India has seen three versions of Rahul Gandhi and till 2019, he failed thrice !! Over to his luck, Mom's love and now 2024 is ahead

Till 2019, Rahul Gandhi had lost three major wars; but the fate has always remained with him and so has mother Sonia Gandhi's love. Whether she is still a thinking Italian or an opportunist 'Indian daughter in law', there can be no dispute that she remains a permanent Indian Maa ....blind with her love for the son !!

Hence, on the eve of 2024, Rahul Gandhi is again the mascot and the Congress party leader. Till 2019, the country and the world interested in India had seen three versions of Rahul Gandhi --- coinciding with the three positions he has held --- Congress general secretary, vice-president and party President. After 2019 poll debacle, he owned 'moral responsibility' (so called) and quit. Now he controls the Congress party and its president Mallikarjun Kharge as well. 

But the nation is ready for the battle of 2024. BJP supporters strongly fee Narendra Modi is 'lucky' too as he gets the same competitor in Rahul -- who has been no match to Namo and his much talked about Moditva phenomenon.  

In 2014, when Modi fought for Prime Ministership for the first time, Manmohan Singh was at the helm at least in office on papers! The Congress tally was 44 Lok Sabha seats -- yes, the lowest ever.  In 2019, the tally improved a bit but still short of one-tenth of 543 parliamentary seats. 

In 2018 since May, Congress has been winning polls - Karnataka and followed by Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan in December; and yet when the 2019 Lok Sabha polls were held, Modi was on his successful juggernaut yet again. 

Now assembly elections are happening around in five states including Telangana in Deccan belt and also MP, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan and not forgetting the northeastern state of Mizoram. 

PM Modi's critics and the Congress party have accused him of making false promises of industrial growth, jobs and incentives for farmers. 

For Modi's BJP, which came to power New Delhi in 2014 and retained hold in 2019, it is a popularity test of its policies and, more importantly, its ideology of building a nation based on Hindutva principles. 

The BJP leaders and poll strategists including Modi's trusted friend, Amit Shah, say the 'dynasty' cannot do without power and the Congress party's sole focus in Indian polity has been to keep the first family in political limelight and in a controlling position.  

At times the Congress leaders and Rahul Gandhi himself have shared viewpoints those only strengthen the BJP's allegations. 

Rahul Gandhi, son of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, in May 2018 has said in Karnataka at a symposium that if his party does well in Karnataka, he could become prime minister in 2019.

His mother, Italy-born Sonia Gandhi, became Congress national chief in 1998 and handed over the reins to him in December 2017.

When a member of the audience asked him (May 8, 2018) if he could be next prime minister, Rahul Gandhi had responded: "Well, that depends on how well Congress does. I mean, if Congress is the biggest party, then yeah."

Now in the run up to the 2014 parliamentary polls, the Congress is at thick of things politically trying to workout an opposition alliance. It's named 'I.N.D.I.A'. 

Naming of such an alliance gave Modi an opportunity to kick-start a political debate that the country could be or should be named as Bharat. Just like Ram temple resembled the 'Hindu assertion', today many see such a thing even in the name 'Bharat'. 

 

Back to Rahul Gandhi and political shenanigans. Among all the three versions, Rahul Gandhi’s first version was about 11 years. These were his years of apprenticeship... from 2003-04 to Jan 2013 when he was promoted from party general secretary to AICC presidentship. During that stint he tried many tricks.  

In Uttar Pradesh, he wanted to repeat the 'Singur phenomenon' of West Bengal and Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee. In May 2011, he was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police in village Bhatta Parsaul. UP was then a fiefdom of BSP chief Mayawati. He often played angry young man. He would often pull up sleeves -- and his political workers and sycophants called him 'Bhaia' -- the commonly used word in Uttar Pradesh often linked to machoism (and even Goondaism). 

Once in an election rally in UP in February 2012, Rahul Gandhi tore a piece of paper suggesting that he was tearing the manifestos of Samajwadi Party and the BSP. Excited and often immatured, he enacted angry young man drama at the Press Club of India -- walked into a press conference giving shock to many and tore an official Ordinance saying, "My opinion on the ordinance is that it is complete nonsense .."; and yet again he tore it down. 

This was seen as his arrogance and Rahul's gestures backfired. It was taken as insult to the aging PM Manmohan Singh, who was readily playing a second fiddle to Sonia Gandhi.