Two aspects are clear about Rahul Gandhi’s leave of absence just as the Congress was set to take on the BJP-led government both in Parliament and outside: one, it was sudden, and two, it took the Congress completely by surprise.
So what is behind Rahul Gandhi’s absence? Or, as the Twitter hashtag that is trending on top goes, #WhereIsRahul?
The Times of India presents four theories: One, that Rahul Gandhi is sulking because he is “unable to have his way. Two, that his sabbatical is “aimed at forcing his mother’s hand and [signals] that he will return to stamp his ‘vision’ on the party.” Three, that he is set to walk away from politics and is “calibrating his withdrawal. Four, that Rahul is making a tactical retreat and “will return once things cool down.” The report quotes party leaders as saying that scenario two is most likely.
The Economic Times says that Rahul Gandhi’s absence at a time when “the budget session has just started and when the Modi government is on the defensive …was once again seen as a self-goal of sorts.”
‘Rahul takes privilege leave’ screams The Indian Express headline. Its report, quoting unnamed sources in the Congress party states, “he has been upset for a while over not getting as ‘free a hand’ as he wants to unveil radical reforms and drastic ‘structural’ organisational changes. Changes that position him against many of the old guard seen as close to his mother.”
Senior Congress leader Ajay Maken, who was left to brief the press, defended Rahul Gandhi by saying, “you do not do this kind of inquisitorial, aggressive, scandalous, provocative and insinuatory statements when, for example, for virtually a whole session in November, the Prime Minister did not attend. You don’t ask similar questions when leaders of other parties don’t attend at all and that includes Mayawati, Mulayam Singh Yadav.”
In an editorial that promises much but fails to land any punches, The Indian Express asks the ‘unaskable question’. The question being, “it may well be that Rahul intends to return with a radical roadmap, but for now, the question can be reasonably asked: Will anyone miss Rahul Gandhi while he is away?”
The Telegraph quotes one of Rahul’s aides, “the criticism of his absence today is immaterial. If he comes up with a good plan later, that will matter.” It also quotes a psychologists who says that “short sabbaticals can help a lot”.
So is Rahul Gandhi’s leave of absence a first for the Congress? Writing of former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, Rasheed Kidwai writes in The Telegraph: “both were persuaded to stay on by an alarmed party and went to change the course of Indian history…an accomplishment that would appear to a daunting challenge for Rahul at the moment.” Kidwai, who has written two books on the Congress including a biography of Sonia’s also says, “privately, many in the Congress today wished he would quit politics and let sister Priyanka Vadra take over at the upcoming session in Bangalore.”
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