The party that led India for three decades without a coalition is now dreaming of those glorious days again; thanks to the dimpled - duo, the young Gandhis.

Sonia Gandhi took over the party in 1998, seven years after the death of Rajiv Gandhi. Since then, the Congress party has seen a steady rise in its fortunes in spite of the menacing drag and pull of the multi-layered and multi-faceted regional parties. No wonder the Congress party workers screamed, “Our pride Mother India. Our guide Mother Sonia” and, of course now, they have “brother” Rahul to add. So why did people vote for Congress? Was it Rahul’s dimple or was it the charm of his handsome sister? Was it Rahul's massive campaigning and youth movement? Or was it just that the people are slowly getting tired of small regional parties whose only purpose seems to be that of splitting votes and blackmailing for plum portfolios while hindering development. Not that Congress is spearheading India's progress; after all, they governed us for 40 years with nothing significant to show for it.

Be that as it may, it’s good time for Congress. Congress has emerged as the only party seriously developing its youth wing with vigor and discipline. It is the only party that is actually training able young leaders keeping the future development in mind. For this, Rahul Gandhi has to be given credit and if this helped Congress win the election then, yes, Rahul is the “Yuvaraj” the Congress needed.

With this victory the Gandhis are back in control of their family business. But, Rahul Gandhi still seems an awkward politician. That’s probably because he never wanted to be a politician. After all, in his early days he never involved himself enough to show that he was interested in politics. He was like any other Indian boy from a wealthy Indian family who went out to study in an expensive private foreign university and was busy enjoying the good life.

Rahul himself, speaking of joining politics, had said, “I didn’t think one should just get into politics for the sake of getting into politics. So I had a sense of working abroad to get an understanding of how things work? But it took me thirteen years to feel I had a sufficient understanding of things, whereby I could actually, may be help people, as opposed to being confused and bungling about”. So, may be Rahul took a little longer to get into politics than many people expected but then he is a “Gandhi”. He can afford to take time as he can jump into senior cadre whenever he pleases unlike other party workers; just like in a family - owned business where the owner’s son can come and take the hot seat while the others have to grow up the ranks.

Speaking of dynastic politics, Rahul Gandhi himself said: “You see the thing about dynastic politics is, it’s about brand recognition. You recognise somebody, but then that person has to deliver”. And Rahul sure has delivered for his party this time around.

In an interview in Delhi on March 30th, the day before he launched his campaign in Wardha, he said he wanted to make Congress more democratic. He said his vision was a party in which it doesn’t necessarily matter who your mother is or who your father is, but how many supporters you have in the district.? Well, thank goodness he did not apply that rule on himself, at least before this election.

But how effective a leader will Rahul be? Will he be as grand and ineffective as his great-grandfather? Or will he be as shrewd and authoritative as his grandmother? Or will he be a confused charmer like his father? Or will he be confident, calculating and calm like his mother? Well, may be just like how a mulatto (a person of mixed race) such as Obama, is bringing change in America, may be our mulatto-prince who is a mix of Indian and Italian blood will deliver us from evil.

For one, Rahul understands where he stands as a politician. As he himself said in an interview, “We’re drawing - room politicians, just a little less drawing-room than others. If we really wanted to know the people’s problems, we would have to come and live in villages for six months. But then we have to strike a balance”. We also know that Rahul is a new breed politician who is open - minded and fair. This we deduce after Rahul praised Nitish Kumar for his good work even though he was aligned with the BJP. This sense of fairness and openness says a lot about his character.

Rahul too seems confident about India’s future, albeit a tad bit too confident when he says, “I’m pretty certain India will be one of the top five powers. The issue is whether we’ll be among the top three or not”. May be “Yuvaraj” is getting a little ahead of himself with that statement but then it makes for good pep - talk for a youthful nation looking for hope. They say that the whole world loves a winner and today the Congress party embraces Rahul out of love rather than fear like they did before. He has silenced all the people in his own party who mocked his village visits as “gaon gaon, paon paon” (going to villages on foot) in 1999 and the numerous people who called him a “baccha” in politics.

It’s a dream run for Congress and a much - needed approval for Rahul Gandhi. In a speech, Rahul loudly proclaimed, “They say I am a dreamer. Yes, I am a dreamer like the rest of the youth of the country and our dreams will come true”. That’s great Rahul, but when? When will these dreams come true? We only ask because the people of Amethi are still waiting for the Gandhis to fulfill their dreams for well over a decade now. If it’s that hard to fulfill the dreams of a small constituency, then fulfilling the dreams of a billion people might be nightmarish. But then may be he’s the best chance we’ve got.

Vikram Muthanna
vikram@starofmysore.com