The Angry Young Man of Congress

- Anil Narendra

We have witnessed many faces of the Congress prince Rahul Gandhi during the Assembly election campaign in Uttar Pradesh. We have seen a mild mannered, calm and quite Rahul Gandhi, who had been sharing food with Dalit families and had been sensitive to their sufferings, but today we are witnessing a different bearded face of Rahul Gndhi dramatically tearing off documents on the stage. With the passage of time, the increasing anger of Rahul Gandhi has not only started surfacing, but his aggressive postures have become sharper. Now, he has even started publicly expressing his anger by tearing off papers on the stage. Perhaps he is trying to convey a message to the youth of UP that 'this uncomplaining attitude of yours will not help you, if you want to survive in the present age, make noise so that your voice could be heard'. It is this posture of his, which has earned the status of an angry young man for him in the Congress Party. Besides being 'the prince' of Congress, Rahul is also the only star campaigner for the Congress for the Assembly elections. In fact, this time whole of the Gandhi Family has thrown its weight in UP elections. Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Robert Wadra, all the three have come out in the open. This is something unprecedented for the Gandhi Family. However, Congress is keeping its fingers crossed and waiting for the Rahul magic to work. That is why, with the completion of election-phases in UP, enthusiasm of the Congress is also increasing. The Congress has, even started claiming that elections in UP have now been restricted to Rahul vs others, that is why leaders of SP, BSP and BJP have started targeting Rahul Gandhi in their speeches. It appears that Prince Rahul has taken a vow to take the Congress to the seat of power in UP single-handedly and when he comes across obstacles on his way, he becomes angry. Meanwhile, he has also learnt the politics of cashing on this anger. So, whenever he exhibits aggressiveness, the audience applauds him. It happened during the election meeting at Lucknow, the other day. With slightly grown beard, Rahul Gandhi took mike in his hand at the election meeting at DAV College courtyard and started speaking like a Bollywood hero. Angry Rahul said that both the SP and BSP have been making empty promises in these years, which have made your condition bad to worse. I have in my hand a list of promises made by SP, which promises of electricity, roads, employment, if they come to power. If they fail to provide employment, they promise unemployment allowance at enhanced rate. This is the list, which the SP provided to the people during last elections. You need employment, not a list of promises. That is why I am tearing this list. Then, like a hero, he tore the paper in his hands into many pieces and threw it in the air. This action by Rahul has created a new controversy. BJP President, Nitin Gadkari said that by doing so, Rahul has exhibited his immaturity. It shows that he is still unaware of political nuances. Best comment came from SP President Akhilesh Yadav, who called Rahul's anger a drama and a stunt. Sometimes, he tears papers and sometimes he asks the audience to leave his meeting. I'm afraid; he may not jump off from the stage one day. What effect the anger of Rahul Gandhi will have, will be known only after the counting of the votes.