‘Economist’ targets the ‘invisible’ Rahul

After remaining invisible for a while, the Congress party’s reluctant heir-apparent, Rahul Gandhi, resurfaced in Assam on Tuesday where he visited the relief camps in Kokrajhar, Chirang and Dubri and met members of the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous.

 Though back in action, Rahul has no plans of  joining the Congress ministers, who have fanned out to fight the coalgate-war in the various State capitals. Instead, he is scheduled to visit his constituency, Amethi, on Thursday.

 That he will not be fighting the coal taint, lest it should tar the image and brand that the Congress hopes to market for 2014, comes as no surprise from anyone here. There is, however, talk of him taking the reins of the party, albeit through a de facto post.

 Picking on this yet-to-grow up-to-a-formal role aspect, “The Economist” has run an article headlined ‘The Rahul Problem’. Coming close on the heels of the controversial “Washington Post” reportage on the PM, this one questions ‘what is the point of (being) Rahul Gandhi’ and is no less scathing.

 After the PMO ended up with egg on its face trying to take on the “Post” and its Delhi-based reporter, the Congress chose not to react to “The Economist’s” evaluation of its crown prince. “We suffer from no colonial mindset that we have to react to “The Economist.” We only respond to the Indian media,” Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari retorted.

 Nonetheless, it needs to be noted that the US and the British media have been running a series of rather damaging articles on the Government, poking holes into the great Indian growth story. “The Economist” has only widened the ambit by commenting on the Congress scion.  And, there’s no denying that the magazine has put to print what has already been said in the political circles here: “The suspicion is growing that Mr Gandhi himself does not know……. Nobody really knows what he is capable of, nor what he wishes to do should he ever attain power and responsibility.” What could be quite disturbing for the Congress is the perception that “he has for long refused to take on a responsible position, preferring to work on reorganising Congress’ youth wing, and leading regional election efforts, both with generally poor results. The problem is that Mr Gandhi has so far shown no particular aptitude as a politician, nor even sufficient hunger for the job.”

 It also says that Rahul “flunked the test” during the prolonged Anna Hazare anti-corruption movement when Sonia Gandhi was abroad for medical treatment and he had been inducted into the Congress core group.

 It appears, the foreign media are baffled by the Prime Minister and the young prince’s tendency to go into silence mode when faced with political crisis. For Rahul, there is an additional criticism that he goes  into “hiding.”