UP and the tale of two Gandhis

There are emerging different problems with having the Gandhi surname today, as seen in the case of Feroze Varun Gandhi of the BJP and Rahul Gandhi of the Congress. As the fight for poll-bound Uttar Pradesh begins in earnest, Varun has been hitting the news for his farmers’ initiatives in the State. He has not only been donating his monthly salary as an MP to debt ridden farmers – in total he is quoted to have contributed around Rs 1.6 crore from his personal resources -- but he has also successfully created a movement by identifying marginal farmers, on the verge of suicide, and linking them with donors leading to over 3500 farmers becoming debt-free. He plans to take the initiative digital to scale it up and take it national. On the other hand, there is cousin Rahul, who has also been drawing attention to farmers' distress and weaker sections but is seen to focus on the problem mainly through attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi (“suit boot sarkar”), and photo ops – some of which can go very wrong, like for instance the recent Dalit family he visited, who it was reported later, had to borrow money to present him a meal on his self-invite. Both gestures are by all means well intended, but Varun has been able to create over years a constructive movement without too much noise. The younger Gandhi has also emerged as most popular leader for BJP CM candidate according to numerous independent poll surveys conducted over the past few months, including by Dainik Bhaskar, Amar Ujala, ETV, Punjab Kesari and Mail Today. Yet, despite the BJP acknowledging his popularity and ability to deliver and appointing him general secretary for the same, other BJP leaders such as Yogi Adityanath reportedly bypass Varun as the favoured choices of the party for the highly contended post. This again is in sharp contrast to Rahul, who, like his mother, has remained the only acceptable choice of top leadership for the Congress, despite the slow and now steady decline of the party under his stewardship and several leaders having expressed their doubts over his leadership qualities in private. In one case, it seems like Rahul is entitled to the plum post no matter how badly he does, just because he is a Gandhi. In the other case, it seems like Varun must be resigned to the background no matter how well he does, just because he is a Gandhi. While the Congress’ attachment to the Gandhis has been greatly discussed over the decades – other Congress leaders will not accept a leader from within their own ranks, and will agree to only report to a Gandhi, making the surname the glue that keeps the grand old party together – the reasons for the BJP’s objection to their Gandhi are seen to be few. One is the party’s Hindutva ideology – the reason why Yogi, known only for communal vitriol, is even a contender. As the party is seen turning further to the Right while it reaches the middle of its term, Varun Gandhi, on the other hand, has been positioning himself as a centre-left thinker, writing on issues like death penalty, asylum policy and agrarian reform from a humanitarian liberal point of view. In addition, quite like its arch rival Congress, the BJP while being against “dynasty rule” is autocratic in its own way – Modi is the only leader seen and heard, the rest are becoming increasingly irrelevant. Modi's style of leadership appears incompatible with the style of anyone with any independent leadership potential or standing in the party -- Vasundhara Raje, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, etc. But the real reason for Varun Gandhi, who could have been a potentially natural choice to lead in Uttar Pradesh being seemingly sidelined, remains his name – promoting a Gandhi in an important State would go against the BJP's ideological opposition to “dynasty politics” epitomised by the Gandhis. To position a Gandhi “dynast” in a key role would dilute, both internally and externally, their 2014 general election onward rhetoric against the Congress and its top leaders, that the Gandhis are no good, that, as Amit Shah said when attacking Rahul on “khoon ki dalaali” statement, the Gandhi “mentality is faulty". To be seen to be needing Varun Gandhi's charisma would be anathema in the current syntax. Therefore, as far as the gen next Gandhis in politics go, it’s a unique and opposite position for both: Varun while yielding results for the BJP, both in terms of mass following and leadership of ideas and delivery, may not be an acceptable face, the other Gandhis, Rahul and Priyanka (who joins her brother in UP to campaign for the party) despite having led defeats and seen as contributing to the Congress’s continuing decline, are the only acceptable faces of leadership. Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs and views expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this website are personal and do not reflect the opinions, beliefs and views of ABP News Network Pvt Ltd.