‘Make Some Noise’: Will Brazen Rahul Gandhi’s New Mantra For Congress, Opposition Work?

As the Opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi could have intervened to set the house in order and restrain the opposition, but he chose not to. This is the new Congress. The new, brazen and possibly reckless Congress. Gone is the restraint and cautious approach of Gandhi and his supporters when it came to dealing with PM Narendra Modi.

Earlier, many felt that he should not take the PM head-on as it would hurt him and make him look weak. Which is why despite goading by many in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Gandhi used to avoid any direct confrontation with the PM or not even match eye-to-eye. All this has changed now. Why?

LESSONS FROM AAP

When the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) first came to power in New Delhi, despite the bitterness of the Congress for having lost the polls, Gandhi had said, “We need to learn some things from the AAP.”

They are friends now, but the lesson Gandhi wanted to learn from them then, he has learnt now. The AAP is known to be reckless, combative and as its critics say “shoot and scoot”. That’s what Gandhi’s Congress wants to do now.

Armed and emboldened with a better performance than last time, along with the setback to the BJP in its stronghold of Uttar Pradesh and defeat in Faizabad (Ayodhya), Gandhi is convinced that it is time to shoot and scoot.

A NEW GANDHI & APPROACH

Shoot at the BJP and PM and then run off and don’t back off. Be brazen, look the PM straight in the eye. That’s what Gandhi did with the PM. Looking him in the eye. Naming him, instead of addressing him as the PM and accusing him of many things. This is a different Gandhi from what he was before the Bharat Jodo Yatra and became the Leader of Oppostion (LOP). This the new Congress, which, under Gandhi, wants to do away with any protocol and ensure its voice is raised and heard inside and outside parliament.

Even if it invites criticism and attacks, Congress leaders have made up their minds. Shriek, shout and make yourself heard at every point and stage. Make the point that the opposition has arrived and its voice cannot be silenced.

Said a senior Congress leader close to the Gandhi brigade, “We came under pressure and asked many of our leaders to resign. Does the BJP do this? So why should we be meek? Enough is enough.”

The new Gandhi-led Congress doesn’t want to turn its other cheek to the BJP if hit on one.

So, in days to come, one will see the Congress and opposition leaders raise their decibels even more. Can this boomerang?