Rahul Gandhi has returned after a 56-day sabbatical. Few in the Congress know where Rahul Gandhi was all this time and what was the nature of introspection was that he underwent. But the Congress scion was absent during the most crucial debates on the BJP Government’s second budget, (principally the first one which bore the hallmarks of the NDA’s handprint after it was elected to power in May 2014). The Farmers’ Rally was a programme designed by the Congress as a comeback party for their Vice President. The media has been obsessing about Rahul Gandhi’s whereabouts all this time. When he returned on April 16 via a Thai Airways flights the media followed his tracks and reported every move he made since he landed on Indian soil. In a country with so many problems facing the common man on a daily basis this focus on the lives of the rich and famous is unwarranted. The entire Congress fraternity was working overtime to ensure that the farmer’s rally at Ramlila Maidan, Delhi was a resounding success. Farmers turned up in large numbers. They were happy that a political party is speaking on their behalf.
The problem of farmers in India is peculiar. The farm size of the average farmer is so small that it cannot yield adequate produce for the market. Yet farmers continue to hold on to the land which has become an unproductive asset. Modi argues that farmers whose lands have been taken away will be equitably compensated so they can start their lives afresh. Rahul Gandhi’s speech is devoid of seriousness and replete with allegations against Prime Minister Modi that are unsubstantiated. The speech sounded similar to an election campaign. There was more rhetoric than substance. If the farmers were who Rahul Gandhi wanted to address then he should have relied on more substantive research on farmers plights and analysed the reasons for the recent farmers’ suicides.
It is a pity that a political party which has ruled this country for over 50 years has very little to offer as an alternate to the Modi juggernaut. The Congress Party is in no shape to challenge the BJP. It has not yet set its house in order. After the drubbing of May last year the Congress has not gone into a serious huddle to take serious stock of things and to think of the best come-back strategy.