War of words

Priyanka’s counter to Modi will have some impact on the voters who are keen to vote against the BJP for other...

The war of words between BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra over the past few days does seem to be disconcerting the BJP to a great extent. Modi now speaks of her being like a daughter to which she has, predictably of course, retorted that she is the daughter of the late prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi.

The Congress Party is literally drooling over Priyanka in her new avatar as a highly successful Modi-baiter. She has left her brother Rahul Gandhi and her mother, Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi, far behind insofar as this is concerned, with her words uttered lightly, mockingly, often amidst giggles disconcerting the BJP to no end. The party machinery has, in fact, barely been able to counter her and after an initial stunned pause, Modi has been playing the “but-of-course-I-understand, what-else-would-I-expect-from-her-but-to-defend-her-family” kind of card.

The Congress has been wanting her to take on the reins of power for a long time, particularly as it became more and more apparent that Rahul Gandhi, in whom the Nehru-Gandhi family decided to vest its legacy, is not holding up. In fact, he has in one sense done more damage to the party, driving the fence-sitters away with his rather childish, though of course earnest, campaign. Sonia Gandhi is clearly in retirement mode and has kept her campaigning to a minimum in these Lok Sabha elections. Priyanka had been fairly invisible, till now when she has moved as she always does to campaign for her brother and her mother in their respective constituencies of Amethi and Rae Bareli.

This time she has used this limited campaign to take on Modi — that has attracted her national eyeballs — and plunged her into the campaign without even stepping out of the two Lok Sabha seats. Her gentle tit for tat has hit home, and her style of delivery has impressed all who have seen and heard her. The Congress party leaders have decided to go for an all-out post poll offensive to ensure that she takes over the party and leads it into the next elections.

Priyanka’s husband Robert Vadra, not perceived as a very kosher and honest individual in the country, was always seen as her ‘weak spot’ and the reason why she would have to keep away from politics. The BJP had played on this quite well by bringing up Vadra whenever there was any talk from within the Congress in the media about her taking over. This time around, she has quashed this rather effectively by directly attacking the BJP for targeting her husband, and making it clear that every such barb at him strengthened her. The result was that even a rather badly put together video against his land deals, and released by the BJP at a special press conference, failed to make a mark with the media, which is equally divided between this and Priyanka’s strong defence.

This has enthused Congress, which now feels that Priyanka can take care of both, herself, her family and of course, the party. She is seen as a vote-turner, with Congress leaders now determined to ensure that she comes into politics after the elections and agrees to lead the party out of the abyss into which it has sunk. Her defence of her husband has been particularly encouraging for the Congress Party that has never really been able to formulate a policy insofar as he, the veritable son-in-law, is concerned.

Priyanka’s counter to Modi might not make much of a difference for the Congress Party on the ground, as it may be too little too late. But it will have some impact on the voters who are keen to vote against the BJP for other choices, and who can see that the man is not infallible and can barely stand up, despite his 56-inch chest to a slip of a woman. However, seriously speaking, this is just more fodder for the media mills with little to no impact on the field where the hard battle for India is being fought.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 3^rd, 2014.

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