The 2024 Lok Sabha elections would be historic for many reasons. One of the biggest, after the extraordinary return to power of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a third term, would be the unimpeachable rise of Rahul Gandhi as a mass leader in his own right, without depending on his Nehru-Gandhi family legacy.
For nearly 20 years, since he made his political debut as a Lok Sabha member, through the decade of the UPA and then the 10 years of Narendra Modi's first two terms, Rahul Gandhi was criticised, condemned and ridiculed for his lack of connection with ground realities in the country because of his highly-protected upbringing. Moreover, there was a concerted attempt to write him off as a failure, and a narrative that portrayed him, sometimes unfairly, as the most discredited person in the country's politics, someone not to be taken seriously, sustained for over 10 years.
Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who claims to have been the most detested person in the media during his multi-term chief ministership of Gujarat, might not have faced such a massive smear campaign.
With the BJP rising under Mr Modi to becoming an omnipotent political force in India, any other person in the place of Rahul Gandhi would have taken political sanyas.
However, Rahul confronted such a vicious campaign bravely. He did not allow despondency to set in even as his key lieutenants left the Congress Party for various reasons and perks.
He slowly worked on rejuvenating the Congress, at a time it was plumbing its worst depths. When all else failed, he reached out to the people directly through the Bharat Jodo Yatra. This polished him up like a diamond and helped him emerge as the Leader of Opposition, a constitutional position, the first he has accepted in his over-20-year-long political career.
Had he accepted any position of power during the tenure of the UPA-1 and UPA-2 governments, it would have been a dynastic transition. However, as Rahul Gandhi took the difficult route, he has rightly earned his new position. Today he remains the only leader who did not mince his words when it came to opposing the government’s policies, something that the Opposition is expected to do instead of cutting deals with the party in power.
Strong punitive action in lawsuits, disqualification from the Parliament, and even forcible eviction from his residence, did not deter him.
Instead, it helped him to become a real leader, one who could influence the country’s politics in the decades to come.
With a strong base for the Opposition, and the return of coalition politics in the country, Mr Rahul Gandhi is ready for his role and responsibility. And the country awaits his rise to greater heights.
