The tapasvi look — saffron-clad with the holy ash or vibhuti smeared on Rahul Gandhi’s forehead during the Bharat Jodo Yatra — has given the Congress ‘aastha’ (faith) that in 2024 it can match the Bharatiya Janata Party in the race for ‘Hindutva votes’.
Taking a leaf out of the long-gathering-dust Antony committee report of 2019, which mentioned the failure to capture these votes as a reason for the dismal performance in the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress party has a plan. And that involves Ram, Shiv, and Tapasya.
Look at the cues. First the appearance of a tapasvi (ascetic) and something which Rahul Gandhi keeps referring to himself as. And so does his party. It’s linked to the t-shirt look. Taking advantage of the traction this attire has got, the Congress has decided to turn the barbs to its advantage. At least it is trying to. A tapasvi is one who is on a mission, tapasya (austerity or deep meditation), and doesn’t care about worldly pain and pleasure. The Bharat Jodo Yatra is trying to convey the message that Rahul Gandhi does not feel the chill. “I am not scared of the cold,” he said. The bearded look with the t-shirt and occasionally the rudraksha mala (garland) and vibhuti, the Congress hopes, does the trick. The comparison to a Narendra Modi who was in meditation at the Kedarnath cave is something the Congress wants the voters to be reminded of.
Not just this. All senior leaders have been cautioned not to make any statement that polarises society and helps the BJP to paint the Congress as an anti-Hindu party. For example, the Salman Khurshid comment comparing Rahul Gandhi to Ram put the party in a fix initially. Those who want to push the Hindutva narrative in the Congress were quite comfortable at first with this comment. But the balancers in the party felt this could boomerang. Hence the subtle distancing from Khurshid’s comment as also the senior leader clarifying his own remark later.
That apart, most Congress leaders, especially those facing polls soon, have been ‘advised’ to join the Ram Mandir narrative. Recently, Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, who is close to the Gandhis, inaugurated a Ram statue in his state. He said, unlike the BJP which used Ram as an election tool, he and his party were true Ram bhakts. Again, this is part of a plan. Sources say many more state units are to unveil similar Ram statues or donate to the Ram Mandir cause. The focus will be on states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Bihar where the Congress feels the Hindutva edge matters. Ahead of the 2024 polls, posters of Rahul Gandhi clad in saffron and as a tapasvi will be broadcast all over.
The entire plan and strategy is to ensure that the BJP looks like a party that is a poll-bound Ram bhakt. So when home minister Amit Shah at a rally in poll-bound Tripura promised that the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya would open on January 1, 2024, the Congress led by party president Mallikarjun Kharge asked, “Why didn’t a pujari announce the date? Why is the BJP anti-Hindu?”
Despite the new-look Ram bhakt Congress, the jury is still out on whether it will work for it. There are cynics within the party as well. They ask, “Does this not interfere and clash with our secular image? What about the Muslim vote bank which has been shifting to the TMC and SP though the Congress still has some grip on them? What about Rahul Gandhi’s constituency Wayanad which has a sizeable minority vote bank? Will the projection of tapasvi Rahul hurt him?”
But the biggest hurdle is the fact that this Ram bhakt image fits more comfortably the BJP rather than the Congress. In the case of the latter, it looks contrived and aimed at polls, the same charge it levels at the BJP.
A senior Congress leader told News18, “Just no one can match or counter the PM’s image as a Hindu icon, nor that of the BJP. It seems natural to him as this is what they and he have been over the years. We are doing it now.”
But the Congress strategists are convinced that with Ram by their side, 2024 may deliver a miraculous result. However, the more restrained in the party say, “Hope it doesn’t become a situation of ‘na maya mili na Ram’.”
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