Baptism By Fire

The Crown Prince of Congress hit the campaign trail in western Uttar Pradesh and set the party's agenda. His opening gambit was to woo Muslims and Dalits, to make the party relevant again.

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STICKING TO A SCRIPT: Rahul Gandhi in Deoband "If there was a Gandhi as prime minister, the Babri Masjid would not have been demolished." RAHUL GANDHI MP, AMETHI

It was carnival time for the Congress and coronation time for Rahul as Rajya Sabha MP Rasheed Alvi proudly introduced him as Hindustan ke Wazir-e-Azam. There is still time for that. For now, Rahul's target is Uttar Pradesh in general and the Muslim vote in particular. He chose his venue, Deoband, to rake up a 15-year-old chestnut, the demolition of the Babri Masjid during the Narasimha Rao regime. "Had a member of the Gandhi family been in active politics at that point in time, the demolition would not have happened," he said. Predictably, it triggered a political storm. But he reiterated his position the very next day.

A gleeful BJP chortled at his political immaturity. BJP leader Sushma Swaraj said, "Next, he will blame Manmohan Singh for Nandigram and inflation." After all, it was Rajiv Gandhi who flirted with soft Hindutva and initiated the unlocking of the Masjid's gates to allow the worship of Ram Lala and later, the shilanyas. He even launched his 1989 election campaign from Ayodhya.

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PAST TENSE: Rajiv Gandhi with 'loyalist' Narasimha Rao

That was then. Now, another Gandhi is setting the party's agenda. In wooing the Muslim vote, Rajiv's 37-year-old son is leaving nothing to chance-and so what if he skips a history lesson along the way. It is true that the demolition happened during a Congress government, but it was not the first time a Gandhi criticised it. His mother Sonia had (in Hyderabad on January 16, 1998) revealed that "just about a month before he was assassinated, my husband had said to me that if ever an attempt was made to touch the Babri Masjid, he would stand in front of it and they would have to kill him first".

The Congress was caught off guard at the sudden offensive. Its spin doctors grappled with words on how to defend the Rao regime without offending the heir apparent. Finally, the spokespersons chose the usual muddle path of agreeing and denying in the same voice. The shilanyas, they contended, did not lead to the demolition. As one loyalist put it, "He has strong beliefs, the words are his."

Lesser mortals would have paused but as Rahul left Deoband and reached Bareilly, he fired another salvo. "The 1996 alliance with the BSP was a sellout," he said. Party strategist Vishwajit Singh, who worked closely with Rajiv, explained, "Any alliance that is in favour of the smaller party is skewed." In 1996, the Congress had contested only 126 seats out of 403 and won 33.

Rahul has only tried to connect the posturing at the Centre with the state elections. The party has been flailing its arms to woo Muslims and Dalits via the Sachar Committee Report and job quota in the private sector.

It is early days yet. As Oscar Wilde said, the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about. Congressmen are thrilled that the young scion has finally locked his laptop and has ventured into realpolitik. There is now a name, a face and a presence for the war for Uttar Pradesh. As for tactics and strategies, the soap opera is yet in its first few episodes. Stay tuned.

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