberty (Lech Walesa). At various points of time, all of these individuals have had extraordinary praise showered upon them by US governments and Presidents. It is telling Mr Gandhi turned to none of these — but specifically mentioned Mr Gorbachev. To his mind, Mr Gorbachev was the most America-friendly world leader, and one who “helped” America the greatest.

What does one make of this? Is it symbolic of a Rahul Gandhi obsession with Mr Gorbachev, Mr Modi or both? Is it making some larger point? This writer is not a psychoanalyst and cannot possibly decipher Freudian slips or mentions. Having said that, politicians live in a goldfish bowl. Every loaded and potentially insensitive statement is assessed and studied for nuance and meaning. As Giriraj Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party discovered recently, it doesn’t matter if the remark is supposedly made off-the-record, let alone in Parliament, with the cameras on. As such, it is appropriate to ask Mr Gandhi precisely what he meant by that Gorbachev comparison.

Since the Indian media rarely puts hard questions to the Nehru-Gandhis, there is little hope of meaningful discussion on or interrogation of Mr Gandhi on this score. But questions remain. By identifying Mr Gorbachev as America’s best friend ever — and presumably, in his (Mr Gandhi’s) estimation, the uber villain in history, capable of being categorised with Mr Modi, no less — what was the Congress vice-president trying to convey?

Was he telling us that he longs for the good old days before the Gorbachev era? Was he telling us that he considered Mr Gorbachev’s reforms, his policy of perestroika and glasnost and his freeing of the East Bloc from the Soviet yoke, solely motivated by a desire to please the Americans — and ultimately wrong choices and blunders of history? If so, why? Could Mr Gandhi or his brains trust offer a clue?

True, there are many in the Congress who regard Mr Gorbachev as an inconvenient nuisance who interrupted the happy times so intricately and lovingly recorded in the Mitrokhin Archives, the second volume of which described the extent of KGB foreign direct investment in the Indian polity: to pay, promote and patronise Congress and socialist politicians in the Soviet era.

That self-serving framework was a collateral victim of  Mr Gorbachev’s approach; it crippled the Congress system. Does Mr Gandhi see Mr Modi as capable of achieving similar results in the domestic sphere? If so, Mr Modi should wear the Gorbachev epithet as a badge of honour — and send his stripling pre-tender a thank you note.

The writer can be contacted at malikashok@gmail.com