Rahul Gandhi is a salty man. The former Congress President, who is most likely to take the reins of the Congress party in his own hands once again has been leading what the Congress thinks to be an anti-government campaign of sorts. This, with the hope that the party will put up a respectable fight in the states where elections are due for April-May this year. In his tirade against the Modi government, however, Rahul Gandhi is making an unprecedented clown of himself. Already, the man is famous for never making sense.
Yet, Rahul Gandhi is a divisive leader. He’s as divisive, salty, scornful and jealous as the quintessential Indian mohalle waali chachi. A recent display of the same was seen in Assam, where Rahul Gandhi made atrocious remarks about the tea garden workers and traders of Gujarat, and sought to create differences between those who worked in the tea gardens of Assam and those who ‘owned’ tea gardens in Gujarat. Gandhi has promised the tea workers of Assam that their wages will be hiked through money earned by Gujarat traders.
“Assam’s tea garden workers get Rs 167 per day wage while traders in Gujarat get tea gardens. We promise to give tea garden workers of Assam Rs 365 per day wage. Where will the money come from? It will come from Gujarat’s traders,” said Rahul Gandhi while campaigning in Assam. The outrageous promise infuriated Gujaratis, and the BJP hit back saying that the hatred in the hearts of Congress for Gujaratis now stands exposed.
This is not the first time when Rahul Gandhi has put to display his incredible ability to divide Indians on the flimsiest of issues. Earlier, while speaking in Tamil Nadu prior to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Gandhi-scion had remarked that the treatment meted out to women in South India, specifically Tamil Nadu was, according to him, better than how they are treated in North Indian states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. “The way Indian women are treated leaves a lot to be desired…I think south India is significantly better than north India on this front. If you go to Uttar Pradesh or Bihar, and you see the way women are treated, you will be shocked…So there is a cultural aspect and I think Tamil Nadu is one of the leaders in how it treats its women,” Rahul Gandhi had said.
In Gujarat, Rahul Gandhi had said that the women of the state had provided milk to everybody. But that is known to all, and has been a primary instance of when the Congress prince messed up his words and wrecked the Congress’ political fortunes. In fact, Rahul Gandhi cannot seem to comprehend how Gujarat ends up voting for the BJP in every election.
In 2017, when the Congress was all over the place in calling GST ‘Gabbar Tax’, Gandhi pontificated on Twitter, “Agriculture hit by Gabbar Singh, land snatched and the (Ánnadatta) farmer was rendered useless. PM sahib should explain why such step-motherly treatment with the farm labour.” Gandhi had also claimed that Gujarat was seeking answers from the BJP over 22 years of its misrule in the state. Of course, the BJP won once again in 2017, in answer to Rahul Gandhi’s questions.
Rahul Gandhi has displayed his unparalleled ability at taunting, scorning, deriding and taking jibes at those better than him and his party. Why should we then shy away from calling him mohalle waali chachi, or phupho, whatever he likes better?