The year 2014 holds a special significance for the Congress party as it marked its downslide, making it face the worst drubbing in India’s post-independence history. Led by the heir of the Nehru-Gandhi family, Rahul Gandhi for the first time, Congress had faced an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the BJP. However, for reasons best known to it, Congress is still persisting with Rahul Gandhi as its face. While the Gandhi scion is not very popular with the electorate, the left-liberal cabal and the self-acclaimed intelligentsia have kept vying for the dynast.
However, if a WikiLeaks claim from 2014 is anything to go by, an influential columnist and political insider, Saeed Naqvi had told the US envoy that Rahul Gandhi is incapable to lead India due to his emotional or psychological issues. As per 2014 expose, Naqvi had spoken at length about Rahul Gandhi after prefacing that he was a friend of Rahul’s father, Rajiv Gandhi and a well-wisher of the Gandhi family. The WikiLeaks claim further provided the insight that Naqvi was initially delighted about the fact that Sonia Gandhi had projected her son, Rahul Gandhi as the heir apparent. However, it later became clear from the Congress insiders that Rahul Gandhi will never be an ideal candidate for the prime minister’s post for several reasons. Naqvi had then claimed, as per the WikiLeaks expose, that it had increasingly become a common knowledge that Rahul suffered from “personality problems” of emotional or psychological nature and these were serious enough to prevent him from functioning as the prime minister.
As per the expose, Naqvi claimed that his contacts in the Congress tell that Rahul has failed even as an MP from Amethi. Congress tried to create a revival campaign centred on Rahul Gandhi, however, they gave up having realised that he “is causing more harm than good” and that he operated at cross purposes with the state Congress leadership in Uttar Pradesh. As per WikiLeaks, Naqvi added that Rahul had not done much for the state of Uttar Pradesh except for making a few pro-forma appearances in Amethi and “made no impression on the people of the state.”
The expose reveals Naqvi stating that the Gandhi family had always preferred Rahul’s sister Priyanka to enter politics because she was judged to be more savvy and intelligent. However, “like an Indian mother”, Sonia Gandhi had a protective feeling around her son. And therefore, Rahul Gandhi was selected as the heir apparent. According to the expose, Naqvi was of the opinion that the Gandhi dynasty has no future. He opined that the family has run out of prime ministerial candidates with appropriate charisma. According to him, Indira Gandhi was the last one from the family capable of being an effective prime minister.
Moreover, the expose hints at Rahul Gandhi’s incapability to lead the nation. India has emerged as a global power under the leadership of PM Modi and at the same time, faces threats from the immediate neighbourhood. The nation needs strong leadership to make full use of the opportunities that have come its way and successfully combat threats that lurk around it. Someone who is battling with psychological or emotional issues should not be made to lead the nation with such severe issues. One can only hope that if there is even an iota of truth in this expose, the Congress won’t force its president to take the onus of leading the nation under such circumstances.
