Who's Your Daddy Now?

That's what Rahul Gandhi must be wanting to say to the BJP now, isn't it? Forever mocked and ridiculed by his political counterparts, Rahul Gandhi, in most cases, has maintained a dignified silence, and even the rare retort, when used, has been precise and not dramatic in any way. However, his response to the BJP-led NDA on 16th May, 2009 was more dramatic than anything they could ever say. It reads something like this:

UPA - 261, NDA - 159.

The day before counting began, BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad came out in front of the press, and declared, with a firm voice and unwavering confidence, that the BJP would emerge to be the single largest party, and the NDA the largest pre-poll alliance. And not only did he just declare it in front of reporters from all over the country, he repeated it louder every time. Apparently, and very strangely, the BJP had done an exit poll of their own, which led him to believe whatever he was mouthing in front of the media.

Twenty four hours later, those statements were made to look as ridiculous as L.K.Advani's face (Sorry I couldn't resist saying that), which we haven't seen since the results came out. Let's call a spade a spade, and unanimously agree that the public has voted for a Congress-led government. Even the most staunch of BJP supporters would agree to that, barring the one or two who tend to be different for the sake of being different. And, as many people have been saying it already, what was more interesting is the number of mini-battles the UPA won all over the country, which helped the result to be what it is.

And by far, the most shocking result among the states this time around, was the one in West Bengal. Bengal has been the left front's bastion for decades, and even in the last LS polls, the left gathered as many as 26 seats, with the current victors Trinamool Congress bagging just one. However, a lot has happened in the last five years, notably Nandigram, which meant that rural Bengal, which was the left's stronghold, was willing to look elsewhere for hope, which the TMC has capitalised on brilliantly. It rode the nationwide pro-congress wave, in the end bagging 19 seats, which along with the Congress' 6, makes it 25 for the UPA, while the left could garner only 15.

Mamata Banerjee has since said that her party isn't interested in ministerial berths, and I hope she's being brutally honest, because this is an oppourtunity of a lifetime for her party to cement their place in West Bengal, especially with the assembly elections coming up in a couple of years. She, her party, and the Congress, must make sure that enough attention is paid to the Bengali's demands so that the left can finally be well and truly driven out of Bengal in another two years.

Moving out of Bengal, the result than stunned almost everyone was Uttar Pradesh, and the fact that the Congress emerged as the second largest party in the state with 21 seats, closely following the Samajwadi Party, who bagged 23. As blared across all news channels for the past few days, the credit for their resurgence in what is technically the most important state in the LS polls, goes to a certain Rahul Gandhi. It was his decision to let the party go it alone in UP, and it was under his leadership that the party worked tirelessly to regain credibility in the state. And he has done it emphatically, against all odds. The best way i can put it is, that the BJP called him a baccha, but he turned out to be sabka baap!

Rahul Gandhi isn't a very good politician, and probably never will be, but in that very sentence lies his USP. The quiet, intellectual scion of the Congress party comes across as an essentially apolitical man, a quality so sought after in politicians by the educated Indian voter. His earnestness, dedication, and sheer honesty as a soldier of the party over the past few years has been inspiring, with the current results being enough to shut every opposition leader's mouth, at least when it comes to him. He has given the Congress party a new face, an element of freshness, and along with Sonia Gandhi, a vision for the future.

And it is his apolitical nature that the Congress is imbibing over the past few years, and especially in the run up to these polls. While the UPA concentrated on national issues during their campaigns and only rarely responded to personal jibes, the BJP went all over the country bad-mouthing Dr.Manmohan Singh, and the entire Gandhi family. The Congress were telling the people why to vote for them, while the BJP were telling the people why NOT to vote for the Congress. They had very little to say about their own vision and plans for the country, and instead, thought that they had found easy prey in the Prime Minister, who had maintained silence throughout the last five years.

Surprisingly,the BJP will never get over Sonia Gandhi. Don't they realize that an anti-Sonia campaign will not work? Five years ago, they kept calling her a foreigner and an Italian, and now they call her the "real" Prime Minister. In my opinion, Sonia Gandhi distances herself from the government, and does so very smartly. She has stayed well in the background right through the government's tenure, and has concentrated on the nitty-gritties of party politics. She is the Congress President, but Manmohan Singh is the Prime Minister, and they have divided their responsibilities very well between themselves.

And even if we believe the BJP, and believe that our Prime Minister hasn't even taken nature's call before a signed permission from Mrs.Gandhi in the last five years, how does that even concern the opposition? What should concern the BJP is national security, the global recession, inflation in food prices, agricultural issues among many others, not the Congress' in-house problems. Manmohan Singh is the best Prime Minister India could have at the moment, and Sonia Gandhi has proved once again, that when it comes to party politics, she has outshone her more experienced counterparts, and has done so without uttering a word.

The Congress has been successful in projecting an apolitical image, an image of humility and stability, while the BJP came off badly as the sore losers, who could talk about nothing else but Manmohan Singh, and his apparent "weakness" as a Prime Minister. Who is a weak Prime Minister? A man who refuses to get drawn into personal arguments? A man who likes to keep quiet and get on with his job? A man who is prepared to let go of his coalition partners for the good of the nation?

It takes great self-control and strength of character to resist the BJP's childish accusations and the Left's arrogance, but Mr.Singh has done it with a lot of grace and dignity. If anything, he has only come to be known as a strong Prime Minister over the past five years, one who is erudite, calm, and honest. He was quiet when the dynamics of coalition politcs demanded so, and was stubborn when his conscience asked him to, like in the case of the nuclear deal.

The BJP need to go back to the drawing board, or, as some experts are saying, need a new drawing board altoghether. The mixed signals from within the party, especially related to Narendra Modi being their next PM candidate, seems to have turned off many voters too, and the party will have to be very careful with how they project Modi over the next 5 years. A change of guard is definitely needed, and the next set of decisions the party takes will be some of the most important decisions it has taken in a long time.

Meanwhile, the stage is set for the Congress party, and make no mistake, the spotlight's entirely on them for the next five years, with no Left Front liable to be blamed for any incident. But if there's a troika I would trust to pull this off, it's the one at the helm of the Congress. The challenge has only begun.