Congress rallies to give Rahul a cutting edge

Although he held roadshows in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh during Assembly elections, the plan was to organise a series of public meetings across the country to launch him as a ‘youth icon’, the sources said.

While his roadshows in UP had turned out to be a damp squib in terms of electoral dividends, those in Gujarat and Himachal last month also failed to meet expectations in the party. Out of the 14 Assembly constituencies in Gujarat — was covered by his roadshows — the Congress could win only four. In Himachal, the tally read a little better: 2 out of 4.

Inducted into the organisation as AICC General Secretary in charge of Indian Youth Congress (IYC) and NSUI on September 24, Rahul completed 100 days in office on Wednesday. His short tenure has, however, been largely uneventful. He was also missing at the 123rd Foundation Day function of the Indian National Congress on December 28; it was the first after his induction as AICC General Secretary. On the same day results of the Assembly election in Himachal, where Rahul had done some roadshows, were also out. His absence on such crucial occasions has set the tongue wagging in party circles.

His initial meetings with IYC and NSUI office-bearers had generated a lot of excitement in party circles as they found him a very receptive listener and somebody “who thinks out of the box”. For instance, he played Cricket with them after one such meeting. These meetings have failed to produce any results though.

IYC president Ashok Tanwar asserted that Rahul had given a “new direction” to the organisation. “He has guided us in our membership drive as to how to widen our base, how to connect with new people. He has been holding discussions with everybody to prepare our future strategy. You will soon realise it is a transitional phase in this country’s politics. There is no leader in any other party who has the kind of vision Rahulji has,” Tanwar told The Indian Express. He, however, refused to go into specifics claiming that he was not authorised to divulge internal matters.

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