You may not have noticed, but the past few years Rahul Gandhi's Pappu reputation had started to wear away. Much of it had to do with those he is a foil to. So, those very things he could once not live down, such as his oratory — remember the escape velocity speech? — and his spasmodic political drive started to seem normal and even endearing in comparison to his charismatic rivals, a tad too fluent with politics and the grammar of it, and always ahead of the curve.
Who's that man?
At a time when the top political leadership of the country appeared to have grown too good for those that voted them to power --- mastering strategic silences on key issues, engaging only with the Akshay Kumars, force-feeding new laws and policies concerning kisan and jawan alike --- Rahul Gandhi did push-ups with schoolchildren and dived into the Arabian Sea, no less, and swam with fishermen. Okay, so he was not to be seen at Shaheen Bagh, but he was there with the agitating farmers. Okay, so he was doing photo ops with Prime Minister Lee-Nak-yon in South Korea and discussing "wide-ranging issues" when India was reeling under anti-CAA protests, but you remember those visuals of him interacting with migrant workers during the pandemic? Okay, so he went missing for long stretches in the run-up to the Haryana and Maharashtra elections in 2019 and Delhi in 2020, but remember how he mourned Father Stan Swamy then, notice how he is speaking up for Bilkis Bano now! Yes, there was that video of him partying in Nepal, but he is human toh? See how the Finland PM parties and does not apologise for it?
Inauspicious times
He was sometimes smart and more times fallible, but he gave the impression of being invested and really trying. Observers were beginning to say how the poor little rich boy had finally come of age. There was perhaps a growing hope, if not belief, that after this slow and steady evolution, any moment he would burst forth into real action, marshal party workers, and with two years to go before the next general elections, become the option everyone wanted to have in hand, beyond the EVM. And then last week, the Congress said elections for the post of party chief were postponed. Rahul Gandhi was still not keen. Also, these are apparently “inauspicious times”. Never mind Ghulam Nabi Azad and his dated complaints, the tide has gone and the time has ebbed. Azad has said that instead of focusing on a Bharat Jodo yatra, the 100-something-year-old party should consider a Congress jodo exercise. As if that is all that has been put out of joint?