Vice President of India’s grand old party, Indian National Congress, Rahul Gandhi recently delivered yet another speech which media defined as a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I had heard the speech and I also read the headlines that followed, and couldn’t help wondering, what defines a “scathing attack”? Does “scathing attack” mean, choosing words which can sound more insulting than any criticism? Does “scathing attack” mean lying through your teeth? Does “scathing attack” mean spoiling your opponent’s image is more important than building your own image? I ask this because this is exactly what I feel when I hear Rahul Gandhi’s allegedly ‘scathing’ speeches these days.

In none of Rahul Gandhi’s  speeches do I feel any effort to rebuild the image and confidence which his party has been losing, election after election.

Congress party in the past has had the policy of staying away from personal attacks largely but that policy has been abandoned and in my opinion it is the Kejriwal Effect which has taken over the Gandhi scion. Before 2014 general elections, we didn’t see or hear much of Rahul Gandhi except his few election campaign speeches. Today we see him all over, being discussed in newspapers, TV debates and even social media. He seems to be struggling hard to shed the image of “shehzada” and emerge as the street-fighter social activist, something similar to Arvind Kejriwal. Do you remember seeing Rahul Gandhi protesting about anything earlier? Do you remember seeing Rahul Gandhi reaching out to any victim? Today within hours he arrives at the spot of incident or the victim’s house. Did anyone see him standing with people when virtually entire country was on the streets protesting the brutal rape of Nirbhaya, or cold blooded killing of Jessica Lal? But we saw him standing with students of JNU and in Hyderabad after Rohith Vemula’s suicide.

Rahul Gandhi has already expressed his feelings of how impressed he has been with Arvind Kejriwal’s way of handling politics and the “ever protesting leader” image of him. Probably this make-over of Rahul Gandhi is the result of this admiration. When Social Media emerged as one of the most important tools in politics and when BJP leaders and AAP was making extensive use of this weapon called social media, VP of grand old party, Rahul Gandhi was missing. Post May 2014, while he was getting ready to adopt this Kejrification of Politics, he also made his social media debut

Rahul Gandhi’s never ending personal attacks on the Prime Minister is the biggest proof of how deeply he is enamored by Arvind Kejriwal and how strongly he believes that nothing would dent his popularity so long as people believed that he is a man of impeccable integrity. His choice of words is more rustic today.  Earlier while he would depend on the heaviest phrase, “escape velocity” and end up being the victim of mockery, he now uses more of earthy phrases to touch that chord with his rural audience. He has realized that attacking BJP might not get him the desired effect while hurling personal attacks on the Prime Minister would give him that instant boost because Kejriwal became Kejriwal because of his constant personal attacks. Arvind Kejriwal’s “Ambani-Adani” seems to have thoroughly motivated Rahul Gandhi and he came up with “suit boot ki sarkar”, a phrase that did manage to capture everyone’s imagination. This sudden shift from attacking the opponent’s party to hurling personal and abusive attacks on your opponent party’s leader, can be a party strategy too.

Modi has managed to create a very popular image for himself in the hearts and minds of majority of Indians. It is probably through these personal attacks; Rahul Gandhi feels he can break that image or illusion as he calls it. He has also managed to adopt Arvind Kejriwal’s shoot and scoot policy pretty well. He is often seen throwing some one-liners with no further explanation or substantial proof to back up his statements, and yet causing the much-needed stir, hogging the limelight till he comes up with round two. When I saw Rahul Gandhi waving bunch of papers which according to him were earth shattering proof against Modi, it was a deja vu moment- Arvind Kejriwal waving similar bunch of papers as proof against congress stalwart Sheila Dikshit.

Pre-2014 we had a rather introvert looking Congress Vice President, who eventually took on this new avatar of outspoken leader, almost getting into the activist mode every now and then and who doesn’t hesitate using phrases which might come across as crass at times, as long as its making people and media talk about him. If this new Kejrified Rahul Gandhi can churn votes in his party’s favor or not, only time shall tell. For now though his party continues its journey towards oblivion with each election held so far.

Talking about elections every election season, there are certain headlines which come up like a ritual, and one of them being, "Rahul Gandhi to take over as Congress President". This headline is always presented as breaking news though each time it fails to break anything other than the myth surrounding Rahul Gandhi's leadership skills. And with every election we see Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra making a comeback amidst various speculations. While media stays undecided whom to give more publicity amongst the brother-sister duo, one thing is sure, Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra does seem to overshadow her brother, and the latest example being striking the deal with Akhilesh Yadav (SP) for pre-poll alliance.

Priyanka has been popular amongst voters for her informal campaigning style, and not to forget her resemblance to her grandmother, Indira Gandhi. It is often said that Priyanka is the last weapon in the armory of the Congress President Sonia Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi proving to be a bigger failure with each election, sister Priyanka's formal entry into politics might not be too far behind, but we do know of the albatross around her neck, called Robert Vadra. Whatever benefits she could milk from her maiden last name, would get neutralized by her present last name. Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra reminds me of late Benazir Bhutto here. Moreover, Priyanka's formal entry into politics and congress party will only prove the failure of her brother Rahul. Congress has very few choices if it refuses to look beyond dynasty.