5th of April 2011 was a watershed moment in the history of India. A 70-year-old Gandhian Anna Hazare sat on an indefinite Hunger strike when Manmohan Singh, then Prime Minister of India, rejected Hazare’s demand of constituting a joint committee, comprising members of the government and of civil society, to draft tougher anti-corruption legislation. In the center of the protest was the demand for Jan Lokpal – an anti-corruption ombudsman. Anna had achieved what the opposition couldn’t. He successfully instilled anti-Government sentiments in the minds of young restless voters. Congress was already dying under the weight of its corruption.
At the same time, Yoga Guru and Activist Baba Ramdev was spearheading a parallel protest against black money.
And at the same time, preparations for the most populous and politically most crucial Uttar Pradesh Elections were underway. Mayawati, then Chief Minister was battling charges of extravagant expenditure. Mulayam Singh had lost every bit of his credibility as memories of his Goondaraj haunted one and all in Uttar Pradesh. Samajwadi Party chieftains wanted to fight under the banner of Akhilesh, who at that point of time was a shy apolitical Australia return heir to Mulayam’s legacy.
Like every movement, Anna’s movement died a natural death too. His team members got too ambitious and Arvind Kejriwal who was expertly managing everything came out in the forefront with his political fangs bared. Congress fought back, like it always had in the past. There was a tougher challenge to face. The challenge was soon gaining momentum. The challenge was called Narendra Damodardas Modi.
Manmohan Singh had led a rather unpopular government in his second term and Congress was sure to lose the General Election if he was projected as the Prime Ministerial Candidate. Hence a plan was chalked. A “transfer of power” plan was drawn, for which a milestone was decided.
The plan was simple. Rahul Gandhi was to lead the Uttar Pradesh campaign, win the elections and return to Delhi triumphant. Congress sycophants were to perform the rest of the drama. Rahul Gandhi was to be projected as the ruler of young hearts. Dr. Manmohan Singh was to graciously vacate the seat for him. Singh was a party and dynasty loyalist, a regent in true sense, who once famously remarked that he would hand over power to Rahul Gandhi whenever he wanted to become prime minister.
And so, began the preparations for the Uttar Pradesh Elections. Rahul Gandhi began to make his presence felt in Uttar Pradesh way before the real campaigning had started. He started what is now known as Dalit and Poverty tourism. He stopped in remote villages, hugged the scrawny villagers and ate meals in Dalit homes. Wherever he went, there were hordes of TV reporters to livecast every move of his. Lutyen’s Media that has been on Congress’s payrolls started hailing him as the leader of the masses. Sardesai and Sagarika Ghose left no stone unturned in acting as “non-partisan” propagandists of Rahul Gandhi.
But advertising can boost only the initial sales, ultimately it is the product’s quality that decides its fate. Rahul Gandhi soon began with his epic goof-ups and riddles and idioms that make little sense. The biggest problem was his inability to understand and speak Hindi. Soon, he was met with a challenge that no Congress strategist could guess.
Akhilesh Yadav was now very much in the game. Mulayam Singh and other Samajwadi chieftains expertly did the caste mathematics in the background while in the foreground a harmless looking Akhilesh Yadav talked about his roots, his ambitions and his dreams of converting Uttar Pradesh to Uttam Pradesh. While Rahul Gandhi became the cause of mirth and confusion, Akhilesh Yadav was successful in projecting himself as the youth icon of Uttar Pradesh.
The results were on the expected lines. While Samajwadi Party went on to win a whopping 224 seats, Mayawati was left with just 80 seats. And Congress’s final tally was just 28 seats. It was a humiliating defeat.
After the election results, Rahul Gandhi disappeared from public life for a few months, as he always does after losing elections. Manmohan Singh quietly carried on with the rest of his tenure.
Akhilesh Yadav had spoiled the party. Akhilesh Yadav had stopped Rahul Gandhi from becoming the Prime Minister of India.
The incident has been sourced from Tavleen Singh’s India’s broken Tryst
